Wilma Rudolph overcame childhood polio and scarlet fever to become a world-famous athlete.
Despite being told she’d never walk Rudolph believed in her mother’s encouragement.
Excelling in sports she switched from basketball to track and field in high school.
Rudolph won three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics making her the first American woman to achieve this in a single Games.
Known as “the fastest woman in the world” she used her fame to address social issues.
After retiring in 1962 Rudolph earned her degree worked in education and supported young athletes.
Her legacy includes a Tennessee State University track and dormitory named after her. Rudolph passed away in 1994.
Here is a collection of the best quotes by Wilma Rudolph.
Best Wilma Rudolph Quotes
When the sun is shining I can do anything; no mountain is too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
I don’t know why I run so fast. I just run. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
The potential for greatness lives within each of us. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helps you. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
I believe in me more than anything in this world. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
I’m in my prime. There’s no goal too far, no mountain too high. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
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.
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 glamor and romance, like so many white women think they are doing. Black women work out of necessity. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
Inspiring Wilma Rudolph Quotes
It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s all a matter of discipline. I was determined to discover what life held for me beyond the inner-city streets. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
They say things like they don’t want men opening doors for them anymore, and they don’t want men lighting their cigarettes for them anymore. Big deal. Black women have been opening doors for themselves and lighting their own cigarettes for a couple centuries in this country. Black women don’t quibble about things that are not important. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
Nobody goes undefeated all the time. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
I thought I’d never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner – every time she ran, I ran. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
Famous Wilma Rudolph Quotes
Sometimes it takes years to really grasp what has happened to your life. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
I would be disappointed if I were remembered as a runner because I feel that my contribution to the youth of America has far exceeded the woman who was the Olympic champion. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
Popular Wilma Rudolph Quotes
Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there’s always a way to achieve your goals.
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.
Winning is great but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
Powerful Wilma Rudolph Quotes
I can’t’ are two words that have never been in my vocabulary. I believe in me more than anything in this world. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
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.
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.
I knew that whatever I set my mind to do. I could do. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
The triumph can’t be had without the struggle. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
No matter what great things you accomplish, somebody helps you. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday. ~ Wilma Rudolph.
So these were the 38 top quotes about Wilma Rudolph.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Karol G quotes and Aretha Franklin quotes.
