Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?Nelson Mandela
Even though I enjoy that head-to-head competition part, one of the things that drove me to long track was if I won or if I lost I want to know it's all on my shoulders and it didn't have anything to do with anybody else. Bonnie Blair
Every memory I had growing up was involving a basketball. I didn't go to the prom and stuff like that. It was always basketball for me.Kevin Durant
Every year I just kept going back to gymnastics, but I didn't start out training 10 hours a day. When I turned 10 or 11, I got more serious and I focused a lot on making it to the elite level, and from there I just kept going. Shawn Johnson
Everyone thought I was going to die like a year later, they didn't know. So I helped educate sports, and then the world, that a man living with HIV can play basketball. He's not going to give it to anybody by playing basketball. Magic Johnson
Everything I've been through, everything I'm about to go through in my career and my life, if my family wasn't with me and didn't support me, it would be really tough. Karl Malone
For me to become the highest paid player in the franchise, it was something I didn't anticipate. But I'm glad. I like playing for Cincinnati. Eric Davis
For me, I never ever felt the ownership or any identity with any community of disabilities. I didn't grow up being told that I was a disabled child. Aimee Mullins
For one thing, when you're playing as well as I was at the time, you think you can play with anything. That isn't true, of course, but I didn't know it then. Payne Stewart
For years I felt that I didn't have enough stamina and then, four years ago, I felt like I was not getting enough air but I was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. The medicine for asthma never worked. Venus Williams
Former Olympians also get paid to make appearances. Many of them won their medals in an era when Olympic success didn't go hand-in-hand with financial success. Mary Lou Retton
Going in, I knew I wasn't one of the top ones, because I didn't even make the pre-season All-American team. That shows you what people thought of me right there, so I knew I had to go to work. Marcus Allen
Growing up as an athlete, I started skating very young. My parents didn't know anything about the sport, so they went with the flow. I had two great coaches who gave great advice and gave guidelines for my parents. My parents let the coaches dictate what was going on on the ice. Kristi Yamaguchi
Growing up in the time of Title IX - it was passed when I was 10 - I got a front-row seat to so many great moments in women's sports. Of course I didn't know it at the time. Jackie Joyner Kersee
Growing up, I felt insecure about my build. I didn't feel very feminine. But as time went on, I learned to completely embrace my body. Hope Solo
He didn't come out of my belly, but my God, I've made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I'm so proud of all those things. But he is my biggest pride.John Lennon