Emil Zatopek Quotes

#1. We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.

Emil Zatopek

#2. It is not necessary to smile and make a wonderful impression on the judges.

Emil Zatopek

#3. By a persistent effort of will it is possible to change the whole body. The athlete must always keep in mind this concept of change and progression. He must never accept his limitations as being permanent, because they are not.

Emil Zatopek

#4. An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.

Emil Zatopek

#5. If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.

Emil Zatopek

#6. If you come to think of it, you never see deer, dogs and rabbits worrying about their menus and yet they run much faster than humans.

Emil Zatopek

#7. When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter either. Then willpower will be no problem.

Emil Zatopek

#8. I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known.

Emil Zatopek

#9. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

Emil Zatopek

#10. If I can get better, why not?

Emil Zatopek

#11. My running was very simple; it was out of myself.

Emil Zatopek

#12. If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a problem. It's raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's besides the point. It's simply that I just have to.

Emil Zatopek

#13. You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.

Emil Zatopek

#14. Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.

Emil Zatopek

#15. I was not talented enough to run and smile at the same time

Emil Zatopek

#16. Everyone said, 'Emil, you are a fool!'
But when I first won the European Championship, they said: 'Emil, you are a genius!'

Emil Zatopek

#17. Sri Chinmoy brings Heaven to me. He inspires everyone to be happy. He deserves the biggest gold medal.

Emil Zatopek

#18. It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.

Emil Zatopek

#19. When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow, slow, slow.

Emil Zatopek

#20. Try for a goal that's reasonable, then gradually raise it.

Emil Zatopek

#21. Men, today we die a little.

Emil Zatopek

#22. A runner must run with dreams in his heart, not money in his pocket.

Emil Zatopek

#23. Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.

Emil Zatopek

#24. The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.

Emil Zatopek

#25. There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.

Emil Zatopek