People
Haile Gebrselassie - 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic runner and marathon runner from Ethiopia
Hicham El Guerrouj - 1,500m and 5,000m Olympic runner from Morocco
After a disastrous fall in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics 1500m final, El Guerrouj had another disappointing race at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, finish second. In the 2004 Athens Olympics 1500m final, El Guerrouj battled Kenyan runner Bernard Lagat for the Olympic gold. Watch the exciting race below.
Kenensia Bekele - 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic runner from Ethiopia
Quotes
Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
-African quote
-Bruce Jenner, quote found in the Wisconsin erg room
Rowing taught me a lot about what it means to train and compete, and the sheer audacity required to strip away the bullshit we use to protect ourselves and be honest about what we really are.
-Jake Cornelius in The Last Amateurs
If I do poorly in anything else it doesn't really matter, but if I do poorly in rowing that takes priority - because rowing matters in the way other things do not.
-Jake Cornelius in The Last Amateurs
It would be incredibly tough mentally as well as physically - mentally because it meant I had to ask myself all sorts of questions like "Can I really do this?" and "How good am I really?" and "What am I worth?" - and did I really want the answers to these questions? What if I were to discover that I wasn't good enough, is that something I could live with? And it's so much harder to show everything you've got and put all your cards on the table than to say fuck this, and I don't really care.
-Jake Cornelius in The Last Amateurs
Pain? Yes, of course. Racing without pain is not racing. But the pleasure of being ahead outweighed the pain a million times over. To hell with the pain. What's six minutes of pain compared to the pain they're going to feel for the next six months or six decades. You never forget your wins and losses in this sport. You never forget.
-Brad Lewis in Assault on Lake Casitas
Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race them, they will win.
-Unknown
I've never understood people who wish me luck before a race. Rowing isn't about luck. Rowing is about the blood, sweat, tears, and lactic acid put into training before a race. Rowing is about being able to sit at the start knowing that you are about to lay it all on the line to win, and knowing that everyone else in the boat is thinking the exact same thing. Rowing isn't about luck, its about being able to say, "Fuck it, its time to go!"
-Unknown
If the goal is to win, the price can't be negotiated. The only thing that can be negotiated is the goal.
-Mike Caviston in the Wolverine Plan
