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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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Wilma Rudolph
Age: 54 †
Born: 1940
Born: June 23
Died: 1994
Died: November 12
Athlete
Sprinter
Clarksville
Tennessee
Wilma Glodean Rudolph
Braces
Sports
Nine
Polio
Persons
Average
Illnesses
Person
Series
Years
Childhood
Scarlet
Life
Decided
Fever
Like
Grew
Walked
World
Wasn
Enter
Pneumonia
Least
Illness

More quotes by Wilma Rudolph

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The potential for greatness lives within us all.
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When the sun is shining I can do anything no mountain is too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome.
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By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything.
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Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.
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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. 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.
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But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there's always a way to achieve your goals.
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I knew that whatever I set my mind to do. I could do.
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No matter what great things you accomplish, somebody helps you.
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I don't know why I run so fast. I just run.
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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.
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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.
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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 thought I'd never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner -- every time she ran, I ran.
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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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I'm in my prime. There's no goal too far, no mountain too high.
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 tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself.
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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 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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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