169 Competitive Sports Quotes

Following is our list of competitive sports quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about athletic competition.

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Famous Competitive Sports Quotes

Sports is a moral undertaking because it requires of participants, and it schools spectators in the appreciation of, noble things - courage, grace under pressure, sportsmanship. — George Will

Sport must be amateur or it is not sport. Sports played professionally are entertainment. — Avery Brundage

Professional sports are something they can't control. — Troy Vincent

High school sports: where lessons of life are still being learned, and where athletes still compete for the love of the game and their teammates. — Michael Powers

Sports create a bond between comtemporaries that lasts a lifetime. It also gives your life structure, discipline and a genuine, sincere, pure fulfillment that few other areas of endeavor provide. — Bob Cousy

Sports is the toy department of human life. — Howard Cosell

Sport fosters many things that are good; teamwork and leadership. — Daley Thompson

Sports is human life in microcosm. - Howard Cosell

Sports is human life in microcosm. — Howard Cosell

The most interesting thing about this sport, at least to me, it the activity of preparation-any aspect of preparation for the games. The thrill isn't in the winning, it's in the doing. — Chuck Noll

Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports... all the others are games. — Ernest Hemingway

The tradition in Serbia has always been team sports - football, basketball, handball, volleyball and water polo, individual sports are not supported. — Novak Djokovic

The glory of sport is witnessing a well-coached team perform as a single unit, striving for a common goal and ultimately bringing distinction to the jersey the players represent. — Dick Vitale

The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love. — Bryant Gumbel

Sport is a great equalizer that can build bridges, transcend borders and cultures, and render even the fiercest conflicts temporarily irrelevant. — Richard Attias

School, politics, sports, and games train us to compete against others. — Naval Ravikant

Short Competitive Sports Quotes

  • Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. — George S. Patton
  • Sports are my passion and I really enjoy connecting with others who share my love of the game — Tessa Bonhomme
  • Competing in sports has taught me that if I'm not willing to give 120 percent, somebody else will. — Ron Blomberg
  • Ballroom dancing is a contact sport. Rugby is a collision sport. — Heyneke Meyer
  • Sports do not build character. They reveal it. — John Wooden
  • With competition everyone has to try harder. — Harold H. Greene
  • Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances. — Roger Bannister
  • Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results. — Jerry Flint
  • I am a huge sports fan. — Kris Allen

Competitive Sports Image Quotes

Competitive sports quote Look in the mirror... that's your competition.
Look in the mirror... that's your competition.

Sports Competition Quotes

You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. - Serena Williams

You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. — Serena Williams

There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out. — Pat Riley

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. - Paul Tournier

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. — Paul Tournier

Competitive sports quote A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.
A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.

School, politics, sports, and games train us to compete against others. True rewards – wealth, knowledge, love, fitness, and equanimity – come from ignoring others and improving ourselves. — Naval Ravikant

The most important attribute a player must have is mental toughness. — Mia Hamm

I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated - Emmitt Smith

I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated — Emmitt Smith

Competitive sports quote Your body will be around a lot longer than that expensive handbag. Invest in yourself.
Your body will be around a lot longer than that expensive handbag. Invest in yourself.

In training, you listen to your body. In competition, you tell your body to shut up. — Sayings

I had to remind Gary Kristen often that he was in the covers to field against Sachin not to applaud him — Hansie Cronje

Competition in its best form is a test of self. It has nothing to do with medals. The winner is the person who gets the most out of themselves. — Al Oerter

You owe it to yourself to be the best you can possibly be - in baseball and in life. — Pete Rose

Athletic Competition Quotes

Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much. Success is measured by what we have done to prepare for competition. — John Smith

Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust. — Jesse Owens

It's all about the journey, not the outcome. — Carl Lewis

Competitive sports quote The real workout starts when you want to stop.
The real workout starts when you want to stop.

