Runners

"I don't know how it all happened but I was very disappointed and it's coming from athletes you never expected to do drugs. I feel for them but I know one or two things would have led them to do it. Sometimes it's not the athletes' fault but I'm not encouraging drugs. If they do it and they know it, then they should face the consequences. It's just a pity; a sprinter (Gloria Kemasuode) too is affected and she's good. We are all going to miss her. I really feel bad for them because I don't think they are under pressure."

"If you leave athletics, it leaves you. I was getting lazy because this is the build up period from September to December but so far so good, everything has been so good. I have a coach in Germany by the name of Frank Duka that prepares a programme for me. We have a coach in Nigeria that we use whenever we are around too."

"I used to watch every competition on Skysports to see the times athletes are running and to see if the times aren't above what I can run. They ran well last year but nobody really ran fast among the Nigerian women, unlike in 2008 when I was running. That year Damola ran 11.08 seconds which was really very fast but the fastest last year was 11.16 seconds. It was good but what they were running in Europe, America and Jamaica was faster; they were giving us time to follow because Carmelita Jeter of the US ran 10.6 which was very fast. The Africans didn't do so well but at least we are following up."

"It's not so easy because it's just like when you are in school trying to read and pass your exams without lagging behind. Every year new people come out in athletics so I just have to train hard and see who comes out this year. I ran well in 2008 and I hope to do the same this year (2010). I know it's not going to be easy but I have to come back to it, to tell myself I can do it."

"Our administrators are killing the sport. We have to understand that you cannot reap from where you did not sow. I’m sorry to say this, we believe too much in fire-brigade approach. Sports is dying in Nigeria because our administrators are not doing what they are supposed to do. It was on during our time but it was better. It is that bad now."

"I missed being at the World Championships and my city would have loved to see me run since I'm based in Germany. They missed me too in the relay team because our team did poorly in Berlin. I'm not saying I'm the best in Nigeria but if I was there and some of us that ran in the Olympics were there, we might have made an impact."

"Although we're American, we're also Nigerian. We're actually Nigerian first. That's the one culture that we know, that we were raised to respect and understand. To show people that it's okay to be both and it's okay to represent where you're from is a powerful message that, hopefully, we've been able to translate."

"You can’t coach someone to have passion, you can’t coach them to be dedicated, you can’t coach them to have heart and you can’t coach them to move with integrity or commitment and those are the things we are looking for."

"I don’t see myself as ‘the next’ anyone,I see myself as me, Favour Chukwuka Ofili, who is coming up with the grace of God in my life."

"Being in an uncomfortable place isn’t bad [and] it isn’t wrong; it’s just different. Sometimes you need to be able to take that chance."

"Don’t be afraid to take that risk. Impossible is nothing."

"You can sometimes stand in front of a door without knowing what’s on the other side and open it. You won’t know what’s on the other side until you open it."

"If you are healthy, you can really do anything."

"Everyone should be held to the same standard of fairness no matter what country they are representing and which sport they play. We all give so much of ourselves every single day and sacrifice our lives to be the best we can be naturally - no one should be able to dilute this efforts or strip them away by cheating. In any country where there is doping scandal, the system and the culture that was in place for this type of behaviour to be acceptable should be broken down and re-educated to prevent innocent-hearted athletes from being punished in the future."

"After we qualified for the Olympics, there was this uproar within Nigeria, the Nigerian diaspora, and non-Nigerian people. People were really excited that there was a winter effort and something positive happening for Nigeria."

"Fear is really just another opportunity to learn."

"This is a real-life example of what it means to represent African excellence and a true testament to the fact that impossible is nothing. This milestone is truly a blessing."

"The ability to be selfless is what drives your ability to actually see clearly."

"In being selfless, you’re able to see a lot more sometimes than you really want to. Sometimes you just have to be able to tackle that fear, particularly that of the unknown. It’s always easier to just turn away and walk away from it, but if you just open up to it, you’ll really be able to see exactly what your purpose is."

"This is beyond a dream come true. To be able to bring something back to not only the country of Nigeria – which has so gracefully given me my family, my culture and everything I stand by – but also to the continent of Africa and the world."

"When you ride on faith, you’re able to live in that element of selflessness. You’re able to live in that moment of fearlessness. I don’t attribute any type of individual success to myself, but more so to God’s will to put me in places to allow things to flourish or opportunities to present themselves."

"Every single year we (Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria) have taken a group of 68 athletes and coaches to learn and develop the sport. Our goal is to try and compete in 2026. We are developing them along the way, every single year it is getting better and better."

