Growing up in a rough East Saint Louis neighborhood, Dawn Harper knows something about overcoming the odds. But her natural leaping ability and speed put her on the proverbial fast track to follow in the footsteps of another hometown hero—Jackie Joyner-Kersee. While not many expected much from her in Beijing four years ago, Harper again…

At the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Paris was one of the most dominant women’s basketball players this side of the 21st Century. She was the first freshman to be named to the AP All-American team (2006) and ultimately became the first four-time First Team All-American in women’s basketball history. But her WNBA career has been…

Temeka Johnson has spent most of her life as an underdog. The 5-3 point guard from New Orleans, however, fought through nagging misperceptions that she wasn’t tall enough to play big time college basketball much less make it to the WNBA. Along the way, Johnson won All-SEC honors at LSU, broke the school’s all-time assists…

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Ask just about any elite athlete what it takes to reach the highest level of competition and you’ll probably hear words such as “determination,” “endurance,” “focus,” “passion,” “patience” and “self-discipline.” But in the race we call life, there is a greater purpose than winning medals, breaking records…

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