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

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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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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 know black women in Tennessee who have worked all their lives, from the time they were twelve years old to the day they died. These women don't listen to the women's liberation rhetoric because they know that it's nothing but a bunch of white women who had certain life-styles and who want to change those life-styles.

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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. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.

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

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

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I knew that whatever I set my mind to do. I could do.

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