Biography
Jesse Owens was the hero of the 1936 Olympics - athlete from the United States of America four times climbed into a pedestal. The author of the three world records opened the dotted outcasts road into the world of honors and glory, hitting the 6th line of the rating of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, announced at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.Childhood and youth
James Cleveland Owens was born on September 12, 1913 in the city of Okville Alabama. His biography began in the house where nine children had already grown up. According to unconfirmed information, grandfathers and grandmothers of the future athlete were slaves of rich landowners, so the boy with numerous sisters and brothers belonged to the second generation of free African Americans.
Henry Cleveland Owens and Mary Emma Fitzgerald until the introduction of events aimed at the separation of the united states of the United States from ethnic indigenous people and former slaves were leased to agricultural products on the fertile southeast of the country. After the existence in the conditions of racial discrimination became unbearable, the family moved to Cleveland, on the picturesque shores of Lake Erie.
Embed from getty imagesThere, a 9-year-old child went to a secondary school and during registration in the journal visits was recorded under the name of Jesse. This happened due to the fact that the teacher from the north did not understand the specific accent of the new ward, which submitted as Ji Si.
As a child, Owens showed ability to study - language, mathematics and literature were pretty easy for him. In his free time, the boy helped his parents, working as a courier for the delivery of products, a loader and assistant to the wizard wizard.
Father, employee of the steel mill, drew attention to the fact that the son with an increase in 180 cm and weighing about 75 kg loved to quickly run. When the teenager was offered to enroll in the Athletics section organized by the Charles Riley coach, they decided on the family council that such a chance could not miss.
It was not a mistake, because Owens attracted the attention of the sports public, becoming a student of a specialized East Technical High School in Cleveland. After the course of initial physical training under the guidance of an experienced mentor, he was compared to the global record in running 100 yards and long jumps at the 1933 educational institutions championship, held in Chicago.
After his head chapter of the Owens family found a job that guaranteed the financial well-being of numerous offspring, Jesse continued her education at the State University of Ohio. Continuing to engage in athletics in the Larry Snider team, the young man won eight gold medals in the NCAA championships in the mid-1930s.
Victory did not bring any bonuses to Owens. Without scholarship, he continued to work to pay for study and help his relatives.
Personal life
With the future wife of Minnie Ruth Solomon Owens met during the stays of staying at the Fairmont Junior High School in Cleveland. At the time of the first meeting he was 15 years old, and the girl was 13.In high school, friendship based on mutual sympathy has grown into this feeling. An African American woman who did not use the peer has done everything possible to ensure that the personal life of the future athlette is happy.
Embed from getty imagesFor 3 years before the wedding, held in early June 1935, the pair had a glory daughter. Over time, another two children appeared in official marriage - Marlene and Beverly.
Weekdays and holidays in the Owens family are captured on dozens of photos. Spouses were betrayed to each other before the death of an athlete in 1980.
Athletics
The right to place in the athletics hall of the Fame of the United States of America Owens won on May 25, 1935 during a "big tens" meeting at the Ferry Field Stadium in Ann Abor. He established three world record and equal to the fourth. The most impressive achievements of the centuries were demonstrated in a run of 100 m and 200 m, as well as in long jump.
After such convincing victories of Jessie, invited to the national team, began to prepare for the 4th anniversary of Berlin's chief sports tournament in Berlin, but the secretary of NAACP Walter Francis White tried to dissuade the young African American from a trip to Nazi Germany. On the eve of the games, the public of the United States declared a boycott to Adolf Hitler's regime, and the country was one step from the refusal of the largest international tournament.
When the President of the American Olympic Committee, AVERIA Brundige, dubbed all the doubters and dissatisfied with the "anti-American agitators", Owens and other athletes decided to participate in the 1936 Olympiad and arrived at the German land on board the SS Manhattan liner.
With the support of compatriots and rivals, among whom were attended by the future hero of World War II Louis Zamperini and the fan of "Fuhrera" Louce Long, Jesse won gold in four types of an athletics program. This result broke the legendary recordsman Karl Lewis in 1984.
The success of an African American aroused horror in Hitler, who sought to prove the superiority of the Aryan race. The leader of the Nazi Party of Germany, contrary to sports traditions, did not appear at the presentation of medals and did not congratulate American athletes and his less successful colleagues.
Embed from getty imagesReturning to America, Owens realized that no one would appreciate the new status. The champion of international competitions was at the public day. To ensure the existence of a family, Jesse was taken for any job - he was a refueling, janitor and a dry-cleaner manager with hourly pay.
The image of the Olympiad Triumphant gradually went on no, because the athlete was forbidden to appear on amateur and official sports events. The champion found an inventory in collaboration with the founder of the Western Coast baseball league and the opportunity to visit international games in Rome in 1960.
Death
At the 32nd age, Owens addicted to smoking, and the cause of his death on March 31, 1980 was the lung cancer. The last days of life Champion of the Olympic Games - 1936 held in the Society of Wife and daughters in the hospital of the city of Tucson.At the request of the family of the author's world records in Running short distances and jumps in the length, they buried without a solemn ceremony at the Oak Woods Cemetery Memorial Cemetery in Chicago.
Achievements
- Record in running on 100 yards - 9.4 seconds
- Record in running 220 yards - 20.3 seconds
- Record in running 220 yards with barriers - 22.6 seconds
- The record in length jumps - 8.13 m (for the first time in history, the frontier 8 m) was overcome)