The more I practice, the luckier I get. — Jerry Barber

Most people who do a lot of exercise, particularly in the form of competitive athletics, have unneurotic, extraverted, optimistic personalities to begin with. (Marathon runners are exceptions to this.) — Robert M. Sapolsky

I was told over and over again that I would never be successful, that I was not going to be competitive and the technique was simply not going to work. All I could do was shrug and say "We'll just have to see". — Dick Fosbury

Competitive sports quote Our bodies are capable of anything. It's our mind we have to convince.
Our bodies are capable of anything. It's our mind we have to convince.

A competitive athlete is painful to look at; trying hard to become an animal rather than a man, he will never be as fast as a cheetah or as strong as an ox. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

When I'm in my groove there is no thinking. Everything just happens. — Ozzie Smith

A good athlete always mentally replays a competition over and over, even in victory, to see what might be done to improve the performance the next time. — Frank Shorter

If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place. — Criss Jami

Playing Sports Quotes

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

This is the greatest thing about sports - you play to win the game. Hello? You don't play to just play it. When you start telling me it doesn't matter, then retire, get out, because it matters. — Herman Edwards

Football is just a game. What matters is what you play for. — Ernie Davis

Competitive sports quote Do your work with your whole heart and you will succeed - there's so little competition.
Do your work with your whole heart and you will succeed - there's so little competition.

During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at-bats a season. That means I played 7 years without ever hitting the ball. — Mickey Mantle

When you see a good move, look for a better one. - Emanuel Lasker

When you see a good move, look for a better one. — Emanuel Lasker

The team with the best athletes doesn't usually win. It's the team with the athletes who play best together. — Lisa Fernandez

Competitive sports quote Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.
Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man. — Pele

The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven. — Knute Rockne

Having the chance to play sports growing up teaches you all kinds of life lessons. It gives young people confidence and instills in them motivation and drive to be the best one can be. It's absolutely invaluable. — April Ross

Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the center of the city. — Oscar Wilde

Professional Sports Quotes

Just when you think you know the answers, I change the questions. - Roddy Piper

Just when you think you know the answers, I change the questions. — Roddy Piper

There is no mat space for malcontents or dissenters. One must neither celebrate insanely when he wins, nor sulk when he loses. He accepts victory professionally, humbly; he hates defeat, but makes no poor display of it. — Dan Gable

I think it's my personality to overcome things, learn from them and become stronger, both personally and professionally. To be honest, I welcome those hardships. — Hope Solo

Competitive sports quote Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desi
Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a vision, a dream.

I strongly believe the black culture spends too much time, energy and effort raising, praising, and teasing our black children about the dubious glories of professional sports. — Arthur Ashe

I think the industry brings out probably the best individuals in the sport that can encourage and motivate people to be all they can be. — Martyn Ford

I think professional sports, football, to use it as an example, it's fundamentally a form of entertainment. — Gregg Easterbrook

Competitive sports quote Pain is the passing lane where you leave the competition behind you.
Pain is the passing lane where you leave the competition behind you.

Several professional athletes have wrongly taught many young Americans by example that the only way to succeed in sports is to take steroids. — Jim Sensenbrenner

Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them. — Julius Erving

If you're looking to be a professional athlete on the top tier of any sport, my best advice is to put everything you have into it. If you're not, somebody else is. It's got to be all or nothing. — Dominick Cruz

I think sports for kids is the greatest thing in the world because it teaches you how to share, about winning and losing and pressure. But I don't think you should force your kid to become a professional athlete. — Wayne Gretzky

Sports Team Quotes

Winning as a team is better than anything. It's great to share success. — Jim Harbaugh

Revolution is a spectators sport. The majority will sit in the stands and watch the factions fight. At the end they will choose side with the team that is winning. — George Lincoln Rockwell

A vital team characteristic is the ability to overcome adversity. Any team acquires experience and endurance as it learns to fight back. This in turn builds the kind of character which seldom crumbles at a time of crisis or testing. — Tom Landry

Competitive sports quote If youre not failing once in a while, it probably means youre not stretching yourself.
If youre not failing once in a while, it probably means youre not stretching yourself.

