I can get sad, I can get frustrated, I can get scared, but I never get depressed - because there's joy in my life.

After all that I'd been through, after all that I'd learned and all that I'd been given, I was going to do what I had been doing every day for the last few years now: just show up and do the best that I could do with whatever lay in front of me.

Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit

You are all Champions in your own way. That doesn't mean you have to be number 1 or be the best. Just do your best. If you aren't first, then make those people ahead of you break records by pushing them with your personal best. Consider for a moment what we achieve from athletics - the sheer fun of competing - the building of a healthy and alert mind and body - stamina, courage, perseverance, dedication, commitment, selflessness and most importantly, the will to excel.

We compete, not so much against an opponent, but against ourselves. The real test is this: Did I make my best effort on every play?

One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.