Owens early days Owens was born on September 12, 1913. Owens was the youngest of ten children, which was three girls and seven boys. Owens was nine years old when him and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. After he moved, his new teacher in Cleveland, Ohio asked Jesse his name and he said “J.C.” The teacher thought he said Jesse because of his accent. Jesse stood as his nickname for all his life. When Owens was a boy he realized he had motivation for running. Owens was motivated by his running coach Charles Riley. Owen’s worked in a shoe repair shop, but his coach Charles Riley allowed him to practice running before school. |
Because Jesse Owens was at this college he was known as “The Buckeye Bullet.” While Owens was at Ohio State he broke three world records and tied another. While at Ohio State he set five world records and tying another at the Big Ten Intercollegiate Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan on May 25,1935. Owens finished his last quarter at OSU before the Berlin Olympics. Owens was appointed as an honorary page for a legislative committee at the Ohio Statehouse which was big for him.
Jesse Owens is known as a hero of the 1936 Olympics. During these events Adolf Hitler was very confident that his German athletes would take the win, but Jesse Owens came through with the win. Before the Berlin Olympics Adolf strongly hated blacks. After seeing Jesse Owens win, Hitler’s hate increased over blacks. Forty- nine teams from all around the globe came to the 1936 Olympics. The United States was the second largest team with 312 members of the team. Only 18 of those 312 members were African-American.
Jesse Owens is a four time gold medalist in the Olympics. Jesse Owens tied a world record and set three more in less than an hour. Some people call it “the most incredible 45 minutes in a sport.” Almost every time Owens was the most successful Olympic athlete in the events. Owens’s records lasted for 25 years until someone overtook Owen’s beautiful performance. Owens was a “Buckeye Bullet”
Owens created a dry cleaning business and worked as a gas station attendant in his later life. Eventually Owens went bankrupted. Owens ended up dying at age 66 from smoking a pack a day. When Owens retired, he owned racehorses. In 1966 he got prosecuted for tax evasion. Owens tried to make a living as a sport promoter or an entertainer.