It's just a matter of understanding what's necessary and discipline yourself to do it.

I have a saying 'train, don't strain.' The Americans have the saying 'no pain, no gain' and that's why they have no distance running champions. They get down to the track with a stopwatch and flog their guts out thinking that it'll make them a champion, but they'll never make a champion that way.

Encourage kids to enjoy running and play in athletics. Don't force them to run too much competition.

They have a word in Finnish called sisu, which basically means guts. It’s the strongest word in the Finnish language. You tell a Finn he doesn’t have sisu, that’s like spitting in his face.

Champions are everywhere, you just have to train them properly

Well, no athlete respects a big, fat coach who's going to stand there and rest the watch on his stomach.

The idea that you can't lose contact with the leaders has cut more throats than it has saved.