How we cite our quotes: (Book)
Quote #1
The fact that Avner came to hold this belief did no mean that he would brood, sulk, or feel ill done by. On the contrary. It meant only one thing. He would compete. He would beat the Galicianers at their own game. He would become so unique, so extraordinary, so unbeatable at something that in the end he would come out on top. Ahead of Galicianers, kibbutzniks, you name it. No matter how smart, strong, determined, unscrupulous they might be. He'd win. (Vengeance)
Well, that's one way to deal with a rough deal: if you don't like the system, beat it. His determination to "win"—even though for Avner, this had nothing to do with sports—is a very Olympic quality indeed.
Quote #2
Years later, recalling the moment when he first caught a glimpse of the German, Owens wrote, "Long was one of those rare athletic happenings you come to recognize after years in competition – a perfectly proportioned body, every lithe but powerful cord a celebration of pulsing natural muscle, stunningly compressed and honed by tens of thousands of obvious hours of sweat and determination. He may have been my arch-enemy, but I had to stand there in awe and just stare at Luz Long for several seconds. (Triumph)
Owens saw in Long all the things he prided himself on. Sure, Long was going to be pretty much his only competition in the long jump at the Berlin Games, but the ultimate sportsman wouldn't begrudge him some respect.
Quote #3
"You've got to put your body on the line. Remember our motto: If you want to be the best, you've got to take out the best." (Grace, Gold, and Glory)
Is that always true, though? Do you have to "take out" the best to beat them?
Quote #4
Earlier that day, I had my first event, the 100-meter breaststroke, at the Olympic trials in Indianapolis. The swimmer to beat was sixteen-year-old Megan Quann, a big, muscular high school student from Washington State who had been on fire in all the important meets leading up to the trials. (In the Water They Can't See You Cry)
This was a common thing to do for all of our Olympic athletes. They tend to narrow down the field and pick out one or two people that would be dubbed "the competition." But if that's really true, why are all the other competitors even bothering?
Quote #5
Yes, I could dive well, and maybe I could win a gold, but I was still young and inconsistent. I was capable of scoring 10s, but I was just as capable of scoring 2s. The worst part was that Dr. Lee was losing sight of the fact that this was about a young diver competing to the best of his ability; he wanted me to win a gold medal to protect his own record. (Breaking The Surface)
"Compete" as a verb is really different than "competition" as a noun. To compete means to try, to give it your all at a certain task. Competition, though, is a nerve-inducing noun, a trial, and a race that will put you to the test.
Quote #6
Joe, he thought, had maximized both his physical and his mental abilities to an uncommon degree, thus permitting himself to compete against much bigger, stronger, more naturally gifted men. He had managed that not just because he understood the sport and his own abilities so completely but also because he understood the concept of relativity in competition. Joe did not go into an event hoping to set a record or to dominate others. Rather he shrewdly assessed his own strengths and limits as well as those of his main competitors and adjusted his race plans accordingly. (The Amateurs)
So, in other words, he raced smarter not stronger. This is key for a smaller competitor, but what threw us completely was the phrase "concept of relativity in competition." Can't you just see Einstein, hair askew and tongue out the side of his mouth as he rows himself to victory?
Quote #7
In January 2008, in Beijing for the formal opening of the Water Cube, Ian [Thorpe] was asked there by reporters whether that summer I could win eight gold medals.
"I don't think he will do it, but I'd love to see it," Ian said. "There's a thing called competition. It won't just be one athlete that will be competing, and in a lot of events he has a lot of strong competition." (No Limits)
We love that kind of attitude. Thorpe—long considered the Australian Golden Boy of swimming, was the person most likely to be dethroned by Phelps, and yet, he shrugs it off. That's what sports are all about.
Quote #8
"You know, winning by forty isn't fun. Maybe to some guys but not to this team. But watching Michael and Scottie together out there, suckering these guys into a corner, or right before the half-court line… that was fun." (Dream Team)
That's part of what makes sports great. It wouldn't be that much fun if it wasn't so insanely hard. Everyone who has ever played a sport of any kind knows that a complete blowout is a major ego boost, but if you're solidly winning every single time, it's a drag. The fun is in the challenge, the competition, and the people who learn that will always come out ahead.
Quote #9
I made a game out of timing the completion of treatments. I would look at my wristwatch, and stare at the IV bags as they emptied into my body by droplets. I tried to calculate the rate of drip, and time the end of the treatment down to the last second. (It's Not About the Bike)
Some people are just born with a naturally competitive spirit. For Lance Armstrong, even his battle against cancer turned into a sport—one that he was determined to win.
Quote #10
Thirty-five hundred. The number sounded so high yet so small at the same time. When I ran my lap around the camp each day, there were boys as far as the eye could see. I never thought of trying to count them all, but I knew thirty-five hundred was a drop in the bucket compared to so many lost boys. And I'd heard other boys' stories. Everyone had lived through hell. Many of these boys had lived through hell far longer than me. You couldn't even call a lot of them boys anymore. (Running For My Life)
Sometimes, a person comes along and reminds us that competition isn't always fun and games. For Lopez Lomong, he had to compete amongst all the boys in the refugee camp for a chance to immigrate to America. For him, it wasn't about being the best, or standing out. It was a matter of life and death. That's not a game, but it sure is a competition.