"This sport (bobsled) is celebrating 100 years this year and we are only in our 5th year. it would interest you to see what we have been able to do in 5 years. this is due to our passion, dedication and willingness to be great."

"This sport (bobsled) has the biggest learning curve that I probably have ever experienced in my life. I’ve learned a couple things along the way, but this is totally new. Take a driver who just freshly got their license —16 years old...They know what to do behind the wheel. They have an idea. But then go throw them in Daytona. It might be a little bit different type of driving. That’s how I feel. It’s just straight survival mode the entire time."

"It is a great feeling, having a bronze medal before and now silver, I hope they will soon award the silver medals to us. Even when we came back with the bronze in 2008, we didn’t even get a handshake or a congratulatory message but thank God today that I can now be addressed as Olympics silver medalist. That is the joy of the whole thing but it would have been better if the silver medal had been awarded right on the podium"

"To bring a gift for people to know that resilience is something that you can actually live to achieve, and that the fear of the unknown doesn’t need to be something that limits your ability to thrive in life...Those qualities will be important for everybody to be able to take in."

"I don’t believe that one body and the other operate the same, particularly in sports. You can’t just give two different people the same workout and expect their bodies to respond the exact same way. They may respond similarly, but there are going to be things that will differentiate between their outcomes. If you can understand the fundamentals of why their bodies respond differently, then you could also be able to contribute to those specific differences, to make that individual athlete better."

"My Mother is Still My Driving Force."

"experience in track and field will also help me to drive home a point to young athletes because I have gone through it already."

"It was a triumph for women all over the world to stand up to their enemies, That's what made me really proud."

"My father worried a lot about me - it was an enormous stress for him,I knew that what I was doing was an incredible burden for him."

"As I crossed the line, I thrust a fist into the air, It was a symbol of victory, of defiance. It was to say:I did it! I won!"

"That year I didn't run a single race in Algeria, It was simply too risky. I could have been killed at any moment."

"I don’t know about any secrets, but I think if I could put it in a nutshell; I’m an athlete of routine, routine of being disciplined, hard working and dedicated. Doing the small things that most athletes don’t want to do, tapering down, ice baths, all kinds of stuff; If coach says do 6, don’t try to do 4! Your goal is to do 8. Those are things that made me a better athlete. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I try to take care of my body, rest etc."

"Debbie Ferguson – McKenzie – Interview Female Coaching Network, 7 July 2015 by @fasterfergie16"

"Most people don’t see this part, but there were days when I was throwing up, there were days when I couldn’t walk after a session, days when I felt like quitting and there were days when I’d say why am I doing this, I don’t want to do this anymore! But nobody sees that part, so when you make a final and you’re like wow…at least before the gun goes off, I can say I am number 8 or top 8 in the World! That to me, if you think of how many people are in this World, is fantastic, it’s awesome!"

"the focus is always on the training, the physical part of it, and the mental aspect of it is (being) ignored."

"In athletics, on the track, I learned to suffer, to love my country, to concentrate, to take responsibility."

"I believe you can express your self in sport maybe better than in any other field. All that, and it brings everyone together, too."

"not because they are not physically ready, but because they are not mentally prepared."

"It is an athlete’s greatest accomplishment to be at the Olympics and in an Olympic final, so that’s what athletes have to learn to thrive on. Just like when you train your body physically, you have to train your mind mentally to harness that positivity from everything that is going on around you and put it into that competition. It’s almost like being in Hollywood; you have a script, the scene/race has already been rehearsed. I’ve trained, sacrificed and worked hard, so now it’s time to portray that in front of the World."

"You can't be a champion in a week or a year, You must accept a time of suffering."

"I like to keep things simple, not be a star. But I've become a representative of all Algeria, and of young women in particular."

"My parents came originally from the remote countryside. But for 10 years my father drove a truck in France and sent money home to our family."

"Every year it gets harder to balance my training, my friends, my other interests and my duty to visit my parents and take care of them."

"I was screaming for Algeria's pride and Algeria's history, and still more."

"My race at the world championships was the first time I ever felt complete confidence in myself."

"Several leaders of political parties told me, You did what we haven't been able to do for years. You brought us together."

"Tradition is not really a problem. The thinking has evolved enormously. Women’s emancipation has really progressed. Women can choose what sport they want."

"Women’s sport in general is very weak, We still need a good sports policy. There’s a lot of work to do."