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 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.

By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything.

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.

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

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.

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