It doesn't matter what you're trying to accomplish. It's all a matter of discipline. I was determined to discover what life held for me beyond the inner-city streets.

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I don't know why I run so fast. I just run.

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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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My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces.

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

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

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The triumph can't be had without the struggle.

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I would be disappointed if I were remembered as a runner because I feelthat my contribution to the youth of America has far exceeded the woman who was the Olympic champion

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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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