Ask me what makes a champion runner, and I will tell you it helps to have the great good sense to choose your parents carefully.
Sebastian CoeRead
Throughout my athletic career, the overall goal was always to be a better athlete than I was at the moment – whether next week, next month or next year. The improvement was the goal. The medal was simply the ultimate reward for achieving that goal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of success lies in continuous self-improvement rather than just focusing on the rewards.
In this quote, Sebastian Coe emphasizes that the primary objective in his athletic career was personal growth and becoming a better version of himself over time. While winning medals is a significant achievement, the true fulfillment comes from the journey of self-improvement and striving to surpass one's previous capabilities.
Themes
ImprovementAthleteSuccessMedalsGoal
In practice
Example use cases
Motivational speeches at sports events.
More from Sebastian Coe
All quotes →Blink and you miss a sprint. The 10,000 meters is lap after lap of waiting. Theatrically, the mile is just the right length: beginning, middle, end, a story unfolding.
Sebastian CoeRead
Vision is a romantic thing. We have got into 'talent identification'. I am much more interested in passion - finding people who are really excited about doing something.
Sebastian CoeRead
I had a very ordinary background in Sheffield; I went to a secondary modern, but I saw something on TV in 1968 that inspired me to join an athletics club, and 12 years later, with great coaching and the support of people who loved me a lot, I ended up at an Olympic Games.
Sebastian CoeRead
I do genuinely believe that young people who play sport at a competitive level, sensibly controlled, sensibly organised, that has to be a good thing. It will teach them to win, it will teach them to lose with dignity and magnanimity - all the things you want. It's a pretty good metaphor for life.
Sebastian CoeRead
The Olympics are a world apart from racing for a record. You put out of your mind pretty much what anyone else doing in the race.
Sebastian CoeRead
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