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RISING STARI was born James Cleveland Owens in Oakville, Alabama. I was the grandson of enslaved people. We had a big family, and everyone called me by my initials ‘J.C.’. As a child, I was frail and often suffered with pneumonia.When I was nine, we moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Like thousands of other African Americans, our family joined the ‘Great Migration’ in search of work and to get away from the racial discrimination due to the Jim Crow laws of the South.&nbsp;At my new school, one of my teachers misheard how I said ‘J.C.’ because of my southern accent and started calling me ‘Jesse’. The name stuck.At my next school, coach Riley had noticed me in gym class and encouraged me to start training for the track team. Riley taught us about the mental side of competing, not just the physical side. I also met Minnie Ruth Solomon. Ruth would become my wife and the mother of our three daughters.BIG DREAMSBy 1930, I had gone from a skinny kid to a strong runner who was getting national attention. In my senior year of high school, I took part in the 1933 National High School Championships in Chicago. I won the long jump, tied the world record for the 100-yard dash and set a world record in the 220-yard dash.&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F7d9b6c630329438595059946793f5fee" alt="" style="width: 334.16px; height: 252px;"> I dreamed of going to university, but I was married by now and money was an issue. I eventually went to Ohio State University - but in addition to attending classes and training with the track team, I worked three jobs to help pay my tuition.I experienced discrimination and racism during my time at university, but that just strengthened my drive to succeed. At the Big Ten Conference track and field championships in 1935, within a span of 45 minutes, I broke three world records and tied another. Many people still consider this one of the most amazing athletic achievements of all time. My 26-foot 8 1/4-inch-long jump set a record that was not broken for 25 years.OLYMPIC GOLDMy next goal was to qualify for the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany in 1936. For Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, the Olympics were their opportunity to show the world that the White Aryan race was better than everyone else.I made my family proud by making the US team and representing my country. But I arrived in Berlin to what seemed like a different world. The Nazi Party was in power, with soldiers placed everywhere. Many people were in fear of them. On the streets, there were no people the same colour as me.I won the 100- and 200-metre sprint races. I also won the long jump and helped the USA team in winning the relay. As a stunned Adolf Hitler angrily left the stadium, the German athletes embraced me, and the spectators chanted my name.SURVIVING SETBACKSEven though I was called a hero in my country, I wasn’t treated like one when I returned. It felt like the country was ashamed a Black man had achieved so much.Shortly after the Olympics, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sent us to compete in races around Europe. We barely had time to eat or sleep, and we weren’t paid for our participation.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F3895c5f28868475ea4d6bd75994482fc" alt="" style="width: 437.016px; height: 291px;"> After several races, I told the AAU that I was going back home. I was tired and I wanted to see my family.The AAU officials were furious with me, and they banned me from all future amateur athletic competitions.So, when I returned to the US, I was forced to find other ways to earn money and ended up racing against cars and horses. This was certainly not what I had imagined my athletic career to be.In 1937, I put my name to a chain of cleaning shops. The shops did well until 1939, when the partners fled, leaving me with a bankrupt business and heavy debts.I ended up setting up a business in Chicago and travelled around the country doing public speaking. I had gone through many ups and downs, and Ruth had been with me through it all.RECOGNITION AT LASTForty years after I had won my gold medals, I was finally invited to the White House to accept a Medal of Freedom from President Gerald Ford. The following year, the Jesse Owens International Trophy for amateur athletes was established. And in 1979, President Jimmy Carter honoured me with a Living Legend Award.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F8aea4813468b4b6ca33bb085f48c91f6" alt="" style="width: 316.08px; height: 257px;"> I developed a nasty cough and I was told I had lung cancer.I had done myself and my country proud, especially in Berlin. I came to symbolise the struggle against poverty and racism. I hoped my work would inspire others to never give up and to be the best that they can be.GLOSSARYFrail&nbsp;–&nbsp;something, or someone who is weak and delicate.Pneumonia – an infection in the lungs that causes fever, cough, tiredness and chest pain.Great Migration – a period when around six million African Americans moved from the Southern US to the Midwest, Northeast and West. The main reasons African Americans left the south were to escape racism and seek jobs in industrial cities.Jim Crow laws – a collection of state and local laws in the southern US that legalised racial segregation. Most of these laws were put in place in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and many of them were enforced until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.&nbsp;Aryans&nbsp;– (in Nazi Ideology), relating to people of Caucasian (White) race, not of Jewish descent seen as racially superior.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Although he was a world-class athlete, Jesse Owens suffered discrimination not only in Germany during the 1936 Olympics, but also in the US, both before and after the Olympics.</li><li>Jesse Owens eventually earned several prestigious titles, such as Ambassador of Sports and US Goodwill Ambassador. He went on to be a motivational speaker, touring the world, and inspiring others to fulfil their dreams and create racial harmony.</li><li>Established in 1981, the Jesse Owens Award is USA Track &amp; Field's highest accolade, presented annually to outstanding US track and field athletes.</li><li>In 1976, Jesse Owens was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour given by the US government. In 1990, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, given in national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.</li><li>Race, a feature film about the life and achievements of Jesse Owens, was released in 2016 and was nominated for and won several international awards.</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;">IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITS</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: left;">Jesse Owens running for Ohio State University, Alamy</div></div></div><div style="text-align: start;">Luz Long of Germany (left) talks to Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympics, Alamy<o:p></o:p>Jesse Owens Congressional gold medal, US Mint, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons</div></div>

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