Top 66 Ashton Eaton Quotes

You’re just constantly battling this thing that is telling you, ‘I don’t think I can do it.’ I think we all have it. When you’re fresh and alert, you can easily put those doubts down. But when you’re tired, they easily come up to the surface.

I’m not much of a gym rat; I’d rather be running, but if it enables me to run faster, then I guess I can tough it out.

Rather than realizing immediate physiological gain, the challenge is more about reducing the mental attrition from the two days to maximize each event.

When I was a junior and an up-and-coming athlete, I don’t think I looked to anyone for inspiration. I was so busy trying to improve myself and learning these new events and learning about the decathlon in general that I didn’t really have time to focus on anyone else.

I am not the one who has to try to beat me.

I’m very happy to have set a world record in Tallinn. Estonians sure do love athletics and combined events!

You try to figure out the best way to throw the shot put, or the perfect way to long jump, and you don’t ever get it. You just chip away, chip away, chip away as time goes on.

I thought it’d be cool to start my own university, in a way.

I’m a ‘what’s next?’ guy. I don’t know what that is, but I’m excited to find out and put the same kind of energy into it as I put into track.

Even though decathlon is really long, there’s always something different to look forward to, which is great for mental stimulation.

From the time I started the decathlon, I’ve loved the event. I didn’t know why. I still don’t know why.

It would be fantastic to spend your whole life trying to pursue something and then finally, at the last moment, you achieve it. You know, instead of getting it in the middle of the pursuit and spending the second half giving it meaning.

Universities are like a utopia in a way, because you’re mentally stimulated, you’re challenged, and you have a lot of young, creative minds wanting to do new things, different things. Better things.

If I really felt like I was the world’s greatest athlete, I’d get 10 great events. But I know that’s pretty much not possible. That’s the toughness of the decathlon.

When I’m on the track, I like hearing the fans cheer me on.

My key to dealing with stress is simple: just stay cool and stay focused.

After asking questions about current recovery techniques, the conversation prompted me to ask myself, ‘Why does it feel good after running to pour a bottle of water over your head?’ I don’t know the physiological answer, but the fact that it does feel better makes me perform better.

We all understand that this isn’t about me beating you and you beating me. It’s about each individual competing against himself.

What you do is you’re using the other competitors to push yourself, because it’s so hard to push yourself.

My mom and I have been through a lot. But when you think about it, whose life is perfect? It is just really good because we did this together.

To be with the other two-time gold medalists is great, but it’s great to just be a decathlete.

You see somebody on a football field make a great, athletic 70-yard run, but the athleticism is immeasurable. It’s undoubtedly athletic, but compared to somebody else who did something else, how do you compare it? That’s the great part of track and field. It’s a test, but with results that you can compare to others.

I’m not maximized yet.

My mom took me to a taekwondo class, and I fell in love. I was seven years old.

As an athlete, you really see a lot of the Instagram paradigm. Where it’s just like, ‘Me! Me! Me!’ When you realize you can ‘Give, Give, Give,’ it’s very interesting, and it’s good.

I’ve got to do Gotzis at least once.

I think when the competitions come, I am always ready to go. I don’t think I ever have not been.

My local newspaper, the ‘Bend Bulletin,’ interviewed me while I was at high school after I had just signed with the University of Oregon. I remember I wore a University of Oregon hooded sweatshirt, and they took a picture of me in the long jump pit. I was freezing!

When I’m later in the competition, I get antsy. I’m seeing everybody else go and achieve things. It’s like I’m just twiddling my thumbs.

There’s never going to be a decathlon that you’re going to have 10 events that your satisfied with. You’re always, always going to be dissatisfied in something, and that always draws you back to try to retry that the next time you do a decathlon. It’s like you go for the perfect 10.

It has been a pleasure being in the same era. I mean, the guy’s last name is Bolt, and he’s the fastest man ever. You can’t write a story like that, and so to be in the pages in there is nice.

As athletes, we love to say, ‘Just one more; I’m going to figure it out on this next one.’ It’s tough to pull back the reins and do what is smart physically, listening to your body and always ending a workout or session feeling like I could have done more.

I haven’t seen kids in years who have holes in the knees of their jeans. Now you go buy jeans with holes in them.

I think a challenge for myself is to see how many times I can get above 9,000. That would be a good challenge.

I can’t remember when I wasn’t running around doing some sort of a sporting activity.

I haven’t played a full round of golf yet, but I did make two pars my first time out on a golf course.

When you have an injury, you are hindered a little bit.

From the age of seven, I basically started practicing my hand-eye and foot coordination, balance, strength, endurance, discipline, and mental toughness three days a week until I was about 15.

In our marriage, the success of our athletic dreams comes before everything. ‘Hey do you want to watch a movie?’ ‘No, I have a hard workout tomorrow.’

The great thing about this is, and not to pump my own tires, but I feel like I’m not maximized yet. I feel like I can still run faster, jump higher, which I think makes it special. Hopefully, going to London, I’ll be welcomed into the decathlon community.

My goal in Korea is to win. There’s no timetable when to set the American record.

I would like to have a decathlon where all of my throws are really consistent and set the tone. That I’m good all-around, not just a speed and jump guy.

I want to see where I measure up against everyone in the world and everyone who has ever competed in the sport, and there’s that innate sense of wanting to challenge myself. I’m competitive in all aspects.

The first pet I remember was a cat called Baby. She would sleep with me, and I could call her from anywhere, and she would come running.

Now that I’m older, I see the benefits of having free time to release energy.

The first sport I played was baseball. I remember being on the Little League team and someone pitching the ball to me for the first time. I was ready to no longer hit the ball off the tee, and an adult pitched it to me underhand.

I’m a second-degree black belt.

What I feel like I’m doing is showing people what is humanly possible when someone commits their entire life to something.

When you’re doing any event on an elite level, you’re in tune with your body.

Nike came to me and said, ‘We’re interested in the decathlon and interested in seeing if we can help you get as close to 10,000 points as we can.’

That’s what we want people to do. Select a goal or gold and go after it.

Every day, we as athletes face several challenges during the training process, and it is imperative that we approach each situation carefully and with continued precision.

The Olympic gold was like going to a theater and seeing a movie that had the ending you expected. But you left the theater thinking, ‘You know, that was a good movie.’

My biggest competitor? Myself, mentally.

The more you do, the more attrition you experience.

Coping with injuries is always difficult for athletes because all we want to do is, basically, to have our best performances unhindered.

It’s hard for me to speak of my own development. I’m the one behind the steering wheel, and it is easier to see where the vehicle is going when you are looking at it. For me, it feels like I have been doing the same thing all along.

Know that even when you want to give up or throw in the towel, in the end it will all be worth the hard work.

When I was growing up, I used to watch ‘Power Rangers’ and ‘Ninja Turtles.’ It seemed like every movie had someone doing martial arts in it, so I would go around punching and kicking trees.

For me, I want 10 perfect events.

I think that titles are for, I don’t know, books and stuff. I just like doing what I’m doing.

I think what’s at risk is kids losing touch with being a kid. Being a kid is being defined differently than it was when you didn’t have all this stuff you could put in front of your face.

I remember growing up, having sports to go to, having recess, those were the things I looked forward to. Yes, I’m an athlete, but I had buddies who weren’t, and they looked forward to it, too.

If somebody wants me to do something I’ve never done, I can do it more easily because of all of the years of sports I’ve played.

I must refine my training every day to give myself the best opportunity to achieve my dreams during the Olympic Games in Rio.