i had a series of childhood illnesses... scarlet fever.... pneumonia.... Polio. I walked with braces until I was at least nine years old. My life wasn't like the average person who grew up and decided to enter the world of sports.

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Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.

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Black women . . . work because their husbands can't make enough money at their jobs to keep everything going. . . . They don't go to work to find fulfillment, or adventure, or glamour and romance, like so many white women think they are doing. Black women work out of necessity.

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I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself.

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Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose.

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The triumph can't be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle is. I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.

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i thought I'd never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner -- every time she ran, I ran.

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The feeling of accomplishment welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.

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By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything.

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When I was going through my transition of being famous, I tried to ask God, why was I here? What was my purpose? Surely, it wasn't just to win three gold medals. There has to be more to this life than that.

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