Emil Zatopek Quotes

On this page you can find the TOP of Emil Zatopek's best quotes! We hope you will find some sayings from Olympic athlete Emil Zatopek's in our collection, which will inspire you to new achievements! There are currently 27 quotes on this page collected since September 19, 1922! Share our collection of quotes with your friends on social media so that they can find something to inspire them!
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  • If I can get better, why not?

    Running  
  • If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a problem. It's raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's besides the point. It's simply that I just have to.

  • One day the factory sports coach, who was very strict, pointed at four boys, including me, and ordered us to run in a race. I protested that I was weak and not fit to run, but the coach sent me for a physical examination and the doctor said that I was perfectly well. So I had to run, and when I got started I felt I wanted to win. But I only came in second. That was the way it started.

    Sports   Running  
  • Men, today we die a little.

  • When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow,slow,slow. People said, 'Emil, you are crazy. You are training like a sprinter.'

    Running  
  • An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.

    Quoted by Christopher Brasher in the Observer,12 Sep 1982.
  • What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

  • A runner must run with dreams in his heart.

    Running  
  • If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.

    Running  
  • Sri Chinmoy brings Heaven to me. He inspires everyone to be happy. He deserves the biggest gold medal.

  • The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.

  • To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

  • If you come to think of it, you never see deer, dogs and rabbits worrying about their menus and yet they run much faster than humans.

    Running  
  • Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.

  • It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.

    Running  
    Attributed to Emil Zatopek in "Citius, Altius, Fortius" ("Swifter, Higher, Stronger"), an unsigned article from Khaleej Times, August 8, 2008.
  • By a persistent effort of will it is possible to change the whole body. The athlete must always keep in mind this concept of change and progression. He must never accept his limitations as being permanent, because they are not.

  • Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.

  • Try for a goal that's reasonable, then gradually raise it.

  • It is not necessary to smile and make a wonderful impression on the judges.

  • There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.

  • Everyone said, 'Emil, you are a fool!' But when I first won the European Championship, they said: 'Emil, you are a genius!'

  • When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter either. Then willpower will be no problem.

  • You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.

    Sports  
    Quoted in Colin Jarman The Guinness Dictionary of Sports Quotations (1990).
  • I was not talented enough to run and smile at the same time

    Running  
  • Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.

    Running  
  • I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known.

    Running  
  • My running was very simple; it was out of myself.

    Running  
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We hope you have found the saying you were looking for in our collection! At the moment, we have collected 27 quotes from the Olympic athlete Emil Zatopek, starting from September 19, 1922! We periodically replenish our collection so that visitors of our website can always find inspirational quotes by authors from all over the world! Come back to us again!
Emil Zatopek quotes about:

Emil Zatopek

  • Born: September 19, 1922
  • Died: November 22, 2000
  • Occupation: Olympic athlete