When you start supporting a football club, you don't support it because of the trophies, or a player, or history, you support it because you found yourself somewhere there; found a place where you belong. — Dennis Bergkamp

The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot. — Bill Russell

When building a team, I always search first for people who love to win. If I can't find any of those, I look for people who hate to lose. — Ross Perot

Competitive sports quote My failure gave me strength, my pain was my motivation.
My failure gave me strength, my pain was my motivation.

A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are. — Ara Parseghian

If you begin to think business whether you own it or work for it like you would a well managed sports team you will learn a lot of very interesting lessons — Strive Masiyiwa

The most important thing in coaching is communication. It's not what you say as much as what they absorb. — Red Auerbach

It's not about rugby, it's about young men. It's not about building a championship team, it's about building championship boys. Boys who will be forever strong. — Larry Gelwix

Competitive Spirit Quotes

If we continue to think and live as if we belong only to different cultures and different religions, with separate missions and goals, we will always be in self-defeating competition with each other. Once we realize we are all members of humanity, we will want to compete in the spirit of love. — Muhammad Ali

Anyone who believes the competitive spirit in America is dead has never been in a supermarket when the cashier opens another check-out line. — Ann Landers

We've lost our competitive spirit. We've become so obsessed with making kids feel good about themselves that we've lost sight of building the skills they need to actually be good at things. — Michelle Rhee

I'm not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I'm doing. So if I'm playing basketball, if I'm taking the SATs, like, there's a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it's the same thing. — J. Cole

Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased. — Jiddu Krishnamurti

Developing the muscles of the soul demands no competitive spirit, no killer instinct, although it may erect pain barriers that the spiritual athlete must crash through. — Germaine Greer

Train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the martial arts is not there. — Taisen Deshimaru

The pressure people put on themselves and the rivalry between the teams is much more marked. And I think that's a good thing. As long as that rivalry remains within the spirit of competition, it con only spur everyone on. — Eric Cantona

The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us. — John Towner Williams

Only three or four outs directly affect the outcome of any given game...One of the greatest challenges of pitching is to recognize these critical situations and rise to the occasion with consistency and a competitive spirit. — Tom Seaver

Professional Athlete Quotes

I'm a firm believer in... just because these guys are professional athletes or whatever, everybody's going to have an opinion on something, and not everybody's going to get along. I've had my words with fans on Twitter too. — Dana White

You see a hockey player, you'd never know he's a professional athlete. But you put the skates on him, and he becomes a beast. — Junior Seau

I would advise all youths aspiring to athletic fame or a professional career to practice clean living, fair play and good sportsmanship. — Major Taylor

I’m a professional athlete, I’m a businesswoman and I know who I am. — Joanna Jedrzejczyk

I'm a working mom, not a professional athlete, but I am a runner and that's a special club. — Alison Sweeney

I don't believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models. — Charles Barkley

The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. — Robert A. Heinlein

A good professional athlete must have the love of a little boy. And the good players feel the kind of love for the game that they did when they were Little Leaguers. — Tom Seaver

The left's obsession with the high incomes of corporate executives never seems to extend to equally high - or higher - incomes of professional athletes, entertainers, or best-selling authors like Danielle Steel. — Thomas Sowell

Once you become a professional athlete or once you do anything well, then you're automatically a role model ... I have no problem being a role model. I love it. I have kids looking up to me and hopefully I inspire these kids to do good things. — LeBron James

Sports In General Quotes

We can no longer ignore the stupidity of the hits that are still happening today despite the fact that the players know the concussion aspect is such a big part of the game and sports in general. — Jeremy Roenick

I had no interest in fashion when I was younger. I was such a tomboy. I loved soccer, as you call it, or sports in general. The first time I was a bridesmaid, to my auntie, I refused to go down the aisle without my football shorts underneath my dress. — Cara Delevingne

Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead — Roger Bannister

The problem with winter sports is that -- follow me closely here -- they generally take place in winter. — Dave Barry

The problem with winter sports is that - follow me closely here - they generally take place in winter. — Dave Barry

