Last words
Memorable quotes, memorable Games
A sampling of the best quotes from the Games,
LONDON — In the end, it’s all about the athletes. So let them have the final words — poignant, joyous or bizarre — on the 2012 Olympics.
-“The two most difficult jobs in the world are saving the miners in Chile and taking over the men’s basketball team in China.” — Chinese player Wang Zhizhi. The Chinese finished winless under Bob Donewald.
-“I do not have any idols. I am my own idol.” — Judo athlete Ilgar Mushkiyev from Azerbaijan.
-“When I first got into a rowing boat, I fell into the water. But I am a good swimmer, so it was no problem.” — Hamadou Djibo Issaka, who had been in wooden fishing boats only until three months ago but was in the Olympics as a rower because Niger was given a spot and had no one else.
-“They are in a safe deposit box with some armed men around them.” — Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, on the location of his gold medals.
-“I’m completely gutted. We’ll spend days, weeks, months, the rest of our lives trying to work out if we could have done more.” — British rower Zac Purchase, after finishing a close second.
-“There is no feeling like it. Maybe the same as the first time you hold a new baby.” — Denmark rower Mads Rasmussen, on winning a gold medal.
-“We could end tomorrow, and we’re going to be happy for the rest of our lives.” — Mike Bryan of the USA, after he and brother Bob won the men’s doubles tennis gold medal at Wimbledon.
-“I’m nervous to undergo an operation to fix my sight, because it is not a hindrance. I’m yet to find a doctor who would want to operate on a world recordholder.” — Russian shooter Alexei Klimov.
-“Some of them simply live in a fantasy world. I don’t. I could imagine I look like (French actor) Alain Delon or James Bond, but I don’t. I look more like a monkey.” — Russian women’s team handball coach Evgeny Trefilov.
-“They picked me for a doping test. They simply cannot believe that such a great body can be built without any banned stuff.” — Hungarian water polo player Zoltan Szecsi.
-“We were holding them when they were dying. It is still a motivation for us, and they are always present for us.” — Egypt soccer captain Mohamed Aboutrika, about the 74 victims of a soccer riot in February.
-“I expected to do better, but the weights were too heavy.” — Micronesia weightlifter Manuel Minginfel.
-“I am sure that I am the first monk to be an Olympic rider, but I am not so perfect a monk and not so perfect a rider. Every morning I close my eyes and think of getting better.” — Kenki Sato, Japanese equestrian athlete and Buddhist monk.
-“When baby kicks, I will breathe in and breathe out and calm myself down. I’ll tell the baby, ‘Behave yourself and help Mommy to shoot.’ Luckily she understands.” — Malaysia’s Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi, who competed in shooting while pregnant.
-“Do you think I’d tell you if they had?” — British rider Zara Phillips, when asked if she had gotten any advice from her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, or her mother, Princess Anne.
-“First of all, I have to tally up who I owe money to.” — U.S. weightlifter Sarah Robles, on the financial challenges of Olympic training.
-“For me the meals in the U.K. are quite monotonous, so I wanted to eat something which is at least close to Hungarian dishes. And the closest thing was bread and butter.” — Hungarian canoer Attila Vajda.
-“We are not obliged to throw our president out of a helicopter.” — Marco Balich, executive director of Rio de Janeiro’s handover ceremony Sunday, referring to the spoof of Queen Elizabeth parachuting into the opening ceremony.
-“The medal hasn’t had the good effect I hoped for.” — British equestrian rider Scott Brash, who had said on TV he hoped a gold medal would help him meet girls.
-“It is like a love story. You can give a lot, but you get nothing. We didn’t just get the medal. Whatever question you ask, I don’t know what to answer. I have my eyes for crying.” — Bruno Bini, French women’s soccer coach after losing to Canada for the bronze medal.
-“When I used to go running, I used to see all these crackheads and drug addicts. I didn’t want to be like them.” — Claressa Shields, a native of Flint, Mich., who became the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing.
-“We are just not right in the head. That’s why we are interested in it.” — Gold medalist Sergey Kirdyapkin of Russia, on being a race walker.
-“Our opponents were better than us, and we must congratulate them and prepare for our next race. In the pub.” — Filip Dvorak of the Czech Republic, after finishing fifth in canoeing.
The perfect parting words.