Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.

Every morning, just like in Alabama, I got up with the sun, ate my breakfast even before my mother and sisters and brothers, and went to school, winter, spring, and fall alike to run and jump and bend my body this way and that for Mr. Charles Riley.

People come out to see you perform and you've got to give them the best you have within you.

Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it.

Only by God?s grace have I made it to see today and only by God?s grace will I ever see tomorrow.

Running is real. It’s all joy and woe, hard as diamond. It makes you weary beyond comprehension, but it also makes you free.

I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.