Jesse Owens Research Paper

1034 Words5 Pages
Trace Garrett Ms. Hood English7 Period 1 November 30, 2015 Jesse Owens Do you know who Jesse Owens is? Jesse Owens was one of the greatest track runners in the history of track and field. He won four Olympic titles. He was a black runner that broke the record for high jump and the long jump. Jesse Owens was born in Alabama and moved to Cleveland when he was 9 years old. He grew up in poverty and had to help his family make money so he got a job delivering goods and working in a shoe repair shop. When he was little Jesse learned that he loved running and athletics. Jesse Owens was quoted at one time saying, “I always loved running- it was something you can do by yourself and under your own power. You can go in any direction, fast or slow…show more content…
In high school he won all of the major track events at the National interstate meet in Chicago, during his senior year. He set the new high school world record in the 220 dash by running it in 20.7 seconds. The week earlier he had set a new world record for the high school in the broad jump by jumping 24 feet and 11 3/4 inches. He’s amazing high school track record made tons of colleges want him. Jesse chose Ohio state university, but they did not offer a track scholarship at the time. He was the captain of the Ohio track team. Even though he was the captain he was still not allowed to sit and eat with the rest of this team in public because of his color. He worked a lot of summer jobs to support his young wife, Ruth. He worked as a waiter, pumped gas, library stocker, and operator. He did all of this between practice and record setting on the field in intercollegiate…show more content…
At the Big Ten championships in Ann Arbor on May 25 1935 he set four world records. Jesse did not know if he would be able to be in it at all, he had a sore back from falling down some stairs. He convinced his coach to let him to run the 100 yard as a test for his back he ran it in 9.4 seconds, trying to set the world record. He went on to perform in three other events where he set the world record in each event even though he was in lots of pain. Jesse accomplished what experts call the best 45 minutes in the world. His awesome achievements at the Big Ten made him want to go to the 1936 Olympics which were held in Nazi Germany. It was there that Hitler refused to shake hands with Jesse because he was black. After Owens won the 100 meter, Hitler decided that he would no longer congratulate any of the athletes. Hitler was annoyed that a black man won so many Gold medals. “… but he was highly annoyed by the series of triumphs by the marvelous colored American runner, Jesse Owens. People who antecedents came from the jungle were primitive, Hitler said with a shrug; their physiques were stronger than those of civilized whites and hence should be excluded from future
Show More
Related

  • The Book Thief Research Paper

    1165 Words  | 5 Pages

    Munich, which was described by Death as, “Hitler’s heartland” (p.80). This description might be because upon researching, many articles describe Munich as the place where Hitler got his rise to power. In an article in Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team by Webb C. and Lisciotto C. (2010) Munich was entitled as “The city at the heart of Nazism”. Furthermore, Munich was described in the article as “Munich the capital of the German state of Bavaria, which is in Southern Germany, was the home of

    Read More

More about Jesse Owens Research Paper

Open Document