Looking for a sport quote to get you out the door, through a race or into a big game? Here are 56 quotes from athletes, coaches and writers, sorted by sport: running and trail, cycling, team sports. Every one has been checked: author, date and source.
The short answer
- Running: “No human is limited” (Eliud Kipchoge, 2019).
- Cycling: “Until you’ve crossed the finish line, anything is still possible” (Bernard Hinault, 2020).
- Team sports: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships” (Michael Jordan, 1994).
- Watch out: many famous sports quotes are misattributed. We list them at the end.
Contents
Running, marathon and trail quotes
To get started, keep going or embrace the pain of the final miles: words from the best runners, from the 1500 m to ultra trail.
“I can tell people that no human is limited.”
Eliud Kipchoge, two-time Olympic marathon champion, after his 1:59:40 marathon in Vienna (2019, not a record) · AP, 12/10/2019
“Only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your emotions and your passions.”
Eliud Kipchoge, two-time Olympic marathon champion · Oxford Union, 2017
“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
John Bingham, Runner’s World columnist and champion of slow runners · The Courage to Start, 1999
“If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.”
Kathrine Switzer, first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an official entrant (1967) · kathrineswitzer.com
“If you want to enjoy something, run 100 metres. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.”
Emil Zátopek, triple Olympic champion in Helsinki in 1952 (5000 m, 10,000 m, marathon), after his first marathon · London Review of Books, 2016
“I am not talented enough to run and smile at the same time.”
Emil Zátopek, on his famous grimace while racing · The Independent, 2000
“For me it is very simple. I have to run. If I stop, I die.”
Haile Gebrselassie, two-time Olympic 10,000 m champion (1996, 2000), on retiring · World Athletics, 2015
“We can limit ourselves with thoughts, but it is possible to try everything and prove to the world that we are strong.”
Faith Kipyegon, three-time Olympic 1500 m champion, after her sub-4 mile attempt (Paris, 2025) · The Star (Kenya), 2025
“I was never more focused in my life, until that moment. For two hours, I was focused every step.”
Sifan Hassan, Olympic marathon champion in Paris, 2024 · NBC Olympics, 11/08/2024
“If you don’t have the passion, you don’t have fire, and if you don’t have fire, you can’t ignite anything.”
Joan Benoit Samuelson, first women’s Olympic marathon champion (Los Angeles, 1984) · Bowdoin College, 2021
“…every mile out there is a gift and every finish line is a gift…”
Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner, former Runner’s World editor · NPR, 2013
“6th time’s a charm. Keep showing up!”
Des Linden, 2018 Boston Marathon winner, on her sixth attempt · X (Twitter), 16/04/2018
“I think it’s fun to acknowledge, like, ‘Right now, I’m sitting in the pain cave.’”
Courtney Dauwalter, ultrarunner, winner of Western States, Hardrock and UTMB in 2023 · iRunFar, 2018
“If you finish feeling you could continue, that’s a great sign of healthy progression.”
Kilian Jornet, mountain runner, four-time UTMB winner, advice to trail beginners · AP, 13/01/2026
“I think I liked suffering. Or I don’t know if it’s suffering. It is suffering, but also a search for pleasure. What you’re chasing isn’t the pain itself, but a special experience you reach through the pain.”
Kilian Jornet, mountain runner, four-time UTMB winner · El País, 21/04/2024 · translated from Spanish
“I used to go out to measure myself against everyone; now it’s mostly against myself.”
Martín Fiz, 1995 world marathon champion · Deia, 11/07/2021 · translated from Spanish
“Failure is no accident; it reflects mistakes you have to learn from.”
Mathieu Blanchard, trail runner, 2nd at UTMB 2022 · podcast Dans la tête d’un coureur, 2025 · translated from French
“Of course you have to fight, but because a marathon is so long, it’s nice to think of each other.”
Abdi Nageeye, Olympic marathon silver medallist in Tokyo (2021) · NOS, 22/10/2021 · translated from Dutch
Cycling quotes
Discipline, suffering on the climbs, the joy of riding: what cycling champions say… plus a few writers who loved their bikes.
“It is the same with people as it is with riding a bike. Only when moving can one comfortably maintain one’s balance.”
Albert Einstein, physicist, in a letter to his son Eduard (5 February 1930) · Einstein Archives 75-990 · Einstein Archives
“I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel.”
Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights campaigner, on the bicycle · New York World, 02/02/1896
“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and can coast down them.”
