Emil Zatopek
A runner must run with dreams in his heart, not money in his pocket.Collection: Fitness
If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.Collection: Experience
The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.Collection: Alone
An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.Collection: Dreams
It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.Collection: Men
Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.Collection: Friendship
Men, today we die a little.
We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.
I will run with perfect style when they start judging races for their beauty, like figure-skating. For now, I just want to run as fast as possible.
Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.
You must be fast enough - you must have endurance. So you run fast for speed and repeat it many times for endurance.
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.
I didn't know much. It wasn't possible to buy a book about Nurmi, but I found out that in order to be faster over 10,000m, he ran 5,000m many times in training. And to be better at 5,000m, he ran 1,500m many times. And to be better at 1,500m, he ran four times 400m in training.
My running was very simple; it was out of myself.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.
The childhood games ended for me when I was 14 and I finished school. I had to find a job, not an easy thing in those days.
I had started as an average athlete - a normal boy. It took me three years to win a race. I was glad that I endured those three years - that I did not give up.
I'm not interested in how long I can hold out, but in how fast I can reach the finishing line.
If I run 100 meters 30 times, that is 3 kilometers and no longer a sprint.
Sometimes I feel that old desire. Then my body tells me it is 50 years old. I take the easy way instead.
In my country, I am just a common man... a nobody.
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.Collection: Determination
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.Collection: Athlete
A runner must run with dreams in his heart.Collection: Fitness
I was not talented enough to run and smile at the same timeCollection: Running
Try for a goal that's reasonable, then gradually raise it.Collection: Inspirational
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.Collection: Sports
If I can get better, why not?Collection: 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.Collection: Running
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.Collection: Running
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.'Collection: Running
It is not necessary to smile and make a wonderful impression on the judges.Collection: Judging
Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.Collection: Rain
Sri Chinmoy brings Heaven to me. He inspires everyone to be happy. He deserves the biggest gold medal.Collection: Heaven
It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.Collection: Not Giving Up