Motivational gymnastics quotes can fuel young gymnasts to overcome challenges and reach new heights. When a gymnast is struggling, who better to seek advice from than the World Champion gymnasts that came before?
As designers of gymnastics software, we are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence for gymnasts and coaches. That’s why we’ve collected words of wisdom and reflections from some of the best gymnasts to ever grace the mat.
Below, you’ll find gymnastics quotes about training, perseverance, personal development, and more. We hope these quotes inspire your gymnasts and coaches.
If you have any inspirational gymnastics quotes that you’d like to share, please get in touch with us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram! We’d love to hear from you.
Inspirational Gymnastics Quotes
1) “Set your goals, follow your dreams, listen to your heart and don’t let anything stand in your way.” – Brandy Johnson
2) “Wake up every day knowing that today is a new day and only you can determine the outcome of that day. So dream big, accept the challenge, and never look back.” – Alicia Sacramone
3) “Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.” — Mary Lou Retton
4) “Don’t look at the big picture as the only achievement. Start with set, smart goals and work up to something bigger.” – Jordyn Wieber
5) “If you’re following your dreams, you’re doing something you love and that you believe in yourself for.” – McKayla Maroney
6) “Jump off the beam, flip off the bars, follow your dreams and reach for the stars.” – Nadia Comaneci
7) “There will be mistakes and there will be falters. There will be things that are not a part of your plan. See the challenges in your life and accept them and embrace them.” – Dominique Dawes
8) “I just tell people to listen to your heart. Anything is possible if you are doing something you love.” – Alicia Sacramone
9) “To be a gymnast, you must have the strength to hold on and the courage to let go.” – Madison Kocian
10) “The only risk is not taking the risk. You’ve got to take that step.” – Jaycie Phelps
Gymnastics Quotes About Training and Competing
11) “Practice as if its competition, but compete as if its practice.” – Peter Vidmar
12) “The one day you don’t go into practice and use that day to the fullest is the one day someone is going to beat you.” – Blaine Wilson
13) “I’ve learned how to stay humble. I don’t want to get in over my head because when you do that it takes you off your game.” – Gabby Douglas
14) “One of the things about my sport that’s important is consistency – being able to do your routines consistently and training consistently. If you change it up or try to make everything more intense because the Olympics is coming up, you tend to put too much pressure on your mind and your body.” – Jonathan Horton
15) “I don’t think my natural talent is much different to the other gymnasts. It is a matter of how I train and how I think about my training. I also give a lot of thought to my routines.” – Kohei Uchimura
16) “Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.” – Mary Lou Retton
17) “Trust in your training, and make it happen.” – Peter Vidmar
18) “Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.” — McKayla Maroney
19) “Part of being a good gymnast is being very disciplined – you have to know how to train right, eat right, sleep right.” – Jonathan Horton
20) “The main thing for a gymnast is total concentration while competing. At such moments one has to put everything else behind.” – Ludmilla Tourischeva
21) “Practice like you have never won. Perform like you have never lost.” — Kyla Ross
22) “When you are on the podium nobody is asking you if you are 15 or 30 years old. What matters is who can do great gymnastics.” – Oksana Chusovitina
Gymnast Quotes about Personal Development
23) “Gymnastics, for me, gave me a lot of self-pride: that drive to want to be great at something for myself.” – Amanda Borden
24) “I am who I am today because of a lot of the things I’ve learned in gymnastics.” – Katelyn Ohashi
25) “As much time as you put into it, that’s what your achievements are going to be when you come out of it.” – Mary Lou Retton
26) “As a competitor, you have to learn pretty quickly how to deal with pressure.” – Mitch Gaylord
27) “Gymnastics has taught me so many lessons, and I couldn’t be more grateful for everything that I’ve gone through.” – Katelyn Ohashi
28) “Staying humble has always been really important to me, and always being proud of what you’re representing.” – Jordyn Wieber
29) “I learned to take those experiences that were difficult in my life and in the adversity that I had overcome to use it for a positive change.” – Dominique Moceanu
30) “Don’t set your goals to be a star. Set your goals to be the best that you can be and go from there.” – Dominique Dawes
