Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust. - Jesse Owens

For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.

Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.

People say that it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals. There was no television, no big advertising, no endorsements then. Not for a black man, anyway.