Jesse Owens Thesis

The Story Of Jesse Owens (Rough Draft)

Jesse Owens won the most gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was an African American runner, who against all odds became one of the best track athletes in Olympic history. Owens would soon become a model of success for all African Americans. Jesse Owens was the star of the Berlin Olympics in 1936; his early life, training and motivation, and his overall performance in The Olympic Games made him into a hero for all African Americans.

Being an African-American, discrimination played a big role in Jesse’s early-life. Jesse endured a childhood in which he was surrounded by grinding poverty in Alabama, he became a star athlete in high school after his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. (Borden). Growing

He first went to school at Fairmount Junior High around 1927 and quickly attracted the attention of a man who would help him in his mission to athletic success. (Borden). Charles Riley worked at the school as a physical education teacher and track-and-field coach; he immediately realized that Jesse was a naturally gifted athlete who had not yet taken up serious training. (Borden). Riley worked long hours with his star student and continued to do so through high school. (Borden). Within a year, Jesse was running the 100-yard dash in eleven seconds and in 1928 he set two world records for his age group in the high jump, at six feet, and the long jump, at twenty-two feet, eleven and three-quarters inches. (Borden). In college Jesse was still an exceptional track athlete for Ohio State University, they even called him “The Buckeye Bullet”. His finest day was May 25, 1935, at the Big Ten championships in Ann Arbor. Within a single hour he set new world records in the 220-yard sprint, the 220-yard hurdles, and the long jump, and tied the world record in the 100-yard dash. (“Jesse Owens”). Towards the end of and after college Jesse was ready to try for the Olympics. In 1932, he failed to win a place on the United States Olympic squad, but by the time he had finished high school, in 1933, he had won much acclaim as a track athlete of extraordinary promise. (Borden). At the

Jesse went on to have tremendous success in the games. He took the Berlin Olympics by storm; he won the 100-meter dash in 10.3 seconds, which was equal to the world record. (“Jesse Owens”). At first the crowd thought that Jesse had set the new world and Olympic records, unfortunately for Jesse officials ruled otherwise. (Nuwer). He put all of his thought and time into the single biggest race in his life, the finals of the 100-meter dash. (Nuwer). Applause for Jesse erupted when the officials concurred that his 10.3 time had tied the world and Olympic records. (Nuwer). Hitler was very disrespectful to America, specifically the African-Americans. (Nuwer). Before the national anthem could be played, Hitler quickly left the stadium, he left a representative to try an convince the press that his departure time had been prearranged, which did not work. (Nuwer). “The Americans should be ashamed of themselves, letting Negroes win their medals for them, I shall not shake hands with a Negro.” (Nuwer