Arthur Lydiard Quotes

• There are champions everywhere. Every street's got them. All we need to do is train them properly.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Champion, Needs, Streets

  40 Copy quote

• I have a saying 'train, don't strain.' The Americans have the saying 'no pain, no gain' and that's why they have no distance running champions. They get down to the track with a stopwatch and flog their guts out thinking that it'll make them a champion, but they'll never make a champion that way.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Pain, Distance

  53 Copy quote

• Athletes need to enjoy their training. They don't enjoy going down to the track with a coach making them do repetitions until they're exhausted. From enjoyment comes the will to win.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Inspiration, Athlete

  40 Copy quote

• When aerobic running becomes a daily habit, strength and confidence follow.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Habit, Daily Habits

  29 Copy quote

• They have a word in Finnish called sisu, which basically means guts. It’s the strongest word in the Finnish language. You tell a Finn he doesn’t have sisu, that’s like spitting in his face.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Mean, Track And Field, Faces

  60 Copy quote

• It's just a matter of understanding what's necessary and discipline yourself to do it.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Discipline, Understanding, Matter

  37 Copy quote

• They're very tenacious. They're dedicated. Once a woman decides she's going to do something, she'll probably stick to it. The only problem with women is if there's anything wrong with them, they won't tell you. They'll get out there and run on one leg. They don't moan and groan like a lot of men do.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Men, Legs

  32 Copy quote

• No one will burn out doing aerobic running. It is too much anaerobic running, which the American scholastic athletic system tends to put young athletes through, that burns them out.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Athlete, Athletic

  27 Copy quote

• You must realize one thing. In every little village in the world there are great potential champions who only need motivation, development and good exercise evaluation.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Motivation, Exercise

  31 Copy quote

• I discovered years ago that the best results in this respect could be gained by running 100 miles weekly at my near best aerobic efforts and that, supplementary to this, running as many easy miles as I could

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Years, Effort

  42 Copy quote

• If you want to be a successful runner, you have to consider everything. It's no good just thinking about endurance and not to develop fine speed.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Successful, Thinking

  21 Copy quote

• Well, no athlete respects a big, fat coach who's going to stand there and rest the watch on his stomach.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Athlete, Watches

  22 Copy quote

• Champions are everywhere, you just have to train them properly

  Arthur Lydiard

  Champion, Train

  22 Copy quote

• My most frequent admonition to athletes and coaches is: train, do not strain.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Athlete, Admonition, Coaches

  Arthur Lydiard, Garth Gilmour (2000). “Running with Lydiard”, p.17, Meyer & Meyer Verlag

  22 Copy quote

• The idea that you can't lose contact with the leaders has cut more throats than it has saved.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Cutting, Ideas

  25 Copy quote

• I get more gratification out of getting some obese person who had a heart attack running around and enjoying life within a year. I get more gratification from that than putting a person in the Olympic Games. The Olympic athlete probably doesn't appreciate what you've done, but the other guy does. I think it's really rewarding.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Running, Heart, Athlete

  13 Copy quote

• Encourage kids to enjoy running and play in athletics. Don't force them to run too much competition.

  Arthur Lydiard

  Motivational, Running, Encouragement

  15 Copy quote

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