A Tribute to Jesse Owens: The Athlete Who Defied the Nazi Ideology

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In history, men existed who with their way of life have inspired many others to act for something better. Some used words, other actions. But all simply did not quit even when facing enormous obstacles in they way.

The American athlete Jesse Owens was one of those men.

James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens was born on September 12, 1913, to Henry and Emma Owens. In his early years, he suffered from health problems. In fact, he almost died while suffering from a recurrent pneumonia. His mother helped him to overcome his illness and get back to his feet.

It was a difficult time for Jesse. His family was poor and like other black people at that time in America, they were also mistreated. His father, Henry Owens, was only skilled in farming and had difficulty finding another job which made things even worse for the family. Jesse’s brothers had to work hard too in order to get by.

After his family moved to Cleveland, Jesse Owens became involved in athletics for the first time. His coach at his high school, Charles Riley, encouraged him to take up running to improve his health and make his lungs stronger. Jesse first declined the offer because he had to work after school. But when Riley later suggested that he come one hour earlier to school to train, Jesse agreed to do it.

Gradually, he fell in love with running and began to transform into a champion on the track.

His success on the red track brought him many scholarships but Owens decided to reject them. He told his coach that he couldn’t bear living well while other members of his family lived in hunger. He took several jobs during that time to support himself.

On May 25, 1935, Jesse Owens competed at the Big Ten College Track and Field Championships in Michigan. He broke three world records and tied a fourth. What was even more impressive was that he did all of that while having an injured back.

Jesse Owens was starting to become one of the most popular athletes in America at that time. But the real success came when he competed at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Adolf Hitler was the head of Germany and the Olympics were then organized by the Nazis to show the revival of their country after the first World War. The Nazi ideologies had engulfed the whole of Germany and were dominating the atmosphere of the Olympics.

Adolf Hitler intended to use these Olympics as a podium to sell his ideology to the world—the ideology that a “supreme” race exists.

However, he had hugely underestimated one of the participants.

Jesse Owens, being one of the few black athletes at the Olympics, dealt a heavy blow to that Nazi ideology by winning four gold medals—in 100 m, 200 m, 400 m relay, and the long jump). In fact, Hitler was so deeply disappointed that his German athletes did not win all of the events that he refused to shake the hand of the man causing the turmoil.

His real feelings were later revealed in the memoirs of one his ministers, Albert Speer:

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