My name is Dede Bartholomew Savage III. Say that ten times fast. But I don't think my name was the only reason that kids picked on me. I wore glasses the size of CDs, my pants were as tight as my socks, and back then, I couldn't think of one thing that I was even decent at. And most kids in my neighborhood made it their personal duty to remind me that I was a full-fledged nerd.

I'll admit, they were right. Yet, this book is not about feeling sorry for me. The book is about standing up to bullies, about what it is to chase dreams, and about overcoming hurdles.

All this brings me to where I am right now, collapsed in an awkward pile of myself, clutching a deflated left leg and waiting for the stadium scoreboard to replay the end of my final race. I have been chasing the gold medal my entire life and in two minutes, I'll find out whether or not my thirty-one-year-old legs have held on to victory, if they had enough for gold.