Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens

James Cleveland Owens was born in 1913 in a small town in Alabama to Henry and Emma Owens. When J.C. was eight, his parents decided to move the family to Cleveland, Ohio because Jesse's pnemonia was worsening, and their sharecropper wanted more of their money. They did not have much money, and J.C.'s father was hoping to find a better job. When they arrived in Cleveland, J.C. was enrolled in a public school. On his first day of class when the teacher asked his name, she heard Jesse, instead of J.C. He would be called Jesse from that point on.

Cleveland was not as prosperous as Henry and Emma had hoped and the family remained very poor. Jesse took on different jobs in his spare time. He delivered groceries, loaded freight cars and worked in a shoe repair shop. It was during this time that Jesse discovered he enjoyed running, which would prove to be the turning point in his life.

One day in gym class, the students were timed in the 60-yard dash. When Coach Charlie Riley saw the raw, yet natural talent that young Jesse had, he immediately invited him to run for the track team. Although Jesse was unable to participate in after-school practices because of work, Coach Riley offered to train him in the mornings. Jesse agreed.

At Cleveland East Technical High School Jesse became a track star. As a senior, he tied the world record in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.4 seconds, only to tie it again while running in the Interscholastic Championships in Chicago. While in Chicago, he also leaped a distance of 24 feet 9 5/8 inches in the broad-jump.

Many colleges and universities tried to recruit Jesse; he chose to attend Ohio State University because he didn't want to live well while his parents were almost in poverty, and the track coach found a permanent job for Jesse's father, and arranged jobs for him to pay for his room, and board. Here Jesse met some of his fiercest competition, and not just on the track. The United States was still struggling to desegregate in 1933, which led to many difficult experiences for Jesse. He was required to live off campus with other African-American athletes. When he traveled with the team, Jesse could either order carryout or eat at "blacks-only" restaurants. Likewise, he slept in "blacks-only" hotels. On occasion, a "white" hotel would allow the black athletes to stay, but they had to use the back door, and the stairs instead of the elevator. Because Jesse was not awarded a scholarship from the university, he continued to work part-time jobs to pay for school.

At the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor on May 25, 1935, Jesse set three world records and tied a fourth, all in a span of about 70 minutes. Jesse had an ailing back the entire week leading up to the meet in Ann Arbor. He had fallen down a flight of stairs, and it was questionable whether he would physically be able to participate in the meet. He received treatment right up to race time. Confident that the treatment helped, Jesse persuaded the coach to allow him to run the 100-yard dash. Remarkably, each race timer had clocked him at an official 9.4 seconds, once again tying the world record. This convinced Owens' coach to allow him to participate in his other events. A mere fifteen minutes later, Jesse took his first attempt it the broad jump. Prior to jumping, Jesse put a handkerchief at 26 feet 2Ð... inches, the distance of the world record. After such a bold gesture, he soared to a distance of 26 feet 8ј inches, shattering the old world record by nearly 6 inches.

Disregarding the pain, Jesse proceeded to set a new world record in the 220-yard dash in 20.3 seconds, besting the old record by three-tenths of a second. Within the next fifteen minutes, Jesse was ready to compete in another event, this one being the 220-yard low hurdles. In his final event, Owens' official time was 22.6 seconds. This time would set yet another world record, beating the old record by four-tenths of a second. Jesse Owens had completed a task that had never been accomplished in the history of track and field. He had set three new world records and equaled a fourth.

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