Quote

As an athlete, you figure you work your whole life to have what you have, and to be able to show the world what you have and how proud you are of it, that's always fun.

As an athlete, there are advantages being with a team and getting regular physio.

Athletics keeps us healthy, gets us up and running around. It also gives you an opportunity to meet a lot of different people, which is very important.

It's an individual sport; you want to do well for yourself.

I think one has to understand that there are stages in life, and that the life of an athlete has its limits. It's short, and then it stops, and sooner or later you have to accept that.

For many of us, sport has provided the continuity in our lives, the alternative family to the one we left behind. It gives us something to talk about, to preen about, to care about.

I think being an athlete prepares you for more things than people give us credit for.

Being an athlete helps me get those grandiose emotions of pleasure and pain that are involved in sports.

I would say that one of the really special gifts about playing an athlete is that it's the best motivation you'll ever have to get in top shape and stay in top shape because you know that you're going to be expected to deliver.

For every athlete, it is very important to be able to engage in their favorite thing, give all the best in training, performing in competitions, defending the honor of the motherland.