I can be a voice. I can use my platform to help the younger generation. I think it's really important for them to understand how to do things the right way, and not just in sports, in life in general. — Allyson Felix

The essence of sports is that while you're doing it, nothing else matters, but after you stop, there is a place, generally not very important, where you would put it. — Roger Bannister

The general definition of being muscle-bound is that you have so many muscles that you can't move freely. I don't know of any bodybuilder in that category; in fact, many of them are quite active in other sports. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I'm a big sports fan in general. — Luke Bryan

I don't like the human race in general. We are the only species who hunt for sport, who kill due to emotional need. — Peter Steele

Winning Sports Quotes

If we dare to win, we should also dare to lose - Lee Chong Wei

If we dare to win, we should also dare to lose — Lee Chong Wei

Victory is in having done your best. If you've done your best, you've won. — Bill Bowerman

Passion is a huge prerequisite to winning. It makes you willing to jump through hoops, go through all the ups and downs and everything in between to reach your goal. — Kerri Walsh

Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. — Wilma Rudolph

I look into eyes, shake their hand, pat their back, and wish them luck, but I am thinking, I am going to bury you. — Seve Ballesteros

There are only two types of player-those who keep their nerves under control and win championships, and those who do not. — Harry Vardon

If you want to win, do the ordinary things better than anyone else does them day in and day out. — Chuck Noll

It's not the will to win that matters-everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters. — Bear Bryant

To win takes a complete commitment of mind and body. When you can't make that commitment, they don't call you a champion anymore. — Rocky Marciano

As tennis players, you are never satisfied. We are greedy as players, always want better results. — Sania Mirza

Sports Participation Quotes

Democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires active participation from all citizens. — Alexei Navalny

An athlete gains so much knowledge by just participating in a sport. Focus, discipline, hard work, goal setting and, of course, the thrill of finally achieving your goals. These are all lessons in life. — Kristi Yamaguchi

I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of the hill. — Erma Bombeck

It may be possible through detachment, to gain knowledge that is 'useful;' but only through participation is it possible to gain the knowledge that is helpful. — Harry Stack Sullivan

The Games are just a nice, positive way to build friendships, camaraderie and, of course, self-esteem. Plus, the Games are a great opportunity for people to participate in sports who normally wouldn't. — Greg Louganis

In life, be a participant, not a spectator. — Lou Holtz

There are several differences between a footballl game and a revolution. For one thing, a football game usually lasts longer and the participants wear uniforms. Also there are more injuries at a football game. — Alfred Hitchcock

People have a hard time believing that, but not having a father around, being shy, I just never participated in sports much. — Chuck Norris

I have never thought of participating in sports just for the sake of doing it for exercise or as a means to lose weight. And I've never taken up a sport just because it was a social fad. I really enjoy playing. It is a vital part of my life. — Dinah Shore

This is what you work for, putting all the other crap that you hear aside. Just being able to participate in a World Series is pretty much everything. But you do want to win! — Bobby Bonilla

People Writing About Competitive Sports

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Read quotes by Howard Cosell

Howard Cosell
quotes on sports, football and life

18 721
Read quotes by George Will

George Will
quotes on baseball

242 1042
Read quotes by Avery Brundage

Avery Brundage

10 89
Read quotes by Troy Vincent

Troy Vincent
quotes on leadership, education and nfl

20 116
Read quotes by Bob Cousy

Bob Cousy
quotes on basketball, life and winning

38 219
Read quotes by Daley Thompson

Daley Thompson
quotes on leadership, love and education

48 110

More Competitive Sports Quotes

The weird thing about rap is that you don't get compared in the same way that athletes do, even though it's probably the most competitive sport in music. In basketball, they look at a player and say: 'This guy was the best in his prime at this sport.' But in rap it's not until you're dead or retired that people think about it like that. — Chance the Rapper

My definition of a sport is that it's a physical activity that involves competition. Since bodybuilders certainly train and then compete, we are certainly a sport. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

There’s confidence and mental toughness that comes from the highest level of competition, whatever the sport is. Whether it’s boxing or wrestling, or whatever. — Joe Rogan

