By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything.
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.
I knew that whatever I set my mind to do. I could do.
I’m in my prime. There’s no goal too far, no mountain too high.
Sometimes it takes years to really grasp what has happened to your life.
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.
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.
I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.
No matter what great things you accomplish, somebody helps you.
The potential for greatness lives within each of us.
I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself.
I believe in me more than anything in this world.
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.
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.
I thought I’d never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner – every time she ran, I ran.
My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces.
I don’t know why I run so fast. I just run.
What do you do after you are world-famous and nineteen or twenty and you have sat with prime ministers, kings and queens, the Pope? Do you go back home and take a job? What do you do to keep your sanity? You come back to the real world.
But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there’s always a way to achieve your goals.
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.