Nadia Comaneci Quotes

Eleven years old is not an early age to set your sight on the Olympics for a gymnast, because we normally peak in high school. I first qualified for the Olympics team during my sophomore year in high school, when I was 15 years old.

I worked hard in gymnastics since the time I was six years old until I retired at 23 years of age.

The majority of people who get in the sport of gymnastics do not go to the Olympics or get a Division 1 scholarship, but it doesn't mean that they can't get something positive from the sport.

I think I started toddler gymnastics when I was around 3 or 4, and I began taking it seriously when I was 6.

I'm a better and more educated person because of basketball.

I probably got more out of sports in high school than I did out of classes.

High school, going into my junior year, I kind of had the idea I was going to be the starting running back. I was a little smaller, so I decided to gain weight and try to get faster. I wasn't a fan of the weight room. I thought just the God-given talent would take you where you needed to go. Now I understand that you need hard work.

I'm training at Alliance because they encourage me, and they motivate me, and they try to build on my uniqueness as a fighter, as an athlete.

Being a dancer or athlete of any type teaches you the fundamentals of discipline... and the ability to know you can grow.

The truth is, gymnastics is a beautiful sport that has allowed me to grow and learn invaluable life lessons: sacrifice, dedication, discipline. Eventually, it led me to my voice.

I got into rhythmic gymnastics when I was four years old.

Boxing is by far one of the best things to happen to my life.

Even if kids don't love gymnastics, if they start at any age with some classes, they can learn so many different things - they can build a lot of character, strength, flexibility, and courage. Hopefully, they can also develop a sense of fearlessness.

I would consider it the greatest experience of my life, it's the experience that made me a man, that taught me so many life lessons that you get from sport, ones that I've been able to pass down. (It was) invaluable, beyond words, got me through school, high school, and college, it was the greatest gift I gave myself.

I love athletics and martial-arts and competition because it gets me right and puts me in the right place.

Football gave me a sense of purpose. It gave me a sense of me.

I've definitely got better over the years at conserving my energy in pre-season - at knowing what to focus on and what to let go.

I started a gymnastics class at five years old, but it became serious at seven.

I started gymnastics when I was six years old. I was at day care, and they took us on a field trip to a gym club, Bannon's Gymnastix in Houston, and that's how I got started.

I have learned that champions aren't just born; champions can be made when they embrace and commit to life-changing positive habits.

I know that if I'm going to take myself to where I want to go as an athlete and a person, I have to look at all my training options.

That's what the game is supposed to be about: always wanting to get better, be the best you can be. I hold myself to that every single summer, every single year.

I can't imagine my life without martial arts. I would be a different person.

Obviously, that's the thing any athlete wants to be able to do, to take weaknesses and turn them into strengths.

My mindset's just focused on looking forward, bettering myself, getting on the pitch, on the training pitch, doing what I can do to improve myself.