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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I'm in my prime. There's no goal too far, no mountain too high.

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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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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 don't consciously try to be a role model, so I don't know if I am or not. That's for other people to decide.

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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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I can't' are two words that have never been in my vocabulary. I believe in me more than anything in this world.

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Sometimes it takes years to really grasp what has happened to your life.

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Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

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No matter what great things you accomplish, somebody helps you.

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