Well, it has now been exactly one year since www.inthewinningzone.com officially launched, and in that time we have brought you news, interviews, features, blogs and videos from the very best in Scottish sport.

So, to celebrate, we are bringing something very special to you this month.  We are calling it our Celebration Inspiration Compilation!

Twelve Months of Scotland’s Favourite Sports.  Yes, to celebrate our 1st Birthday, we have compiled some of the most inspirational quotes from the top athletes and coaches in twelve of Scotland’s favourite sports, one for each month we have been online, all of which are exclusive to In The Winning Zone!! 

Over the months we have been asking athlete after athlete, coach after coach, star after star what it takes to be a winner, so read on to see the Inspirational, winning words from Scotland’s Olympic Champions, World Champions and Commonwealth Champions, as well as Grand Slam winning rugby players, world beating tennis stars and golfers, and some of the best names in Scottish football....and just a little bit of artistic licence on our part – choosing twelve sports was quite hard!!  Enjoy the compilation....

1. Athletics

Allan Wells – sprinter (1980 Olympic 100 metres gold medallist)

“It’s not something that you know is going to happen. You strive for it.  It is important to develop the potential that you have. At least you have a chance of becoming what you want to become by doing that. It gives you a chance to develop that potential and that potential might be good enough to be a world champion – or an Olympic gold medallist.”

Catriona Morrison – triathlete (World and European Duathlon champion)

“What has really driven me is my desire to fulfil my potential.  At the end of the day it is about the process.  Achievements and medals are the benefits of the process.  So if I do the best I can possibly do then anything that comes along in competition is a mark of that.”

Lee McConnell – runner (2007 World Championship bronze medallist – 4x400m relay)

“I think winning is one of the things you will know when you have done it.  It’s hard to say I need to achieve certain goals in order to be content and happy. I think probably the satisfaction of knowing you have done the best you could do is most important.”

William Sichel – ultra-distance runner (World No 1 for Six Day event 2006, Scottish 48hr Record Holder)

“My drive at the moment is still this boyish motivation to be world class.  I was around people who were quite happy to be county champion or best in their club, or even to get into the national team, but that was never enough for me.  I always wanted to be on the podiums at international events, and I was willing to go to whatever lengths to achieve it.”

2.  Cycling

Chris Hoy – track cyclist (World Champion and Olympic gold medallist)

“I think I get the buzz from achieving something that may not be possible.  If I race at a district level it is a comfort zone where I go there and win, and I’ve never really had any satisfaction from that. It’s always come from setting myself a target that seems impossible:  ‘Is it doable?  I don’t know, but I’m going to give it the best possible shot.’  And then even if I don’t make it I know how far I can go.” 

Ruaridh Cunningham – Mountain Biker (World Junior Downhill Champion 2007)

“It is good doing well in a World Cup, on hard tracks where the weather can upset you a lot.  On a level playing field it is nice to finish among the top the top 20.  You know that you are right up there.  But just being fast and feeling good, you know when you are riding well, that is the biggest confidence boost.  You know yourself how fast you are, you don’t need a clock to tell you.”

3. Rugby

Frank Hadden – Scotland Head Coach (Calcutta Cup winner, World Cup Quarter-Finalist)

 “There are two things that are equally and extremely important, as a coach and a player: Performance and winning.  After the match, there is nothing that beats winning, but you have to be honest about how you performed, otherwise you are not going to keep winning.  You need to have a clear, honest picture of where you are and what is required to make progress.  The ultimate challenge is to get the players to think along the same lines, and be realistic that they are very talented, but that everybody can get better.  There is nobody that can’t get better.”

Gregor Townsend – Scotland and Lions internationalist (Lions test series and Five Nations winner)

“For most of my career the reason for keeping going was to make yourself the best player you could.  It was to play for Scotland.  Everything was to play a good game, so you would get picked to play for Scotland, because that was such a buzz and such a tremendous feeling to play for Scotland.”

4. Motorsport

Sir Jackie Stewart – Formula 1 (Three time World Champion)

“There’s another thing about winning. You know winning is not enough. Not a bad statement: Winning is not enough. Lots of people can win. They can win for a short time or win an event. Winning anything. Even winning the World Championship is not that difficult. What is more difficult - and this is in a different class altogether – is long-term success, to be successful.

“At 2 o’clock in the afternoon when the red lights go off, you’re the only one. There’s was a great saying by an Australian racing driver: ‘When the flag drops, the bullshit stops.’ You know, you can pretend a lot of things, you can pose, you can tell everybody how good you are. But when the flag drops, you gotta deliver.”

5. Tennis

Andy Murray – tennis player (Junior US Open Champion, winner of 3 ranking tournaments)

“You can’t get to the top on talent alone, you need to work hard and put the hours in on court and in the gym. Since I was 15 I’ve trained about 5 hours a day. As you get older and there aren’t so many technical issues to work on, players probably train about 2 hours a day on court and an hour in the gym.  Winning is finding a way to overcome every challenge you face.”

Jamie Murray – doubles tennis player (Wimbledon mixed doubles winner 2007)

“I think if you have the self-belief that you can be a top player and you work on the right things to better yourself then you can increase your chances of becoming successful.  There are no guarantees of success but you can give yourself the best chance of achieving it.”

6. Swimming

Kirsty Balfour – breast-stroke (European and Commonwealth Champion 2006, World silver medallist 2007)

“Confidence comes from your performances, knowing that you are up there and can compete with the rest of the world.  That does give confidence.  If you can stand behind the block and think, ‘I’m fastest in Europe, so no-one else from Europe can beat me here.’ then in your mind you can tick people off.   You can gain that mental advantage to help you beat a certain person. I just feel really blessed to have the opportunity to go and race people at that level.  I try to get things into perspective.””

