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The triumph can't be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle is. I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.

Wilma Rudolph

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Wilma Rudolph
Age: 54 †
Born: 1940
Born: June 23
Died: 1994
Died: November 12
Athlete
Sprinter
Clarksville
Tennessee
Wilma Glodean Rudolph
Firsts
Struggle
Triumph
Without
Share
Athlete
First
Sports
Spent
Trying
Chance
Lifetime
World
Woman
Meant
Dream
Reach
Young
Dreams
Women
Motivational

More quotes by Wilma Rudolph

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No matter what great things you accomplish, somebody helps you.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph
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But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there's always a way to achieve your goals.
Wilma Rudolph
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My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.
Wilma Rudolph
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I don't know why I run so fast. I just run.
Wilma Rudolph
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The triumph can't be had without the struggle.
Wilma Rudolph
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Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph
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I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I'm competing with is me.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph
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By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything.
Wilma Rudolph
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My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph
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I thought I'd never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner -- every time she ran, I ran.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph
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I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself.
Wilma Rudolph
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When I was going through my transition of being famous, I tried to ask God, why was I here? What was my purpose? Surely, it wasn't just to win three gold medals. There has to be more to this life than that.
Wilma Rudolph
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I knew that whatever I set my mind to do. I could do.
Wilma Rudolph
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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.
Wilma Rudolph