Top 66 Eddy Alvarez Quotes

I can remember stepping out of the car with my skates already tied, smelling the ocean breeze.

I learned how to be an athlete. I learned the true art of resiliency and grit.

It may say 30 on paper, but I don’t look the part, I don’t act the part, and I do my best to play like that.

I love the fact I am a Cuban American man who represented the United States in the Olympics. I was proud to wear the red-white-and-blue.

Everything wrong with running, I did it.

I was 2 years old and already swinging bats and throwing balls.

I was just cruising around the streets of South Beach and got scouted. Two ladies stopped my parents and said, ‘This kid needs to try the sport of inline speed skating,’ so I did and I remember falling in love with it and the thrill of racing.

I owe so much to my parents, to my family.

Being a first-generation Cuban American, my story represents the American Dream.

I’m as optimistic as I possibly can be.

Short track is like metal rock. You kind of always got to be on your toes.

I’m just going to keep going. That’s been my motto since I was younger, through all adversity and all obstacles.

When someone meets me it’s ‘Oh, you’re the flag-bearer guy!’

Baseball’s just something that’s always been a part of my family. My dad did it, my brother did it, I grew up doing it.

Once I retired from skating, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have the chance to come back to the Olympics.

I’m just so honored I got the chance to represent our country. I was always willing to put in the work, the sacrifice, to do so.

It can be a little nerve-wracking sometimes feeling like I have to do more than I really do.

My dad is such a Cuban man – he’s as stubborn as me.

My college coach was like, ‘You ever thought of switch hitting,’ and I was like, ‘You know, I thought about it but I never really tried it.’

When athletes disrespect the flag and say things about their country that’s not prideful, it really hurts me because of the situation that I’ve had to see my family go through.

In speed skating, we want to have the strongest, most powerful lower half of the body and don’t want to have any weight on top.

Baseball is my true passion. Skating was more of a short-term goal.

Baseball, once I got to the Major Leagues, I told myself, ‘Now it’s begun.’

I have an analytical mind.

As an Olympic athlete, I was at the top of my sport.

I’ve been on skates since age 5.

And it wasn’t so much the medal, it was stepping out of the ramp during the Opening Ceremony. Man, I took a step back and realized I made it. That was huge.

At the end of the day, standing on the Olympic podium on the top is what we’re all really searching for here.

There were times when I thought of dropping skating completely and just focusing on baseball.

I went from Arizona to all over Florida just doing workouts in front of scouts. I promised myself that I was going to sign with whatever team called me first.

We all deal with our inner pessimist. We just try to find as much positivity as we can find.

I didn’t really hit my stride until my Olympic year.

I am completely prepared to let the tiger out of its cage in Sochi and see what happens.

I saw my baseball career skyrocketing, but there was always something in the back of my head that was missing. That was trying to make it to the Olympics.

As soon as I finished skating, watching video of me stealing baseball bags was funny.

I definitely see my progression moving at a rapid pace.

I heard it all. ‘He’s too old. He won’t get by Double-A. He’s too slow.’

The silver medal is incredible, because we worked so hard for so many years. Sacrificing, absolutely demolishing our bodies for hours a day, 11 months a year, years on end.

We’re pieces of the puzzle. If I fit in a certain algorithm, then it’ll be time for me to go. It’s tough as a baseball player, it really is, not knowing much, but you just have to play.

I had expectations to go back to college and get my name out there more.

To be honest, I feel like just an average human being.

My personal goal is to go off. I’m gonna do everything in my power to win games and I know all the other guys around me are in the same boat. Whatever it takes.

What the public sees is my successes… Yes, I’ve won competitions and I’ve done unbelievable baseball, but a lot of those times, I failed more often than not.

It felt like I blinked and the Olympics were over.

There was that feeling of standing on the podium and listening to someone else’s national anthem that really sucked.

If the cards just so happen to be drawn that I get called up to the big leagues and become ineligible to go to the Olympics, then so be it.

I am a prime example of what the American dream is.

It was the first time I’d picked up a bat and ball in three years, and it turned out to be a breakout season for me. I was named to the All-Conference team and nominated for All-American.

I love people watching.

Baseball has been something that’s always been in my blood. It was just something I was bound to do no matter what. I was going to play baseball.

Walking in the opening ceremony and just being part of the Olympics is so special and it’s something to cherish forever.

It’s an honor to bring back a silver to the United States.

There’s a lot of sacrifices I’ve made in this life, in my athletic career.

I kept going. The decisions I’ve had to make, the setbacks, the feeling of having my back against the wall, I was determined that I had the grit.

I’m full of life.

If I wouldn’t have medaled at the Olympics, it still would have been a successful trip. The medal is the icing on the cake.

You’ve got to be up-to-date on what your opponent is doing.

When we get off the line in skating we kind of look like little ducks running.

I thought playing baseball would give me a break from being in a squat position all day, but it didn’t. I could not handle the pain anymore.

At the Olympics, once I got there it was more about the full experience and skating to the best of my ability.

I didn’t know if pro ball was in the plans for me. I didn’t know it was going to happen right away.

I remember after the Games I was lifting weights with propane tanks on them, and getting to experience opening ceremonies again was something I dreamed of every day.

I’m a firm believer that positive thinking creates positive results.

To hold Old Glory, a symbol of freedom and liberty to many around the world, not just in the United States, this one means a lot.

As a child, I always had a dream to make it to the Olympics.

My grandparents and my parents came over from Cuba with nothing to their name just for a chance of freedom and opportunity.