Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.
As strong as my legs are, it is my mind that has made me a champion.
You learn as much from those who have failed as from those who have succeeded.
The only one who can beat me is me.
The mind is absolutely instrumental in achieving results, even for athletes. Sports psychology is a very small part, but it's extremely important when you're winning and losing races by hundredths and even thousandths of a second.
One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.
A good mentor offers directions and driving tips from the back seat. You still have to drive the car.
You can't control what the other athlete is going to do; you can't control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task.
That first peak is the best place to pause and look back, to see if you took the easiest route, to learn the lessons from the first climb. And it is the best place to examine the terrain ahead, to change your plans and goals, to take a deep breath and begin climbing again.
(Natural Talent + Opportunity) Hard Work = Success
It is clearly not the journey for everyone. People succeed in as many ways as there are people. Some can be completely fulfilled with destinations that are much closer to home and more comfortable. But if you long to keep going, then I hope you are able to follow my lead to the places I have gone. To within a whisper of your own personal perfection. To places that are sweeter because you worked so hard to arrive there. To places at the very edge of your dreams.
There's a complete difference between training for a specific event and goal and just training.
The basis of self-discipline: Don't allow the edges to blur.
Be who you are in every situation.
The only thing you can never change is your values.
Protect your good image from the eyes of negative viewers, who may look at your good appearance with an ugly fiendish eye, and ruin your positive qualities with their chemical infested tongues.
The only way to deal with loss - as a horribly unwelcome guest that you know will show up eventually. And so you deny it and reject it and ignore it and laugh in its face. You toss it out into the street and push it away and fight it off, and only it has landed square in your lap, only then do you deal with it.
I've had to learn that not everybody does things my way. But I do expect the absolute best of everyone around me, and I'm disappointed when people don't expect that of themselves.
A good traveller is one who knows how to travel with the mind.
It is important that you strive for humility, but not humiliation, for a cool, level-headed confidence, not a stiff, delusional arrogance.
Examine the opportunities, the challenges you've given yourself.
Along with trustworthiness, consistency is the thing to look for when you surround yourself with people who can help you on your quest.
How could you look more stupid than to be the guy accepting a bronze medal in gold shoes?
Your problems pale in comparison with those of the millions of people in the world who do not have enough to eat.
Opting for gold shoes could have been considered downright cocky, but I was confident and never doubted my ability to deliver gold medals to match my shimmering footwear.
