"Obstacles are those things you see when you take your eyes off your goals."

Anon

"The great thing about Paula is she turned herself from a nearly-runner. She was fourth in Sydney, fourth in the world championships, always at the edge of nicking a medal. Then she decided she didn't want to be out of the medals any more and ... trained harder, trained probably slightly smarter."

Sebastian Coe talking about Paula Radcliffe's win in New York Marathon.

"What's can't? There is no can'ts."

Rocky III.

"I didn't become a champion in the boxing ring. I became a champion in the gym."

Muhammad Ali

Training advice that applies to all athletes.

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

Japanese proverb

A few pearls of wisdom from Anon -

"If you ever lose sight of your goal, you must not have really wanted it."

"Success depends on the second letter."

"If at first you do succeed, try something harder!"

"A goal is a dream with a deadline."

"If you have the heart and the mind the body will follow."

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark"

"The Louisville Lip" or Muhammad Ali to you and me.

Some food for thought courtesy of Anon.

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

"Everything looks impossible to those who never try anything."

"Winning begins with an attitude."

"Defeat is merely a detour on the road to success."

"Hills are speedwork in disguise"

Frank Shorter

American Olympian Marathon Runner

"Medals don't come easy. You've got to put the work in. Be up for it every training session. Put your body theough the grinder but when you pull through it's all worth it - nothing beats that incredible feeling.”

Dean Macey

British Decathlete

The Ten Commandments of Running

1. Train Hard
2. Make Sacrifices
3. Make Positive Choices
4. Seek Your Potential
5. Set High Goals
6. Relax Under Pressure
7. Attack Pain
8. Push the Pace
9. Work as a Team
10. Run to Win

Anon

"The thing is not: 'What will happen?' But 'What do we want to happen?' Then you make it happen."

Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki

Olympic Organising Committee, Athens 2004.

“I hate pigeons, so I think about skiing away from them as quickly as possible. I also think about Maximus – Russell Crowe in Gladiator - as he headed into the arena. He was aggressive and focussed and that’s how I need to be.”

Chemmy Alcott

Unusual motivational techniques from British Olympic downhill skier .

"This time I always believed in myself. I guess the way to get there is to keep working hard and fight all the way."

Daniela Hantuchova

on defeating Serena Williams in straight sets at the Australian Open Tennis 2006.

"To be number one, you have to train like your number two."

Maurice Green

Bill Bowerman
Co-founder of Nike

"You never lose, you only either win or learn."

Anon

"There's only one person who can make a difference and that's you."

Dean Macey
British Olympic Athlete

"I started running in high school. I found out if you run fast then you can get girls. "

Kim Collins

“I was feeling quite down once and finding it hard in training.
Denise Lewis said to me: "Keep your eyes on the prize."
It was great advice.”

Kelly Sotherton
Heptathlete and Olympic bronze medallist

Arthur Ashe

Sven Goran Erikson

"I'm here to do the best I can and to try and win if all goes well."

Paul Tergat

Current World Marathon Record Holder
2 hours, 4 minutes, 55 seconds

"I vividly remember my first race aged 10, finishing 11th in the Coventry Primary Schools, narrowly beaten by the first girl."

36-year-old Glynn Tromans

who went on to be three-times English National Cross Country Champion, and represent Britain at the World Championships.

Dame Kelly Holmes

"I was 12 when I started and 34 before I achieved my dream, that should give people hope"

Dame Kelly Holmes

"A champion is someone who gets up again even when they can't."

Anonymous.

"Don't think she was winning everything from the word go. She was just one of the girls in the team. She wasn't even the best in the group. She didn't win a race till her late teens. Her progress was slow but it would come!"

Award-winning coach Alex Stanton on the girl he's coached since she was 12 ...
Paula Radcliffe.

"If Diane Modahl was 40 times over the testosterone limit she'd have a deep voice and we'd all be calling her Barry White."

Tony Jarrett (1994)

"A cross-country runner is a landscape panter. "

Anon

"I know I'm no Kim Basinger, but she can't throw a javelin. "

Fatima Whitbread (1993)

"With just 110 left, Fenn was still last, but then delivered a tremendous surge to claim the first medal Britain has ever won in the event with her fastest ever time: 1:59.50. She attributed her improvement to discarding vegetarianism. "I'll take a steak any day," Fenn said. "The iron has really helped to strengthen me."

The Glasgow Herald 8.3.04 on Jo Fenn's bronze medal run at the World Indoor Championships, Budapest.

"If you want to know what you'll look like in ten years, look in the mirror after you've run a marathon."

Jeff Scaff

"The decathlon is nine Mickey Mouse events and the 1500 metres."

Steve Ovett

"On his world record triple jump - It's only jumping into a sandpit."

Jonathan Edwards (1995)