In honor of the 2016 Rio Olympics, we’ve rounded up some of the best quotes from some this year’s star athletes including Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, and Vashti Cunningham to jumpstart your day.
Gabby Douglas – “I’m just going to do the same thing I did in London. Focus, train really hard, be consistent and go out and enjoy the journey.”
“For me, it’s pumping [my team] up and motivating them. If someone is struggling, it’s everybody’s job to help them and get them going,” the gymnast recently told People.
Vashti Cunningman – “Me and my dad [former NFL player Randall Cunningham] are similar athletes. I want to win everything I do. I’ll be thankful if I go and don’t win, but there’s always that fire in me that needs to win and wants to win,” the U.S. high jumper told The New York Times.
Michael Phelps – “Being able to make my fifth [Olympics] is something that means a lot to me, and I think that 20 years from now I’ll be able to look and be happy with making that decision to come back. Even when [coach Bob Bowman] looked at me and said, ‘You were crazy about wanting to come back’ … I’m doing this because I wanted to,” he told the Omaha World-Herald.
Yolande Mabika – “It’s the dream of every sports person to be in the Olympics. It’s a chance you will never forget. If I ever have my own family, I will tell my children everything I have been through in my life to get here,” the refugee team Judo fighter told NPR.
Laurie Hernandez – “I think it’s amazing that I can just go out there and be myself and the fact that I’m carrying Puerto Rico on my back a little bit is such an honor.”
“Anything I did [my family] was just like, ‘Okay we understand what you’re trying to go for, we understand that you’re training for the Olympics and we support you.’ Once I actually made it I’m pretty sure everybody started crying,” Hernandez, told People.
Bernard Lagat – “My daughter tells me, ‘Daddy, I want you to make it to the Olympics so I can go watch gymnastics,'” the 41-year-old runner told Yahoo Sports.
