“The Olympic Games were created for the exhaltation of the individual athlete.”
Pierre de Coubertin
“To compete in the Olympic Games has always been a dream. The opportunity I have to represent my country at them is unbelievably exciting.”
David Beard
“It has been said that the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games is something that an athlete will remember for the rest of their life. It is true. That moment when you walk into the Olympic Stadium as part of the Australian Olympic Team, is a moment that I will never forget.”
Jeff Fenech
“The Olympic Games is the ultimate level of competition.”
Russell Mark
“Walking into the Olympic stadium at the Opening Ceremony of my first Olympic Games is a moment that I will never forget.”
Steve Kettner
“Nothing I have done professionally will top the feeling I got when singing with John Farnham at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.” Olivia Newton-John
“So you wish to conquer in the Olympic games, my friend? And I too, by the Gods, and a fine thing it would be! But first mark the conditions and the consequences, and then set to work. You will have to put yourself under discipline; to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or no, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and from wine at your will; in a word, to give yourself over to the trainer as to a physician. Then in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, or to be severely thrashed, and, after all these things, to be defeated.”
Epictetus
“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
Pierre de Coubertin
“Holding an Olympic Games means evoking history.”
Pierre de Coubertin
“It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication.”
Herb Elliott
“The Olympic Games are for the world and all nations must be admitted to them.”
Pierre de Coubertin
“When badminton was accepted into the Barcelona Olympic Games it showed that there was an acceptance of my sport internationally.”
Rhonda Cator
“The Olympic Games must not be an end in itself, they must be a means of creating a vast programme of physical education and sports competitions for all young people.” Avery Brundage
“For too long the world has failed to recognise that the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement are about fine athletics and fine art.”
Avery Brundage
“The Olympic Games are the quadrennial celebration of the springtime of humanity.”
Pierre de Coubertin