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James Owens Research Paper

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James Owens was born on September 12, 1913. He lived in Alabama until he was nine years old, then his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In Ohio, James’ new teacher could not understand him because of his southern accent. When he told her his name, she thought he had said Jesse, so from then on people called him Jesse. (footnote) As a kid, Jesse loved to run. He started track in middle school where he continued the sport throughout high school and in college. He attended the prestigious Ohio State University, where he found success on the track team.
When it came time to leave for Berlin, some thought Owens should not participate in the Olympics because of Adolf Hitler. However, Owens did not let Hitler get in the way of competing in the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens stunned the world as he took home four gold medals. With a time of 10.3 seconds, Owens won his first gold medal in the 100 meter dash. In the 200 meter dash we won gold with a time of, 20.7 seconds. Owens leaped 25 feet and 9 3/16 inches for the gold medal in the long jump. Owens, defeated Luz Long, a german, in the Long Jump. The fourth gold medal that Owens won came in the 4x100 sprint relay. Owens, along with Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, and Frank Wykoff finished the race with a time of 39.8 seconds. (footnote) With his success in Berlin, Owens …show more content…

Be that as it may, one person in particular seemed irritated by Owens success- Adolf Hitler. Hitler refused to shake Owens hand after he won gold, but he did shake the German athletes hands. Hitler found that America letting an African American represent their country to be sickening. African Americans did not fit Hitler’s idea of an aryan race. Even knowing Hitler disliked him and snubbed his wins, Owens did not say any fallacious about Hitler during the Games. In the end, Hitler himself could not stop Owens from leaving Berlin with four gold medals and a newfound

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