I think the biggest shift for me is - this is going to sound like a wanky actor, but - getting in touch with, and learning to not just appreciate, but actually really enjoy being a woman. Because for so long I was a jock, and I was an athlete, and I was a tomboy, and people would joke about like, fancy dress, you should go as a girl.
The young athlete who aspires to greatness, generally speaking, learns a number of things from several different coaches. The first one taught him the fundamentals; the second one instilled discipline in him and taught him more of the techniques that must be mastered to excel.
The Olympics is the biggest competition for all athletes and an unforgettable event.
The Olympic Games is holy. Athletes from around the world, including myself, of course, dream to participate.
I think we have tremendous media covering the sport of boxing, even if boxing is a little bit lost in popularity with MMA sports. And I think that with the show 'Lights Out' it's going to get more attention to the sport, and it's going to put more attention to the problems that athletes in general have.
My thing I liked was to challenge guys that were smaller, guys that were supposed to be quicker. Because I think self-consciously I was trying to prove to people it wasn't just my height that was getting me across in these various sports. It was some other intrinsic things that I had that made me a good athlete.
As runners we all have the same challenges and share the same experience, with the goal to accomplish something and better ourselves.
Reporters often forget that athletes are human beings.
I've witnessed thousands of superior athletes try to becomes hitters and fail at it.
I had pain in both knees my whole career. Not many athletes play pain-free. Mine was just more than normal.
I'm lucky because I have an athlete between my legs.
I've come to the conclusion that athletes, when they say they miss the crowd, are not missing the sound of the crowd. What they're missing is the feeling inside that makes the crowd roar. It's not the roar of the crowd, it's the silence inside.
Like anybody else, athletes like to pig out on a bit of junk food every now and then, but they also know that they couldn't do that all the time if they wanted to keep their body in peak condition to compete at the highest level.
The value of the sport and the value of sports in general, with the life lessons, the ups and downs. The depth of the life experience, what athletes are actually offering to us when they come out and play, if you look at a season and go moment by moment.
Every young person is going to be inspired to be a maker from now on. It's like how everyone used to want to be a musician, an actor, an athlete -- but a maker is what people are going to want to be.
Muhammad Ali is a combination of personality and athlete who is probably better known around the world than any other. He became a great hero.
Overall, I think Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete in any particular sport. He dominated the game for the Chicago Bulls and brought the NBA to its greatest peak of popularity.
It's just that right now the athlete's on the floor. But we - this is a super athlete.
As a child I wanted to be a professional athlete or lawyer.
[Yasuhiro] Yamashita is a respected judo master not only in Japan but across the world. To me, he is an example of an outstanding athlete and a very good man.
I was afraid I would see someone from my past who thought I was this big athlete, and then I end up being just normal.
I most certainly believe that when you're an athlete, that really translates to all sports. You just understand it, your body understands it, and your mind understands it. And you just - it just clicks. I've found that happening when I play other sports. I've seen it, like when I've hit the ball with other professional athletes, and you can see they're just learning so quickly. It's just something that's in their blood. So I think it was in my parents' blood and they understood.
To be a well-rounded person and know what's going on in the world around you, to have a perspective outside of your sport, is important for every athlete. I'm blessed that our parents gave us that.
I think nowadays it's so easy as an athlete to become a statistic whether or not you lose everything or having trouble or whatever it may be.
I think the sport needs the help to continue to motivate athletes.
