Jesse Owens Boycotts

The 1936 Olympic Games were drawing closer and the Americans were debating a boycott of the Berlin Olympics because of Nazi discrimination (Large pg 89). Jesse Owens, a well-known Negro track athlete faceed a huge decision. He needed to decide if he wanted to take part in boycotting the Olympic games or not. Jesse and other blacks were not invited to events such as the Sugar Bowl track meet, which takes place in New Orleans (Large pg 89). He came to realize that the discrimination blacks faced in America was not very different from that which the Jews faced from the Nazis (Large pg 89). Owens, along with five other top black athletes, decided that if they were chosen to be part of the American Olympic team, they would not boycott the Olympics

At East Technical High School, Owens set records in the 100 yard dash (9.4 seconds), the 200 yard dash (20.7 seconds), and in the long jump (24’ 9 ⅝’’) (“Jesse Owens”). Owens set these three records while studying for school and working whenever he could to help get food on the table (Teen Ink). Owens went to college at Ohio State University after he graduated from high school. He was forced to pay for his tuition by working three jobs in addition to his studies and track meets and practices (“Jesse Owens”). Owens went to the Big Ten Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan after recovering from a back injury. (“Jesse Owens”) “Within a space of 45 minutes the young athlete tied the world record for the 100-yard dash, broke the world record with a long jump of more than 26 feet, broke the world record in the 220-yard dash, and broke yet another world record in the 220-yard low hurdles.” (“Jesse Owens”) Owens was invited to the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. At the Olympic games, the Germans knew that Owens was one of the fastest men on Earth. This stirred up a lot of excitement at the first Track and Field event of the Olympics (Large pg 228) In the long jump competition, Owens missed his first 2 jumps. On his third jump, he got 26’ 5 ¼’’, which earned him the gold and a world record that stood for 25 years

He did many things that show he was a man of integrity. When Owens was seven years old, he was working to support his family (Teen Ink). In high school he was studying, participating in track, and working the rest of the time for his poor family (Teen Ink). When Owens got to college, he worked three jobs to pay for tuition, studied for school, and practiced and competed in track activities (“Jesse Owens”). Through all of the segregation and financial struggles that Jesse Owens faced, he managed to become one of the fastest runners in history (Teen Ink). Throughout his life, he knew he was destined for running and achieving great things. (Teen Ink) He showed in his life that with a positive attitude, even going through hard times, a person can accomplish his/her goal (Teen Ink). Owens showed this again when he overcame a back injury while at Ohio State and set four world records in the Big Ten Track Championships (“Jesse Owens”). “The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - thats where its at.” In this quote of Jesse Owens he (Teen Ink). Owens was known for many things, but some of the unspoken things were his sportsmanship, treating others with respect, and knowing how to be nice to others (Teen Ink). In 1951, Owens made a dramatic return to the same Olympic stadium he excelled at 15 years