1. James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens
Raya Ellsberry
3rd hour

2. Jesse Owens, born in Oakville, Alabama (September 12, 1913 to March 31, 1980), also known as "The Buckeye Bullet," was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals and broke two world records at the Olympic Games in Berlin.
About

3. Early Life:
The son of a sharecropper and the grandson of slaves, Jesse Owens was a frail child who was often sick from battles with chronic bronchial congestion and pneumonia.
Owens’ athletic career began in high school.
He won three track and field events at the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships.
Two years later, while competing for Ohio State University, he equaled one world record and broke three others before qualifying and competing in the 1936 Olympics.
Jesse Owens was married for nearly 48 years to Ruth Owens, they had three daughters together: Beverly, Marlene, and Gloria.

4. Conflict:
While Owens helped the U.S. triumph at the games, his return home was not met with the kind of fanfare one might expect. President Franklin D. Roosevelt failed to meet with Owens and congratulate him, as was typical for champions. The athlete wouldn't be properly recognized until 1976, when President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

5. Later Life & Legacy: Later: Legacy:
Following the 1936 Olympic Games, Owens retired from amateur athletics and started to earn money for his physical talents. He raced against cars and horses, and, for a time, played with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Owens eventually found his calling in public relations and marketing, setting up a business for himself in Chicago, Illinois, and traveling frequently around the country to speak at conventions and other business gatherings.
U.S. track star Jesse Owens made history at the Berlin Olympics 75 years ago, when he destroyed Adolf Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy by winning four gold medals.

6. Awards & Recognitions:
1936 AP Athlete of the Year
In 1970, Owens was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1976 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford.
In 1983, Owens was part of the inaugural class into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
On March 28, 1990, Owens was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George H. W. Bush.

7. With me being an athlete, just like Jesse Owens, he has made a huge impact on my life as a whole. In today’s society, athlete’s serve a great purpose both on and off of their field with their capabilities to influence the American nation thanks to him. If Jesse Owens hadn’t have made an impact in the athletic field like he did, african american athletes probably would still be looked down upon now. Caucasian athletes look down on our apparent athletic capabilities because they know that we have finally “one-upped” them in something. By destroying the myth of Aryan supremacy, Jesse Owens made history and gave hope to many.
Reflection:

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