Hooray for Sport!

"An athlete must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head."
Emil Zatopek, 1922-2000, long-distance runner and Olympic champion.

"A jump jockey has to throw his heart over the fence - and then go over and catch it."
Dick Francis, author and champion jockey.

"The only Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races ever remembered are those in which one side has gratifyingly sunk."
Miles Kington, journalist and broadcaster.

"What a magnificent shot! No, he's out."
Tony Greig, commentating on Australian TV

"The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail herself."
John Rousmaniere, America's Cup historian and author

"Playing polo is like trying to play golf during an earthquake."
Sylvester Stallone, American actor.

"The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score."
Nick Hornby, author of ‘Fever Pitch’, 1992

On July 18th 1588, Sir Francis Drake was famously playing bowls at Plymouth Ho when the Spanish Armada came into view, sailing up the Channel. A true sportsman, Drake had his priorities right, responding to the imminent threat of England being invaded by the enemy with the words: ‘We still have time to finish the game and to thrash the Spaniards, too.’ Unfortunately for Drake he lost the match, but he made up for it later by thrashing the Armada.

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun."
P G Wodehouse, 1881-1975

"Water skiing is the only form of skiing in which skiers can’t end up by accident in a place that is too steep for them."
Henry Beard, ‘Skiing’, 1988

"If you think it’s hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball."
Jack Lemmon, American actor, in ‘Sports Illustrated’, 9 December 1985.

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
Edmund Hillary, 1919-2008, the first climber to scale Everest