The reality is this: Fighting isn't a team sport; it's an individual's sport. — Dana White

The Six W's: Work will win when wishing won't. — Todd Blackledge

Soccer is a great game, and the rich variety of styles and passions that come with being truly global makes the World Cup a nonpareil event in the universe of competitive sport. — Serge Schmemann

Running is perhaps the most fundamental of all sports, and it is economically the least costly to perform. As a consequence, it is the most democratic and most competitive of all sports because individual merit can prevail despite economic equality. It is a sport for everyone, the whole world over. — Bernd Heinrich

Skateboarding has nothing to do with competition or sport. It has to do with trying to stay as immature as you can for the rest of your life. It's kind of a lame thing to say, but it really is. — Lance Mountain

When your Islamic discourse with someone becomes a debate, that's when you know that you have to stop. The psychology of a debate is like a sports competition, and no one likes to lose. So even if you make a good point, the other person isn't going to congratulate you. They are thinking about revenge. — Nouman Ali Khan

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

So I developed very early a massive inferiority complex, and I've told the story often about how that inspired me later in life to get involved in other things, because I couldn't out-do my brothers in sports, and it's a very competitive relationship. — George J. Mitchell

We need to look at our nannying, mollycoddled, politically correct culture in my view, which stops kids from going out and playing competitive sport. I also think we need to look at the shear fatness of the regulations which control people who want to help kids play sport. — Boris Johnson

We play with enthusiasm and recklessness. We aren't afraid to lose. If we win, great; but win or lose, it is the competition that gives us pleasure. — Joe Paterno

I love tennis! I've always felt like this because it is such a classy sport with a great, competitive flair to it. — Roger Federer

The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing. — Jackie Joyner-Kersee

It's not how big you are, it's how big you play. — John Wooden

Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift. — Chris Evert

Masters of one art have mastered all because they have mastered themselves. With dominion over both mind and muscle, they demonstrate power, serenity, and spirit. They not only have talent for their sport, they have an expanded capacity for life. The experts shine in the competitive arena; the masters shine everywhere. — Dan Millman

The most important thing I learned [from running] is that there is only one runner in this race, and that is me. — George A. Sheehan

You've got to look for tough competition. You've got to want to beat the best. — Grete Waitz

I know how difficult my rookie year in the NFL was and I know how competitive this sport is. — Troy Aikman

UFC is not a competitor to the WWE because we are entertainment and UFC is competitive sport. It's very different. — Stephanie McMahon

I have found life highly competitive. I accept it. It is useless, merely a hypocritical humbug, to sincerely wish your opponent to win. If you are out to win you are better not wanting to know your opponent, much less grow to like him - and wish him, honestly success over you. I have never functioned that way. — Percy Cerutty

There is no such thing as life in-between. — Pat Riley

The unique thing about bodybuilding is that when I compete it is just me on a stage alone. There is no field, no bat, no ball, no skis, no skates. All other athletes have to use equipment, like a football. But I don't use anything in competition except myself. It's just me up there. Me alone. No coach. No nothing. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I've had a lot of consoles as a kid so there has always been something that I've done as a pastime or with friends and for personal enjoyment. I don't play many sports so it gives me an opportunity to have that same competitive feeling and the same reward when you win but using different techniques. It's much more mental. — Asa Butterfield

I feel like I'm the most competitive driver in the motorhome lot. No matter what it is - whether we're racing, playing another sport or deciding who can run to that sign and back faster - I feel like I'm the most competitive person alive. — Denny Hamlin

Anytime you lose one fight in the UFC, you kind of have to feel like you are on the chopping block. There is so much competition in this sport. — Charlie Brenneman

I've always like watching competition and athleticism. Just seeing the average person going up against Gladiators, is always something I enjoy. I'm not really a big sports fan, but I do enjoy the show. — Laila Ali

It was bad enough to have toppled from the Olympic heights to make my living competing with animals. But the competition wasn't even fair. No man could beat a race horse, not even for 100 yards. — Jesse Owens

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