Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Gear up and celebrate the Winter Games with these 12 Olympic quotes

The 2010 Winter Olympics, or the XXI Olympic Winter Games, is scheduled to begin on February 12, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. Over 80 countries reserved their spots in this year's games. Whenever the Olympics occurs, a new sense of patriotic sentimentality resounds. We cheer for "our" athletes. We jump for joy with their successes, and commiserate with their losses. So in preparation for these Winter Olympic Games let's get cracking with some Olympic quotes.

1. "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

2. "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 Elliot

3. "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

4. "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

5. "When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition." ~Katarina Witt

6. "The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours." ~Peggy Fleming

7. "To anyone who has started out on a long campaign believing that the gold medal was destined for him, the feeling when, all of a sudden, the medal has gone somewhere else is quite indescribable." ~Sebastian Coe

8. "I have to consider my greatest accomplishments winning the Olympics because everything that I've done after that is really because of the Olympics." ~Brian Boitano

9. "If there's anything that is the center of my career both creatively and emotionally, it's the Olympics." ~Dick Ebersol

10. "It's different today than it was then. In those days we were strictly amateurs. If I had wanted to stay in for the '80 Olympics, my parents couldn't have afforded it." ~Dorothy Hammil

11. "The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself." ~Dawn Fraser

12. "There is something in the Olympics, indefinable, springing from the soul, that must be preserved. " ~Chris Brasher

So settle in by the cozy fire and snuggle under your warmest blanket! We're going to watch some of the best athletes winter sports have to offer. Get inspired ahead of time with these Olympic quotes.

For more inspirational quotes, check out the popular inspirational quotes section at Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in 'Top 10' lists of quotations in dozens of categories.