Ernest Hemingway, writer · By-Line: Ernest Hemingway, 1967
“… the bicycle, which man imagined to prove that earthly fulfilment can be of this world.”
Laurent Fignon, two-time Tour de France winner (1983, 1984) · Nous étions jeunes et insouciants, 2009 · translated from French
“Until you’ve crossed the finish line, anything is still possible.”
Bernard Hinault, five-time Tour de France winner, explaining his motto “As long as I breathe, I attack” · Presse Agence Sport, 2020 · translated from French
“For me, my passion for the sport is more important than a medal.”
Marianne Vos, three-time road world champion, 2012 Olympic champion · Cyclingnews, 2021
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but when that happens you must always try again, again and again, until you’re satisfied.”
Tadej Pogačar, Tour de France winner and road world champion · Tuttobiciweb, 28/11/2024 · translated from Italian
“Riding a bike makes you happy; perhaps the right question isn’t why I’m always happy, but why the others aren’t.”
Tadej Pogačar, asked why he always seems happy · Tuttobiciweb, 28/11/2024 · translated from Italian
“You can talk about fitness but the element people forget about and which has to come first is tenacity. … I know if I am in pain others will be in pain too.”
Lizzie Deignan, 2015 road world champion · The Telegraph, 30/06/2017
“I worked 20 years for these 20 seconds of happiness.”
Jens Voigt, Tour de France stage winner, hour record holder in 2014 · dpa, 25/07/2001 · translated from German
“If you want to succeed in your job and in your profession or passion, you have to be just as disciplined. Otherwise, it’s impossible.”
Alejandro Valverde, 2018 road world champion · Rouleur, 04/10/2022 · translated from Spanish
“I can sense where the limit is, even though I’ve often gone looking for it.”
Annemiek van Vleuten, 2021 Olympic time-trial champion, 2022 Tour de France Femmes winner · NOS, 05/09/2023 · translated from Dutch
Team sports quotes (football, basketball, rugby…)
Teamwork, failure that makes you better, the will to win: quotes from football, basketball, rugby and hockey coaches and players.
“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan, six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls · Nike, « Failure », 1997
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
Michael Jordan, six-time NBA champion · I Can’t Accept Not Trying, 1994
“…100 percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in the net.”
Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey legend (NHL) · Philadelphia Inquirer, 09/02/1983
“Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is!”
Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers coach (1959-1967), whose name is on the Super Bowl trophy · Esquire, 1962
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach, 10 NCAA titles · They Call Me Coach, 1972
“To me, one of the most beautiful things to see is a group of men coordinating their efforts toward a common goal — alternately subordinating and asserting themselves to achieve real teamwork in action.”
Bill Russell, 11 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics · Sports Illustrated, 04/08/1969
“You can have the nine greatest individual ball players in the world, but if they don’t play together the club won’t be worth a dime.”
Babe Ruth, baseball legend (New York Yankees) · Babe Ruth’s Own Book of Baseball, 1928
“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”
Babe Ruth, baseball legend · The Rotarian, 1940
“Failure is not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be POWERED by. Failure is the highest octane fuel your life can run on.”
Abby Wambach, 2015 World Cup winner with the USA · Barnard College, 16/05/2018
“The player has to understand he is part of a team, with 10 other players. If every player plays like a jazz musician, it will be chaos. They will not be a team.”
Pep Guardiola, manager, Champions League winner with Barcelona and Manchester City · The Guardian, 03/01/2017
“I attach more importance to partnerships, to how players complement each other. No team is better than a strong collective.”
Didier Deschamps, World Cup winner as a player (1998) and as France coach (2018) · Le Temps, 2016 · translated from French
“Defending starts with the striker; the whole team is involved.”
Johan Cruijff, three-time Ballon d’Or winner, player and coach at Ajax and Barcelona · NOS, 15/12/2014 · translated from Dutch
“Whoever thinks they are very good, that they will surely win, is more doomed to failure.”
Vicente del Bosque, coach who won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 with Spain · RFEF, 27/03/2014 · translated from Spanish
“Dreams are something you work on, and in the end they can come true.”
Andrés Iniesta, 2010 World Cup winner with Spain, at his farewell · Europa Press, 08/10/2024 · translated from Spanish
Quotes from other sports and great writers
Triathlon, and a few philosophers who understood sport long before us.
“No matter how much it hurts in a race, giving up is always the last card I would play.”
