Motivation is essential for athletes looking to achieve their best performance. To help you stay motivated, we’ve compiled a list of 75 of the most inspirational and motivational sports quotes for athletes. Whether you’re an athlete looking for motivation or a coach looking for something to motivate your team, these motivational sports quotes are sure to get you energized and ready to work hard. Let’s take a look at some of the best motivational sports quotes for athletes.
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Motivational Sports Quotes for Athletes
- “I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability.” —Bruce Jenner
- “In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I’m going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here’s a chance to grow.” —Carol Dweck
- “The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” —Steve Young
- “I hated every minute of training, but I said, don’t quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” —Muhammad Ali
- “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” —Matt Biondi
- “My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.” —Hank Aaron
- “Don’t be afraid of failure. This is the way to succeed.” —LeBron James
- “I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.” —Sandy Koufax
- “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” —Mike Singletary
- “Many times, I had to dig deep and perform. All of that adversity helped me and drove me to want to be the best.” —Hayley Wickenheiser
- “You must not only have competitiveness but ability, regardless of the circumstance you face, to never quit.” —Abby Wambach
- “It’s going to be a journey. It’s not a sprint to get in shape.” —Kerri Walsh Jennings
- “Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.” —Wilma Rudolph
- “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” —Vince Lombardi
- “You’ve got to be confident when you’re competing. You’ve got to be a beast.” —Gabby Douglas
- “I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.” —Kobe Bryant
- “You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the World Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun.” —Derek Jeter
- “Once you give them the power to tell you you’re great, you’ve also given them the power to tell you you’re unworthy. Once you start caring about people’s opinions of you, you give up control.” —Ronda Rousey
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Short Insiprational Sports Quotes for Athletes
- “There is always going to be a reason why you can’t do something; your job is to constantly look for the reasons why you can achieve your dreams.” —Shannon Miller
- “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” —Billie Jean King
- “You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.” —Michael Phelps
- “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” —Marv Levy
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” —Ernie Banks
- “It is action that creates motivation.” —Steve Backley
- “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” —Ben Hogan
- “They say discipline and dedication and respect are the key factors, but patience is a virtue that is absolutely essential!” —Ria Ramnarine
- “If something stands between you and your success, move it. Never be denied.” —Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- “I believe in the impossible because no one else does.” —Florence Griffith Joyner
- “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” —Neale Donald Walsh
- “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan
- “Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you.” —Eddie Robinson
- “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie
- “Passion first and everything will fall into place.” —Holly Holm
- “I always try to start out with some type of goal. Then I work backward and think of what I need to do to get there and give myself smaller goals that are more immediate.” —Kristi Yamaguchi
- “Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t pretend that you do and, and some point, you will.” —Venus Williams
- “Being nervous is not something you should be ashamed of. Nervous means you care, you really want to do well.” —Paula Creamer
- “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” —Mary Lou Retton
- “You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.” —Homer Rice
- You control your own wins and losses.” —Maria Sharapova
- “You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” —Herb Brooks
- “Number one is just to gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track. And if some kid gets really good at it, that’s cool too.” —Pat Tyson
- “You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.” —J. Askenberg
- “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” —Tom Landry
- “I never left the field saying I could have done more to get ready and that gives me peace of mind.” —Peyton Manning
- “You have to remember that the hard days are what make you stronger. The bad days make you realize what a good day is. If you never had any bad days, you would never have that sense of accomplishment!” —Aly Raisman
- “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” —Emil Zatopek
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Encouraging Sports Quotes for Athletes
- “Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” —George F. Will
- “The past doesn’t matter. Take today.” —Becky Sauerbrunn
- “Somebody gives you an opportunity, say yes to it. So what if you fail? you won’t know if you fail or succeed unless you try.” —Ann Meyers
- “Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.” —Liane Cardes
- “Even while they teach, men learn.” —Seneca the Younger
- “Overpower. Overtake. Overcome.” —Serena Williams
- “You can’t always be the best. You have to remember that everyone makes mistakes sometimes.” —Aly Raisman
- “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” —Mark Spitz
- “Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.” —Liane Cardes
- “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” —Simone Biles
- “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.” —Arthur Ashe
- “Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her.” —Mia Hamm
- “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” —Andre Agassi
- “You should never stay at the same level. Always push yourself to the next.” —Marnelli Dimzon
- “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” —Knute Rockne
- “When you fall, get right back up. Just keep going, keep pushing it.” —Lindsey Vonn
- “The ability to conquer one’s self is no doubt the most precious of all things that sports bestows.” —Olga Korbut
- “I just knew if it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it.” —Gertrude Ederle
- “Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it’s never really over until the whistle blows.” —Alex Morgan
- “No matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through it.” —Ray Lewis
- “The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.” —Ken Doherty
- “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” —Tommy Lasorda
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” —Paul “Bear” Bryant
- “The hardest skill to acquire in this sport is the one where you compete all out, give it all you have, and you are still getting beat no matter what you do. When you have the killer instinct to fight through that, it is very special.” —Eddie Reese
- “The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you and you don’t have to listen.”—Jessica Ennis-Hill
- “Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” —Laird Hamilton
- “One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” —Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- “If you think you’re done, you always have at least 40 percent more.” —Lauren Crandall
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