31) “All of my fans gave me confidence and reassurance that I was not just some little girl who was good at gymnastics, but that I could compete and fight for a spot in the Olympics.” – Maria Filatov
32) “Gymnastics taught me everything – life lessons, responsibility and discipline and respect.” – Shawn Johnson
33) “You just have to be yourself and go full with confidence and be courageous.” – Gabby Douglas
34) “Don’t be afraid if things seem difficult in the beginning. That’s only the initial impression. The important thing is not to retreat; you have to master yourself.” – Olga Korbut
35) “Competing in gymnastics is the greatest reminder of being alive as a human being.” – Raj Bhavsar
36) “I’ve learned that you don’t have to win first place to win.” – Kim Zmeskal
37) “Don’t let people tell you that you can’t do something.” – Laurie Hernandez
38) “The most difficult thing to overcome is yourself. It’s difficult to force oneself to get up and keep going when things are tough.” – Aliya Mustafina
39) “Be yourself. It’s really important not to try and be someone else.” – Katelyn Ohashi
Gymnastics Quotes about Perseverance
40) “It’s important to push yourself further than you think you can go each and every day – as that is what separates the good from the great.” – Kerri Strug
41) “Everyone gets scared, and everyone falls. The key is to get right back up and try again.” – Shannon Miller
42) “There’s mornings when my body aches or my mind is just not with it. But that’s part of being an athlete and accomplishing a goal that seems unattainable. You have to find your motivation, what inspires you.” – Jonathan Horton
43) “Never give up and always keep fighting, because though times may be tough, the sacrifices do pay off, so just keep pushing towards your dream and just love it at the same time and enjoy it. – Gabby Douglas
44) “You have to remember that the hard days are what make you stronger. The bad days make you realize what a good day is. If you never had any bad days, you would never have that sense of accomplishment!” – Aly Raisman
45) “I would tell any girl who has a dream like this to just do whatever it takes to make it, because in the end it’s definitely worth it.” – Phoebe Mills
46) “Talent alone is not enough. I believe that a really good gymnast is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.” – Vladislav Rastorotsky
47) “We can push ourselves further. We always have more to give.” – Simone Biles
48) “Being great at your sport has nothing to do with trophies or awards. It has everything to do with the decision to relentlessly chase more progress every day.” — Shawn Johnson
49) “The hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made, so if you push through, you can push through anything!” — Gabby Douglas
50) “It’s not about winning or losing a competition, it’s about beating the doubt from within yourself and knowing at the end of each day you are one step closer to your goals.” – Jonathan Horton
51) “Hard work is always hard work, for young gymnasts and old gymnasts. Whoever can handle this will be a champion.” – Svetlana Boginskaya
52) “You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.” — Kyla Ross
53) “In Gymnastics, there is no such thing as an overnight success.” – Laurie Hernandez
Reflections on Gymnastics and Family
54) “Gymnastics demands so much of our time. We train all week and travel and compete on weekends. The people you’re surrounded by really become your second family, your best friends, your sisters. My coach was like a second mother for me.” – Amanda Borden
55) “These are friendships that these girls are making that will be a lifetime and they’re doing things that are so abnormal and to such a high level, that there’s a bond that’s like no other.” – Kim Zmeskal
Quotes about Passion and Love for Gymnastics
56) “I love gymnastics because it has no citizenship. However, it has its own Universal language that any child can understand no matter where they live.” – Maria Filatov
57) “If there has not been such a thing as gymnastics, I would have had to invent it because I feel at one with the sport.” – Olga Korbut
58) “The first time I come to the gym I told my coach I would like to become an Olympic Champion.” – Svetlana Boguinskaia
59) “My earliest memory was watching gymnastics on live TV and wanting to do what the ‘big girls’ did.” – Laurie Hernandez
60) “Through that experience of doing gymnastics again, I found my love and my passion for all the sport does have to offer. It offers much more than an Olympic accolade or National Title. It was grounding, it made me an extremely hard worker, super motivated.” – Kristie Phillips
61) Go into the sport because you have fun doing it, not because of ‘what ifs’ and dreams of gold medals. That way, no matter what happens, you win.” – Shannon Miller
We hope you enjoyed our collection of inspirational gymnastics quotes. If you enjoyed these quotes, you may also enjoy reading about the life lessons from Simone Biles.
