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Watch Maya Angelou recite her Olympic poem

Maya Angelou

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, poet Maya Angelou smiles at an event in Washington. Angelou, author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” has died, Wake Forest University said Wednesday, May 28, 2014. She was 86. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

AP

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The iconic author and poet Maya Angelou has passed away at age 86, leaving a legacy that transcended literature. Angelou even touched the Olympic movement in 2008 with the poem, “Amazement Awaits.”

If that term is familiar outside the poem, it’s because the U.S. Olympic Committee’s slogan around that time was “Amazing Awaits.” Angelou was inspired by the manifesto behind that slogan to write her own version. She nailed her lines for the above video, filmed at her home in 2008, in one take.

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