-Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens was an Olympic Star. He was an African American who competed in the Olympics on the American team. He competed in track and field and won four gold medals, making him the first Olympic athlete to do this.
His athletic success brought American citizens’ one step closer to respecting African Americans and changing the American racist feelings and attitudes. He also played a part in changing the German idea of Aryan racial supremacy instilled by Hitler on his people. Even through all of his success and accomplishments, Owens remained modest and hard working during his roaring career.
Jesse Owens was born on September 12, 1913. He was born James Cleveland Owens to the parents Henry and Emma Owens. Jesse was the seventh of eleven children.
His family wasn’t in the best financial situation so Jesse would work in the cotton fields with his brothers to help his family make money.
When Jesse was nine years old, his family moved to Ohio and Jesse attended public school there. He introduced himself as J.C. Owens (short for James Cleveland). But because of his southern drawl, people mistook him and thought his name was Jesse. Since then, he has been the legendary Jesse Owens.
Education:
Owens’ family supported his education as much as they could, but being a poor family, Jesse sometimes had to work in the cotton fields to help support his family. But Jesse attended a public elementary school in Cleveland, Ohio.
He later went on to attend Cleveland East Technical High School but paid little attention to the educational aspect of the experience and became consumed by athletics.
Sports became Jesse’s main concern, especially running on the track team. Colleges began to recognize Jesse’s talent and offered him scholarships but he chose to stay close to home and attend Ohio State University.
Jesse’s talent was first recognized in elementary school during gym class. Gym teacher and track coach, Charlie Riley was timing his students for a sixty-meter dash. Amazed by Jesse’s time in this event, he immediately recruited him for the track team.
But because Jesse had to work after school to financially help support his family, he could not participate in after school activities. Coach Riley didn’t want to see this talent go to waste so he offered to personally train Jesse in the mornings before school started. Jesse readily agreed and as soon as high school started, track became Jesse’s main priority.
Once in college, Jesse realized that competing at professional level was a reasonable goal for someone with his amount of talent. He began working towards this goal and ended up competing in the 1936 Olympics.
These are often referred to as “The Nazi Olympics” or “The Hitler Olympics”. This is because Hitler believed that his people, the Aryan race, was superior in everyway to other races. When Jesse Owens dominated in several events, Hitler became enraged and left the stadium without even a congratulatory handshake with Jesse.
Jesse had won gold medals in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump, and his 400-meter relay, making him the first athlete to ever win four gold medals in one Olympic day. Jesse also set three world records in the 1936 Olympics. His achievements disproved Hitler’s theory of Aryan supremacy.
Jesse Owens was a very successful athlete in many ways. He was always modest, no matter how well he did and he was a very determined competitor but still displayed good sportsmanship.
He was the first athlete to receive four Olympic gold medals in one day. He also set three world records in the same day. Jesse aided the breaking of the color barrier in American society by showing Americans how successful and talented the African American race can be.
Unfortunately, Owens died at the age of 66 on March 31, 1980. He was diagnosed with lung caner caused by smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day. Jesse Owens was an incredible athlete and is still remembered today.
Information and Pictures from:
http://www.jesseowens.com/
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111064
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393
www.athleticsnews.net/who-was-was-jesse-owens/
www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-Olympics.htm