"To come so close, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm kind of caught in the middle, it was nearly a dream come true."

"This has exorcised the ghosts of Atlanta - that was like a nightmare, this is like a dream. I feel now as if Atlanta never existed."

Sonia O'Sullivan on her silver in the 5,000 metres.

"If you work really hard and get world records they just want to chop your head off and that is such a sad thing. But right now I'm above all those accusations. It doesn't mean anything because I have the gold medal."
Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn.

"I don't think there is morality in the sport now. There's no morality in any part of it. There's gamesmanship, drugs, disrespect. I think there were positive tests covered up in Atlanta. I think there were positive tests covered up before that. I don't have the desire to be close to it any more."
A disillusioned Carl Lewis.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you guys wanted to photograph me more than my wife."
CJ Hunter, aka Mr Marion Jones.

"Athletes always say: `It can't be possible', followed by, "there must be a mistake in the sample', followed by, `I must have got it from the toilet seat', followed by, `here's a writ for $12 million from my lawyer'. It's a classic profile."
The response of Dick Pound, the IOC vice president, to CJ Hunter's insistence that he was drug free.

"She made it very clear if I carry on in a boat that we won't have a marriage. So a choice has got to be made. I'll have to give it some thought."
Steve Redgrave on his wife Ann's warning after he won his fifth gold medal - and didn't immediately rule out competing in Athens.

"That's it for me. It's over. This was my defining moment. I don't even think I'll go out in a boat any more. It's time to find something else to do."
Later, Steve Redgrave opts to save his marriage.

"Her flexibility came from God. The first time I laid eyes on her I said: `Goodbye mama, your daughter now stays with me'."
Russian coach Irina Viner on 17-year- old gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

"I'm just a simple thing, a simple human being who gets annoyed when there's no toilet paper on that toilet roll in the bathroom, I'm just out here doing what I love doing, that's all."
Cathy Freeman tries to convince Australians that she's a regular human being. They were having none of it.

"If I don't win all five, I'll have to cope with that, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't try."
Marion Jones.

"Short of cutting off a leg, there was nothing we could do."
An Australian boxing official after boxer Bradley Hore tipped the scales 1kg overweight and was thrown out of the competition.

"A gun to shoot myself."
The response of Australian walker Jane Saville when asked what she needed to get herself right again after being disqualified in the 20km walk when she was 200 metres from gold.

"It's such a fine line between being the greatest ever and wonderful to being nobody."
Saville again.

"Life is really bizarre, no? It's like me. The only time in my life that I really made every effort, everything needed to go all the way, the time that it counted the most for me, I didn't make it."
French runner Marie Perec after leaving Australia and turning down the chance to race Cathy Freeman in the 400 metres.

"I can tell my grandkids in 30 years that I competed against one of the best long jumpers in history."
Marion Jones after finishing behind Heike Drechsler in the long jump.

"She must indulge the old lady. She is young. . . she can still win a few things."
Drechsler's reply.

"I consider tonight's race to be the best I have ever taken part in. Tonight was something the swimming world had never seen before. I doff my swim cap to the great Ian Thorpe."
American Gary Hall Jnr after Thorpe led Australia to gold in an astonishing 4x100 race.

"My muscles were hurting. I had never been in a pool that big before, I was very scared. I feel as if I have won a gold medal."

"I would like somebody to sponsor me and pay for a coach. It is all very well doing these interviews and having all this publicity but it will not be worth anything if nobody is willing to help me."

Eric `The Eel' Moussambani

"It's the first time I've swum 50 metres. . . it was further than I thought."
Eric's Equatorial Guinea team mate Paula `the Trawler' Barila Bolopa, after completing her 50m freestyle sprint 40 seconds slower than Inge de Bruijn.

"After watching Channel Seven's coverage of Michael Klim, Geoff Huegill and Andrew Hoy, I heard from sources that the blokes who beat them were also presented with their medals and even had their national anthems played. Any truth to this rumour?"
A letter to The Australian newspaper from a reader fed up with parochial TV coverage.

"I have never fought that one before. My plan was not to grip with her, she's. . . he's. . . very strong."
Australian judo player Natalie Jenkins after losing to Edinanci Silva, who was born half man/half woman (a hermaphrodite) before having an operation to make her all woman.

"I had to tell them that a simple `thank you' will generally suffice."
Olympic village mayor Graham Richardson after an amorous Cuban athlete hurdled the canteen counter and embraced a young caterer, kissing her passionately.

"One thing's for sure, I'm not getting off the bike to take a pee anymore."
Danish cyclist Jimmi Madsden after spotting a tiger snake at his feet when a call of nature interrupted his training run in Centennial Park.

"I felt like I was standing on a gas cooker."
Cathy Freeman on her opening ceremony experience.

"They couldn't walk in a straight line and not perform. It would have been quicker to have poked them with a cattle prod."
Artistic Director David Atkins blaming the antics of the Brazilian team for why the opening ceremony overran.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please continue to your right. Please do not attempt to exit in any other way. If you do, you will confuse the crap out of everyone and stuff up the system."
An announcer at Sydney's mazy Town Hall railway station offering advice to lost Olympic tourists.

"Not taking a shower has grown into a habit with me."
Korean boxer Kim Ki-su in his Olympic biography.

"For all of you who are seeing me for the first time, get a good look. I told you I was pretty."
Muhammad Ali greeting the crowd at the Sydney's racetrack.

"That is a fantastic building. . . did they build it for the Olympics?"
American tourist overheard talking to her friend about the Sydney Opera House.

"Tobago."
Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Ato Boldon's reply when asked what his country would give him if he won the 100m final.

"We are no more thugs than anyone else."
Australian women's hockey coach Ric Charlesworth after a heated battled against Britain.