Thesis Statement
Jesse Owens was the first person ever to win four Olympic gold medals in track and field. That helped people by telling them to never give up.
When Jesse Owens was a kid he would always get sick. When he started to get boils his mom got really scared. His mom would always cut off the boils with a knife. When Jesse Owens got a boil near his heart his mom got worried. His mom took the knife and cut the boil near his heart. Owens barley survived.
When Owens moved to Ohio, he started to compete in track and field. In junior high Owens held many records such as the long jump. In high school he tied the world record of the 100 yard dash in a time of 9.4 seconds. In college at the Ohio State University Owens set a total of 4 world records with a sore back in a time span of only 45 minutes. After the whole meet Owens had to be carried back to his dorm room.
His success at the Ohio State University motivated him for the Berlin games in 1936. The games were organized by German and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler believed that the Aryan (whites) race was the dominant race. Hitler made sure that there were no non-Aryan athletes on the German Olympic team. When Jesse Owens won the 100 meter dash Hitler waved to Owens and gave him a friendly Nazi salute. When Owens won the long jump Hitler was furious he said that America should be ashamed for allowing black athletes to compete at the Olympics. Every athlete that won an Olympic gold medal was allowed to shake Hitler's hand, but Jesse Owens was not because he was black.
In 1976, Jesse was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award bestowed upon a civilian, by Gerald R. Ford.
Owens was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush. Jesse Owens died on March 31, 1980 in Tuscon, Arizona.
(http://www.jesseowens.com/about/)(Gentry, Tony. Jesse Owens. New York: Chelsea House, 1990)Gentry)(Burlingame, Jeff. Jesse Owens: "I Always Loved Running" Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2011)
When Jesse Owens was a kid he would always get sick. When he started to get boils his mom got really scared. His mom would always cut off the boils with a knife. When Jesse Owens got a boil near his heart his mom got worried. His mom took the knife and cut the boil near his heart. Owens barley survived.
When Owens moved to Ohio, he started to compete in track and field. In junior high Owens held many records such as the long jump. In high school he tied the world record of the 100 yard dash in a time of 9.4 seconds. In college at the Ohio State University Owens set a total of 4 world records with a sore back in a time span of only 45 minutes. After the whole meet Owens had to be carried back to his dorm room.
His success at the Ohio State University motivated him for the Berlin games in 1936. The games were organized by German and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler believed that the Aryan (whites) race was the dominant race. Hitler made sure that there were no non-Aryan athletes on the German Olympic team. When Jesse Owens won the 100 meter dash Hitler waved to Owens and gave him a friendly Nazi salute. When Owens won the long jump Hitler was furious he said that America should be ashamed for allowing black athletes to compete at the Olympics. Every athlete that won an Olympic gold medal was allowed to shake Hitler's hand, but Jesse Owens was not because he was black.
In 1976, Jesse was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award bestowed upon a civilian, by Gerald R. Ford.
Owens was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush. Jesse Owens died on March 31, 1980 in Tuscon, Arizona.
(http://www.jesseowens.com/about/)(Gentry, Tony. Jesse Owens. New York: Chelsea House, 1990)Gentry)(Burlingame, Jeff. Jesse Owens: "I Always Loved Running" Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2011)