A Quote by Sebastian Coe

I had a very ordinary background in Sheffield; I went to a secondary modern, but I saw something on TV in 1968 that inspired me to join an athletics club, and 12 years later, with great coaching and the support of people who loved me a lot, I ended up at an Olympic Games.
I've started late, I was 19 years old. I've trained with Victor Zilberman - he's a Russian-Jewish from Moldova. His son David who is coaching me represented Canada in the Olympic games. There were a lot of very good wrestlers there and they took me underneath their wing when I was young.
I had 11 or 12 years in Barcelona, my family is there and also many friends. The fans loved me, I felt highly valued throughout the club and it is always hard to leave the club of your dreams.
The song 'Conceited' on 'There's Something About Remy' was inspired by people always telling me that I'm so much prettier in person or that I've lost so much weight since they saw me on TV. I don't even know if that's a compliment. Were you watching me on TV thinking I was ugly?
Every international meeting or championship I do, I can cope a lot better because I can say I did the 100 m. hurdles, opened up the athletics at an Olympic Games in front of a home crowd, 80,000 people.
I think Splash made people realize that I was still alive, and I think I inspired a lot of people. I have people coming up to me all the time in the airport saying, "Hey, you inspired me to learn how to swim!" "You inspired me to start moving around more." "You inspired me to start doing more for myself." So that was good. But mostly I took it because nobody had given me a job. And you know what really matters in life, right?
The last two years, nationals have been close to home for me, so I've had big family support from friends and club support. Especially last year in Ottawa, I had a whole section my grandpa got for all my family, and the skating club (supported me). I feel like I'm a veteran at this now.
I am delighted that Jason Gardener will be taking over from me as President of U.K. Athletics. With his competitive background in the sport as an Olympic champion coupled with his engaging personality and his experience as a board member of U.K. Athletics, he possesses all the qualities required to be a successful president.
If you had told me in 1968 that 20 years later I'd still be receiving wonderful royalty checks for those three years, I wouldn't have believed you.
When I was about six, I saw my elder siblings play chess and pestered my mother into teaching me. Very soon, I was beating everyone at home, and they thought it would be good to join a club. So my sister would take me to the Tal chess club on Thursdays and weekends.
The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is so often just simply that little word - extra. And for me, I had always grown up with the belief that if someone succeeds it is because they are brilliant or talented or just better than me... and the more of these words I heard the smaller I always felt! But the truth is often very different... and for me to learn that ordinary me can achieve something extra-ordinary by giving that little bit extra, when everyone else gives up, meant the world to me and I really clung to it.
Coming from a farming background, I saw nothing out of the ordinary in running barefoot, although it seemed to startle the rest of the athletics world. I have always enjoyed going barefoot and when I was growing up I seldom wore shoes, even when I went into town.
It was never on the cards for me to go to uni, going to a sink secondary modern in the Midlands. The threat was that if you didn't get your exams, you would end up in a factory. Which I did, but actually that was a great experience, and I would have even got an engineering diploma if I had stuck my three years out.
Kuala Lumpur was my first ever multi-sports games. I didn't do very well but the experience and enjoyment I had of those games really made me realize how much work I had to do and inspired me to work harder for the Sydney Olympics.
I do not experiment very much and prefer the kind of clothes that Sabyasachi designs - they are rooted in our traditions and yet are very modern. I think it has something to do with my growing-up years and the kind of clothes I saw around me.
Wayne's my man. I'm proud of him, he worked hard. You know with a lot of people, Wayne's been doing this for years. Wayne had a record deal before I had a record deal, you know what I'm saying? Even though Cash Money been our for 12, 13 years so you know, for him to come up for where he came up, it was all them, B.G, Juvie, Turk, everybody. To see him excel from all that and become one of the hottest people in the game, 10, 12 years later, I'm really proud of him. That's my lil' man.
I always loved drama at school. We had a great drama teacher at my secondary school, and she made drama feel cool. She inspired me, and then I did the National Youth Theatre in London.
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