Tuesday 25 September 2012

jesse owens
he is a inspiration for all of us





James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in BerlinGermany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the4x100 meter relay team. He was the most successful athlete at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
The Jesse Owens AwardUSA Track and Field's highest accolade for the year's best track and field athlete, is named after him, in honor of his significant career.

Personal information
Full nameJames Cleveland Owens
NationalityAmerican
BornSeptember 12, 1913
Oakville, Alabama, USA
DiedMarch 31, 1980 (aged 66)
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
SportTrack and field athletics
Event(s)SprintLong jump

Berlin Olympics

Owens performing the long jump at the Olympics.
In 1936, Owens arrived in Berlin to compete for the United States in the Summer OlympicsAdolf Hitler was using the games to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany.[6] He and other government officials had high hopes that German athletes would dominate the games with victories (the German athletes achieved a "top of the table" medal haul). Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of "Aryanracial superiority" and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior.[6][7]
Owens surprised many[6] by winning four gold medals: On August 3, 1936, he won the 100m sprint, defeating Ralph Metcalfe; on August 4, the long jump (later crediting friendly and helpful advice from Luz Long, the German competitor he ultimately defeated);[4] on August 5, the 200m sprint; and, after he was added to the 4 x 100 m relay team, following a request by the Germans to replace a Jewish-American sprinter,[8] he won his fourth on August 9 (a performance not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics).
Just before the competitions, Owens was visited in the Olympic village by Adi Dassler, the founder of the Adidas athletic shoe company. He persuaded Owens to use Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik shoes[9], the first sponsorship for a male African-American athlete.[10]
The long-jump victory is documented, along with many other 1936 events, in the 1938 film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl.
On the first day, Hitler shook hands only with the German victors and then left the stadium. Olympic committee officials insisted Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations.[11][12] On reports that Hitler had deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories, and had refused to shake his hand, Owens said at the time:
"Hitler had a certain time to come to the stadium and a certain time to leave." "It happened he had to leave before the victory ceremony after the 100 meters. But before he left I was on my way to a broadcast and passed near his box. He waved at me and I waved back. I think it was bad taste to criticize the 'man of the hour' in another country."[13]
Away from the public eye, Hitler expressed his true feelings and disgust at Owens. Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and later war armaments minister, later recollected:
Each of the German victories, and there were a surprising number of these, made him happy, but he was highly annoyed by the series of triumphs by the marvelous colored American runner, Jesse Owens. People whose 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 games.[14]
Jesse Owens on the podium after winning the long jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics. L-R, on podium,Naoto Tajima, Owens, Luz Long.
Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels in Germany as whites, while at the time blacks in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels while traveling. After a New York City ticker-tape parade of Fifth Avenue in his honor, Owens had to ride the freight elevator at the Waldorf-Astoria to reach the reception honoring him.[4]
Owens said, "Hitler didn't snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram."[15] On the other hand, Hitler sent Owens a commemorative inscribed cabinet photograph of himself.[16] Jesse Owens was never invited to the White House nor were honors bestowed upon him by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) or his successor Harry S. Truman during their terms. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (himself an athlete of note) honored Owens by naming him an "Ambassador of Sports."

[edit]Legacy

The dormitory used by Owens during the Olympics has been fully restored into a living museum, with pictures of his accomplishments at the Games, and a letter (intercepted by the Gestapo) from a fan urging him not to shake hands with Hitler.
Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon met at Fairmount Junior High School in Cleveland when he was 15 years old and she was 13 years old. They dated steadily through high school. Ruth gave birth to their first daughter, Gloria, in 1932. They married in 1935 and had two more daughters together: Marlene, born in 1939, and Beverly, born in 1940. They remained married until his death.

Death

Owens, a pack-a-day cigarette smoker for 35 years, had been hospitalized with an extremely aggressive and drug-resistant type of lung cancer on and off beginning in December 1979. He died in Tucson, Arizona, on March 31, 1980, with his wife and other family members at his bedside.[28] He is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.

[edit]Awards, tributes and honors

May his light shine forever as a symbol
for all who run for the freedom of sport,
for the spirit of humanity,
for the memory of Jesse Owens.


i am going to show you a video of jesse owens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSLnHzdi03M&feature=player_detailpage



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