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

They're very tenacious. They're dedicated. Once a woman decides she's going to do something, she'll probably stick to it. The only problem with women is if there's anything wrong with them, they won't tell you. They'll get out there and run on one leg. They don't moan and groan like a lot of men do.

You must realize one thing. In every little village in the world there are great potential champions who only need motivation, development and good exercise evaluation.

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

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.

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