There are few athletes that will ever be able to compete in the Olympic Games. There are even fewer athletes who will ever be able to compare to the athletic ability that Jesse Owens was able to demonstrate. Jesse Owens was a remarkable athlete and it earned him a memorial stadium in 2001 at Ohio State University.
Born in 1913, Jesse Owens grew up in Alabama until his family moved to Cleveland when Jesse was eight years old. Jesse's family had experienced their share of hard times. His grandfather had been a slave and his father was a sharecropper. He was sometimes sick with a cold that his mother eventually dubbed as the "devil's cold" because he wasn't able to shake his illnesses when he had them. Still, Jesse was destined to thrive as an athlete.
As a teenager, Jesse worked hard after school to help the family. He worked at odd jobs such as shoe repair and delivering groceries. He loved to run whenever he had time but the problem he faced was that he just didn't have the time.
He was able to run with the junior high school track program thanks to a coach who saw his potential. The Fairview Junior High School coach allowed Jesse to practice before school since he was obligated to work after school.
Dedicated to running, Jesse earned instant notoriety at the 1993 National High School Championship. He wasn't awarded a scholarship later in his running career but he worked his way through school at Ohio State University where he earned the title of "Buckeye Bullet" winning eight well deserved NCAA Championships.
Owens greatest day of his career came with the 1935 Big Ten May meet in Michigan. He not only tied a world record there but he set three world records of his own. His mark in history securely earned.
In 1936, Jesse was a track and field athlete at the Berlin Summer Olympics. There, he secured four gold medals. Today, the Ohio State memorial to Jesse Owens is a true inspiration to other track and field athletes aspiring to break and set their own track records.
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