The potential for greatness lives within us all.

My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces.

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.

I had a series of childhood illnesses... scarlet fever.... pneumonia.... Polio. I walked with braces until I was at least nine years old. My life wasn't like the average person who grew up and decided to enter the world of sports.

I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I'm competing with is me.

But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there's always a way to achieve your goals.

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.