Jan Frodeno, Olympic triathlon champion (2008), three-time Ironman world champion · Abendzeitung München, 16/05/2018 · translated from German
“The body of an athlete and the soul of a sage: that is what it takes to be happy.”
Voltaire, philosopher, letter to Helvétius (1740) · translated from French
“The weaker the body, the more it commands; the stronger it is, the more it obeys.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher · Émile, livre I, 1762 · translated from French
“What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher · Götzen-Dämmerung, 1889 · translated from German
“For as long as he lives, a man has no greater glory than what he achieves with his own feet and hands.”
Homer, the games of the Phaeacians · Odyssey, VIII, 147-148 · translated from Ancient Greek
“… and like runners, they pass on the torch of life.”
Lucretius, Latin poet and philosopher, on the generations · De rerum natura, II, 79 · translated from Latin
Funny sports quotes
Because motivation also comes with a smile.
“Someone said to me ‘To you football is a matter of life or death!’ and I said ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’.”
Bill Shankly, Liverpool manager (1959-1974) · Granada TV, 20/05/1981
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
Gary Lineker, England striker, after losing the 1990 World Cup semi-final to West Germany · 1990, iNews 2018
“I believe the German team will be unbeatable for years to come. I’m sorry for the rest of the world.”
Franz Beckenbauer, World Cup winner as a player (1974) and as coach (1990), after the 1990 final · Berliner Zeitung, 2009 · translated from German
“The Italians can’t win against you, but you can lose against them.”
Johan Cruijff, before the 1995 Champions League final · Onze Taal, 1996 · translated from Dutch
“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.”
Mark Twain, writer, ending his account of learning to ride · Taming the Bicycle, c. 1886
“If you are quick at eating and tardy in running, eat with your feet and run with your mouth.”
Lucian (attributed), Greek epigram · Greek Anthology, XI, 431 · trans. W. R. Paton
Famous sports quotes that are misattributed
These lines are everywhere, usually with a big name attached. Our research shows they were not said by that person, or not in that form:
- “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up…”: not Roger Bannister, not Christopher McDougall. The earliest known version appeared in The Economist in 1985.
- “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon”: a garbled version of Zátopek’s 100-metre line quoted above.
- “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional”: Haruki Murakami quotes it from another runner. It was already in print in 1980.
- “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift” (Steve Prefontaine): no source dated to his lifetime.
- “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” (Einstein): a paraphrase of his 1930 letter, quoted accurately above.
- “It never gets easier, you just go faster” (Greg LeMond) and “Ride lots” (Eddy Merckx): no interview or book confirms them.
- “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” (Vince Lombardi): the line belongs to Red Sanders, in 1948. Lombardi said something else (see above).
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” (Wayne Gretzky): the slogan version; his actual 1983 words are above.
- “Football is not a matter of life and death, it’s much more important than that” (Bill Shankly): a paraphrase of his real line, quoted in the funny section.
- “The most important thing is not to win but to take part” (Pierre de Coubertin): the idea comes from a sermon by Bishop Ethelbert Talbot in London in 1908; Coubertin took it up, and the familiar wording is a later rephrasing.
How we checked these quotes
Every quote on this page comes from a specific source: the author’s own book, a dated interview or speech, or an archive. Quote websites that give no source don’t count.
When a quote was not said in English, it is translated and the original language is shown. English quotes are reproduced word for word; cuts are marked with “…”.
This page was fully revised in October 2026: quotes we could not trace to a source were removed.
To turn motivation into consistency, read our 6 tips to stay motivated to run, learn about intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation in running, or get inspired by RunMotion runners’ success stories.
FAQ
What is the most motivational sports quote?
It depends on your sport and your moment. For runners, Eliud Kipchoge’s “no human is limited” has become a symbol. For bouncing back from failure, Michael Jordan’s line about missing over 9,000 shots is hard to beat. Pick the one that speaks to you, not the most famous one.
Who said “No human is limited”?
Eliud Kipchoge, on 12 October 2019 in Vienna, after running a marathon in 1:59:40. It is not an official record: he ran with rotating pacers and a pace car.
Did Michael Jordan really say he missed 9,000 shots?
Yes. The line comes from Nike’s 1997 “Failure” ad: “I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career… And that is why I succeed.”
How can a quote help you before a race?
Pick a short line, write it where you’ll see it (watch, hand, phone) and repeat it when things get hard. A quote gives you a spark; a training plan matched to your level is what gets you to the finish line.
