"I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics was to do your best."

"I'm not a political person. I'm an athlete."

"I always loved to run. It was an escape from everything else."

"When I came back to my native country, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus."

"For a time, I was a national hero. But then I came home, and I was just another colored man."