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Motivation Quote by Sergei Bubka

"I began with track and field because this is what I know"

About this Quote

There is a quiet power in how unglamorous this sounds: not destiny, not branding, just competence. Sergei Bubka, the pole vaulter who turned a niche event into a global spectacle, frames his starting point as plain familiarity. That understatement is the tell. “Because this is what I know” is a philosophy of authority rooted in lived practice, a refusal of the celebrity-athlete expectation that you should opine fluently on everything the moment you’re famous.

The intent reads as both practical and strategic. Bubka didn’t just dominate; he systematized dominance, breaking the world record dozens of times by incremental margins. Beginning with track and field signals an approach to leadership and influence that mimics his athletic style: master the mechanics, then expand. It’s also a boundary. In an era when sports figures are pushed into punditry, politics, and product evangelism, he stakes credibility on expertise rather than volume.

Context matters: Bubka’s career spans the late Soviet period and the post-Soviet scramble, when athletes were remade into institutions, ambassadors, and administrators. The line fits someone moving from competition to governance, implying, “I’ll build from the inside out.” Subtext: trust is earned through specificity. He’s not selling inspiration; he’s selling a method - start where your knowledge is deepest, and let authority accumulate through results. That restraint, from a man famous for clearing impossible heights, is its own kind of swagger.

Quote Details

TopicSports
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Bubka, Sergei. (2026, January 17). I began with track and field because this is what I know. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-began-with-track-and-field-because-this-is-what-78045/

Chicago Style
Bubka, Sergei. "I began with track and field because this is what I know." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-began-with-track-and-field-because-this-is-what-78045/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I began with track and field because this is what I know." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-began-with-track-and-field-because-this-is-what-78045/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

Sergei Bubka

Sergei Bubka (born February 4, 1963) is a Athlete from Ukraine.

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