Jesse Owens stands out as one of those shining examples of how one man, by excelling in his own field of running, can have a profound impact that goes far beyond running. Not only did he win four gold medals in 1936 in the Berlin Olympics, but the sportsmanship shown in the long jump competition between himself and Luz Long stood out in stark contrast to the Nazi ideology that permeated those Games and gave a vision of hope in those grim times of how things could be.
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A lesser known fact about Jesse Owens is that one year earlier, when he was still attending Ohio State university, he set three world records and tied for a fourth - all in the space of 45 minutes! This momentous event came during the 'Big Ten' track and field meet (at which the state universities from around the Great Lakes region meet) where he first tied the record for 100 yards (9.4 seconds) before going on to set new records for the long jump (which stood for 25 years), the 220 yard dash and the 220 yard hurdles. it is hard to think of a more incredible feat in the entire history of athletics.
At the Berlin Olympics, his main competitor in the ling jump was the German Luz Long. Owens fouled his first two jumps in the qualifying rounds, one of them given for what he thought counted as a practice jump. As Owens was about to take his third and final jump, Long intervened, suggesting that since his actual jump for the second attempt was much longer than the qualifying distance, he should set a mark a few inches behind the line and jump from there instead. Owens took his advice and qualified on his third attempt. Owens then reciprocated the gesture by massaging Long in between jumps. In the final Owens went on to win on his last jump, and the first person to congratulate him was Luz Long. "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler," Owens recalled. "You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. " Such moments were not uncommon when Jesse Owens was around - on another occasion he noticed a competitor in the 100 yard dash was missing his shoelaces. Owens went and got some laces and knelt down and did up his opponents shoe himself, before going on to win the race. |
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The wealth that usually comes with fame eluded Owens after he came back from Berlin - to too many people his skin colour was still an issue. However he later became a passionate motivational speaker and inspired many young athletes, some of whom went on to win gold themselves in the Olympics.
A new movie about the life of Jesse Owens is planned for release in summer 2008 - Anthony Mackie (Million Dollar Baby and the Manchurian Candidate) is currently pencilled in for the lead role.
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great athlete
Great athlete and ambassador for the sport. Hope the film does him justice
actually, there might be an obstacle in the way...
Apparently there is a bit of a financial dispute between the Owens family and the producers that might get in the way, but lets keep our fingers crossed anyway.
p.s I think i managed to change the comment form to allow commenters to leave their details.
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