“Athletes need to enjoy their training. They don't enjoy going down to the track with a coach making them do repetitions until they're exhausted. From enjoyment comes the will to win.”
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)
“If you want to be a successful runner, you have to consider everything. It's no good just thinking about endurance and not to develop fine speed.”
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)
“Encourage kids to enjoy running and play in athletics. Don't force them to run too much competition.”
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)
“Train, don't strain.”
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)
"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."
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)
"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."
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)
"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."
― Arthur Lydiard (1917-2004)