Jesse Owens Biography

651 Words3 Pages
Jesse Owens Jesse Owens was an extremely influential athlete during the early 1900’s not only to the African American community but he was one of, if not the first black athlete to be a symbol of America to the rest of the world. Jesse Owens during his time was arguably the best athlete in the entire world. He inspired many and was a key figure in the up rise of African American athletes. Jesse Owens lived a fairly normal childhood for that time period. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio from Alabama to seek better opportunities. This is where Jesse got his start in track, during middle school Jesse worked at a show repair shop every day after school so his coach allowed him to practice in the morning before school. His middle school coach, Charles Riley, is who Owens accredits with his success in Track and Field. Owens prominence in track was shown shortly after this. At the high school national championships Jesse tied a world record in the 100 yard dash. He then went on to go the Ohio State University, where he began to dominate the sport. During his time at Ohio State Owens won eight individual NCAA Championships. Although he was extremely dominant at Ohio State he was still treated unfairly and experienced acts of racism. He was not allowed to eat with the team he could only attend “black only” restaurants. He also had to live off campus with other African American students. And Owens did not receive a scholarship during his time at Ohio, so he was required to work a part time job to pay for his schooling. Jesse Owens is commonly known for his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics; however his best athletic performance was in May 1935 at the Big Ten championship. Owens set three new world records and tied a fourth one. He equaled the world record in the 100 yard dash, as well as setting new world records in the long jump, 220 yard dash, and 220
Open Document