After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my hand or have me up to their suite. But no one was going to offer me a job.

People say that it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals. There was no television, no big advertising, no endorsements then. Not for a black man, anyway.

I always loved running.... It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power.

Life doesn't give you all the practice races you need.

I fought, I fought harder . . . but one cell at a time, panic crept into my body, taking me over.

When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?

It's like having a pet dog for a long time. You get attached to it, and when it dies you miss it.