Gregor Tait – Back-stroke (Double Commonwealth Champion 2006)

“If you want to be a professional sportsperson you have to be professional at everything you do.  And yes, it does mean that your life is pretty much driven by one thing, but I truly believe that you’ve only got one shot at being the best you can, especially with something like swimming.  You’ve got the rest of your life to get drunk and enjoy the things that other people supposedly love.”

David Wilkie – Breast-stroke (Olympic Gold medallist, 1972)

“For me, it was a great Olympics and a fantastic experience. Just to go there was amazing. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just being there and doing your best is a great experience. That must be a motivating factor to any youngster in sport. You want to do well in national, UK and world event, but you want to get to the Olympics.”

7. Golf

Colin Montgomerie (seven times European Order of Merit Winner, Ryder Cup winning team member)

“I think being a winner is about being the best you can be. If you fulfil your potential in anything and try your hardest to achieve the most you possibly can and never give up, then you are a winner in my book.”

Catriona Matthew (UK No 1, Solheim Cup winner)

“I think you need to go out and not really listen to what people are saying and do your thing and try your best, which should be good enough. I know I am good enough to go out there and I would never give up, regardless of how I was playing.  Winning to me basically means me feeling as though I’ve done everything I can to play as well as I can to compete at the highest level.  As long as I have given 100% I cannot ask for more.”

8. Football 

Walter Smith – Football Manager (Former Scotland Manager and multiple title winner with Rangers)

“It’s just always been there.  I like winning.  I say that knowing that the majority of people I’ve worked with, and played against all like winning, but that’s what drives me on.  If I am involved in something competitive, I like to win it.  I know at times, such as when I’m playing someone who is a better golfer than me, that maybe I won’t win, but it doesn’t stop me from liking to win, and it doesn’t stop me from going back and trying to win again.  It’s actually winning that keeps me going.”

John Collins – Scotland International (Scotland World Cup star and former Hibernian Coach)

“As long as you give it everything you’ve got.  Nobody can give it any more than their maximum.  Unfortunately too many don’t give their maximum, they just give enough.  Talent’s not enough.  You’ve got to have all the other attributes:  Sacrifice, eat properly, sleep properly, train properly, drink the right things, rest at the right times.  The real champion isn’t somebody who hits a peak.  The real champion is the one who stays at the top – peak, peak, peak.  That’s the ultimate athlete, the ultimate dedication.  That’s not just six months of sacrifice here and there.  That’s a whole career.”

Craig Brewster – Inverness Caledonian Thistle Manager (Scottish Cup Winner, played SPL until aged 40)

“There is one thing that is important.  That’s enthusiasm. This is a major factor for me still playing late on in my career. But there is no getting away from the fact that you have to put in a lot of hard work.  Unlike some younger guys who come straight out of school and don’t really know what they’ve got until it’s too late, I really appreciated what I had.  Some people just expect things to happen when they step on a football pitch. But without the hard work you won’t get to the top.”

9. Hockey

Becky Merchant – GB under-21 Hockey player (2007 Olympic Youth Hockey gold medallist)

“I think you have got to have the desire to win.  You want to go out and perform.  You have to be committed to training a lot of hours per week and performing every time you go out to play, and performing to your best. If you come second or third, but you know you have played your best, then that’s what you deserve.”

Graham Moodie – Scotland Captain (GB Olympic Games player 2004)

“I think it’s got a lot to do with attitude.  Obviously you need the talent but if you are not willing to work hard you won’t get anywhere. The one thing you will find is there are a lot of talented people, a lot of people will play for under Scotland 16s under 18s, but they never make it. You could think of any number of reasons why that might be, but I think it has a lot to do with how hard you work for it. Talent will only get you so far, you have to work pretty hard.”

10. Skiing

Alain Baxter – Slalom skier (bronze medallist at Winter Olympics 2002)

“There is nothing better than being on top of the podium, knowing you gave it everything, you gave it your best shot.  When you do that and you come out on top that’s a fantastic feeling.”

Finlay Mickel – Downhill skier (UK No 1)

“Keep enjoying the sport you’re doing.  Live a healthy lifestyle.  I think that’s the important thing for young kids to be thinking about.  Playing sport has so many benefits, so enjoy those benefits.”

11. Life on the water

Katherine Grainger – rower (World Champion and Olympic silver medallist 2004)

“Hard work is what you buy into at the beginning and that’s what it is going to take to take you to the top, I’ve done enough of it for years to know what it is like. You have to build steps to the big time goals and work on short term goals each few weeks with something to aim for and look forward to, you just have to break it down to make it more manageable and changeable.”

Sir Chay Blyth – sailor (first man to sail around the world against the prevailing winds)

“Winning, that’s all that matters.  No-one cheers second place.”

Campbell Walsh – canoeing (Olympic silver medallist 2004)

“Mental preparation and planning from the bank are key, as well as having a high enough skill level to deal with the unexpected. All you can do is prepare the best you can.”

12. Boxing

Alex Arthur – boxer (WBO Super featherweight interim Champion)

“I think boxing teaches you discipline. It is unlike any other sport. I know that boxing is viewed as a lower class sport but it teaches you good manners and respect for others.  When you’re in the ring with another boxer, you get to know yourself and your capabilities. It is a very raw human experience but you are soul-searching every time you face an opponent who wants to knock you out. There is no escaping. Fear doesn’t come into it. It’s only another man in the ring with you at the end of the day. I’m confident enough in my ability and my condition.”

Jackie Brown – boxer (Empire Games gold medallist 1958)

“I enjoyed it. It’s not like playing football when you can go on for a long time. For boxing you have to train hard to be a winner. It’s a good training for life too and I wasn’t sacred of any of them. Once you’re in the ring, you just have to use every muscle and sinew to defeat your opponent. That’s what I did.”

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