After Quote by Laure Manaudou

I was still young when I missed Beijing. I was favourite to win a medal but I knew I had time. My coach advised…

— David Rudisha

I raced locally for a year, went to Europe the year after and went to the Olympics the year after that.

— Taylor Phinney

Competing in my first Olympics in the country where my parents came from is pretty insane. I'm feeling nothing but excitement.

— Chloe Kim

From age eleven to age sixteen I lived a spartan life without the usual adolescent uncertainty. I wanted to be the best swimmer in…

— Diana Nyad

As a young girl, I just wanted to have fun and compete. There were no goals of becoming an Olympic athlete. I wanted to…

— Lolo Jones

When I was young, all I wanted to do was to compete, have fun and travel.

— Mitch Gaylord

It has been a fantastic journey. I have gone to five Games, broke the Olympics record in 2004 in Athens and won a gold…

— Abhinav Bindra

I had started as an average athlete - a normal boy. It took me three years to win a race. I was glad that…

— Emil Zatopek

It wasn't an easy journey to participating in the Olympics. It has taken me 14 years of training and hard work.

— Dutee Chand

I was always surrounded by expectation from the very first race I ran as a 5-year-old.

— Cathy Freeman

When I was a kid. I had traveled the world by the time I was 13 years old because of all the competitions I…

— Brittany Bowe

Being 19 years old and making the Olympic team on my last lift. I went 6-for-6 and had a perfect Olympic trial. Making the…

— Mark Henry