Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, an Olympic gold medalist, left a public-relations post at the U.S. Olympic Committee to head a struggling cable-television trade group for women.

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Being an Olympic gold medalist eventually earned Drut a presidential pardon after the former French sports minister was found guilty in a political corruption case.

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In 2002, Montgomery was the world's fastest man, dating Marion Jones and was an Olympic gold medalist with the United States 4x100-meter relay team at the 2000 Sydney Games.

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In order to be an Olympic gold medalist in almost any discipline, you need to train hard every day for an extended period of time and you need a genetic advantage.

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