A hero is someone who can endure and overcome major challenges to achieve greatness. A hero is focused and determined to work hard. I believe Jesse Owen is one of such men.
James Cleveland Owen was born in Oakville, Alabama and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He was seventh of the eleven children of Henry and Emma Owens. He was called J.C, but was given the name Jesse by a teacher in Cleveland, who did not understand his accent. Throughout his life, Owen attributed the success of his athletic career to the encouragement of Charles Riley, his junior-high track coach.
As a student in a Cleveland, Ohio, high school, Owens won three events at the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships in Chicago. On May 25, 1935, while competing for Ohio State University (Columbus) in a Western (later ‘Big Ten’) Conference track-and-field meet at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Owen equaled the world record for the 100-yard dash (9.4 sec) and broke the world records for the 220-yard dash (20.3 sec), the 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 sec), and the long jump (8.13 meters [26.67 feet]). 
In the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, Jesse became the first American in the history of Olympic Track and Field to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. In the 1936 Olympics held in August, in August 3,Jesse won the 100-yard dash by defeating Ralph Metcalf, on August 4  he won the Long Jump (after some friendly and helpful advice from German competitor Luz Long, that Owen should place a towel in front of the take-off board. Leaping from that point, Owens qualified for the finals, eventually beating Long). On August 5, he won the 200-yard dash and was later added to the 4×100 men’s relay team. He won his fourth gold medal on August 6 (his performance wasn’t duplicated until 1984, when Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 summer Olympics). Adolf Hitler was using these games to prove to the world that the “Aryan race” was the dominant race. Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of racial superiority and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior or even non-human. This outstanding performance came as a surprise to many due to Adolf Hithler’s attempt to prove, through these Olympic games, the superiority of the Aryan race to every other race. He regarded the Africans as inferior and even non-human. It was of no surprise that, Hitler shook hands only with the German victors and then left the stadium (some claim this was to avoid shaking hands with the African-American victors. But according to a spokesman, Hitler’s exit had been pre-scheduled). Olympic committee officials then insisted Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations.
It is almost unimaginable that this great patriotic citizen(Jesse Owen) who brought fame and glory to America  after the incredible success in the Olympic games had difficulty making a living. He became a sports promoter and entertainer. He would give local sprinters a ten or twenty yards (9.1 or 18.3 meters) start and beat them in the 100 yard (91 m) dash. He also challenged and defeated racehorses, although as he revealed later, the trick was to race a high-strung thoroughbred horse that would be frightened by the starter’s pistol and give him a good jump. His self-promotion eventually turned into a Public relations career in Chicago Illinois.
On March 31, 1980, Jesse Owens at 66, died in Tucson from complications due to cancer and was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago Illinois. Jesse was awarded the highest honor a civilian of the United States can receive. President Gerald R. Ford awarded him with the Medal of Freedom. In 1984, a street in Berlin was renamed after him. He was awarded with the Congressional Gold Medal by George H.W Bush on March 28, 1990.
If you are reading this article, you may wonder why I have chosen to qualify the person of James Cleveland Owen as a Portrait of Success. Jesse, as he was popularly known, an African- American who, through all the trials and obstacles, remained devoted to his vision, overcame segregation, racism and bigotry to prove to the world that African-Americans are not inferior. His success as an athlete proves that true success begins and is determined from within, not by colour or race.

Tags: Jesse Owen, Athletes, Olympics

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