"Growing up and seeing my mother representing Nigeria as an athlete, I always wanted to be like her. Whenever I watched her races and how she ran so well, I knew I wanted to follow in her footsteps, and like her, my goal is to one day participate in the Olympics."

"Sometimes you look back in life despite what you have achieved and wished you did some things better, I wish I had listened to my coach to run 400hurdle and put more effort in 200m and 800m."

"Some of the athletes of this generation need to be ready to work harder and not to be telling their coaches that the work load is too much. They must realise that only hard work, determination and discipline can take them to the top of their careers."

"My parents bought me my first running shoe , My coach John Afuwape gave my first Spike shoe in 1980."

"There are things that matter in sports. You may train an athlete for months and you think that the athlete is good enough to win a medal but on the day it matters the athlete gets into an overwhelming stadium with 80,000 spectators shouting and the athlete freezes."

"if you keep on working at it, with all your mind and people say they see you everyday passing by to the stadium to train and one day when they see you on the pitch for an international tournament the people will remember how you always went for training every morning, passing through their area all the time, that’s it, you don’t have to give up."

"You should not worry about what is going on around you because whatever that’s going on is to distract you, but if you keep on focusing and you talk with the right people, when you talk to one person and that person wants to discourage you, you know that you don’t need such a person, but when you talk to another and he encourages you, you know that the person is your friend that wants you to progress."

"When the ovation is loudest, it’s not when people start saying what else do you want. Because sometimes it’s better to give the young ones a chance to come up, it’s not that some people don’t want to leave, it’s because Nigeria don’t appreciate their own."

"I am very passionate about the plight of the less-privileged and I wish that I could set up a foundation to cater for their needs."

"Motherhood is such an indescribable feeling; it’s the best thing in the world. I think all women should go through the experience to understand what I’m saying."

"For me, each race was like a hurdle that I must jump over."

"When you are a top athlete in the world, if you marry the person on the track with you, whenever you travel, both of you can go together since you do the same thing."

"My goal has always been to help our athletics a blend of the old and new by encouraging them."

"At that level, you don’t wait for anybody, it is your career and you have to work very hard to achieve your goals."

"Government is spending so much on football. Though I am not against that, but it’s advisable for it to shift a little and show more interest in other sports, such as track and field."

"The responsibilities of impacting the right attitude and adequate training can only be achieved by professionals in the industry."

"I am hoping to make history, I feel like I have made good preparation."

"I really did not get any encouragement from anyone, but I pushed on because I liked to run. I made my first national team in 1988."

"I knew I would be the Olympic Champion. I was running and the others were looking backwards, so I understood that they were tired, when for me the pace was easy. It was nice, because I could run strong and enjoy."

"I knew of 1960 Olympic marathon winner Abebe Bikila and 1968 winner Mamo Wolde from the radio, so I thought I’d try it, too."

"They thought I should be doing women things."

"I do not really want to be famous,But it's nice to be among the renowned athletes."

"Well, for me the greatest of all marathons is of course the olympic marathon, but second place is Boston."

"Sometimes, if there are a lot of people around me when I go to a store, I feel a bit intimidated. I used to be shy. I still consider myself shy, but I'm a little better now and I'm getting used to it."

"I'm very happy to win a second time, I found it to be a very easy race."

"I've been told there is a big hill, but I didn't see it."

"They all went out of their way, getting us awards and everything."

"Even if I never ran again, I would have been content."

"The reaction I felt from people had a big impact on me, I suddenly felt such a great sense of responsibility. I felt that I had to try to keep running, as long as I possibly could."

"Before the race I was afraid of the others with better times, but soon I realized that they were not running fast today, I picked up the speed and they would not follow. At that point I was already sure that I would win because I practiced very hard."

"Never again, never again will I do this distance, it is too long."

"This is not only a special thing for me but also for my country and all African women."

"She is the only woman from Africa who has won the Olympics and Boston Marathon three times. She is an inspiration for us."

"I think she is an example for a lot of women who are discouraged by the culture because it does not reward you."

"If she can win four times, it gives us much more potential to think we can do it, maybe six times."

"For women, she seems like a very special person, she's very determined, If she wins four, we don't need anything else."

"My wife gave birth to a baby girl soon after the Olympics and I named her 'Fatuma' after you."

"She ran with the same smooth stride and placid, dispassionate look on her face that she carried through the Olympic race."

"The most relaxed-looking runner I have ever seen."

"But there are things you get from participating in sport that will give you more substance. That's the message we need to be bringing out: you'll be healthy and happy. This is far better than anything else."

"You can't change a child's life, but those are the small things that can motivate them, give them a little push to keep them going."

"The only thing I have in my armoury is that I know I'll fight. Whatever it takes, I'll fight. Even if I'm tired, I'll fight."

"If people knew the real numbers on abortion in this sport, then I think there would be more urgency to help women in colleges, to improve the standard of sex education."

"At that point, it was more of a spiritual race than a physical one. It was incredibly hard for me, as I know it is for a lot of women. You feel this unworthiness, this shame."

"I think my mind works as fast as my legs do, and so I’m always thinking of something I have, some business plan or something I wanna do in the community or something. So I’m always thinking of stuff to do."

"And I think working out is one of those things that you need to do at the top of the morning because it actually does energize your day. People think it’s gonna take away from their energy, but I find that it energizes my day."

"I don't challenge myself to be better than the next person, rather better than myself. I think everyone should compete with themselves."

"So, when I feel like I want to give up or cry, I don’t. And the outcome is much more beautiful."