Michael Johnson Quotes

As strong as my legs are, it is my mind that has made me a champion.

One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.

The only one who can beat me is me.

You learn as much from those who have failed as from those who have succeeded.

There's a complete difference between training for a specific event and goal and just training.

You can't control what the other athlete is going to do; you can't control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task.

(Natural Talent + Opportunity) Hard Work = Success

The basis of self-discipline: Don't allow the edges to blur.

A good mentor offers directions and driving tips from the back seat. You still have to drive the car.

They think because I'm small, they can do what they want to do to me. But I'm not weak. If I lower my shoulder and they lower they're shoulder, they're going to go down.

Don't shoot for something unattainable - completely outside of your nature or opportunity.

Along with trustworthiness, consistency is the thing to look for when you surround yourself with people who can help you on your quest.

I always wanted to be a sprinter.

It is important that you strive for humility, but not humiliation, for a cool, level-headed confidence, not a stiff, delusional arrogance.

Examine the opportunities, the challenges you've given yourself.

Your problems pale in comparison with those of the millions of people in the world who do not have enough to eat.

Opting for gold shoes could have been considered downright cocky, but I was confident and never doubted my ability to deliver gold medals to match my shimmering footwear.

The only thing you can never change is your values.

I've had to learn that not everybody does things my way. But I do expect the absolute best of everyone around me, and I'm disappointed when people don't expect that of themselves.

Be who you are in every situation.

When you're gone I can go running though the house screaming and no one will ever hear me.

On the £20,000 Mercedes prizes for each winner at the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart- Anyone good enough to win already has one.

I work hard to improve myself as a person - as a father, as a husband, as a manager. I'm always on that mission.

A bird, music and food -desert island items

You can make goals for family, relationships, anything.

Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me - I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.

I don't always do a lot of predicting, but, when I get a really strong feeling about something, I will tell people.

I had already been into my professional career for six years and had not won an individual gold medal at the Olympics. There was a tremendous amount of pressure going into 1996 to get it done.

All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it's impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn't left an imprint through the generations.

As an athlete, I was never really comfortable with being a celebrity.

You owe it to yourself to find your own unorthodox way of succeeding, or sometimes, just surviving.

How could you look more stupid than to be the guy accepting a bronze medal in gold shoes?