Le Parlement européen est-il l’assemblée des peuples des Etats ou de l’Union européenne ?

Who was Jesse Owens ?

Jesse Owens was an American athlete born on September 12 in 1913. His grand parents were slaves and his parents were farmers. He was a sickly child and his family was too poor to afford a doctor for him so couldn't help his father and brothers in the fields.Yet, that didn’t stop him.

In fact, he was later considered as the first internationally renowned black sportsman and the best sprinter of the inter-war period.

During his school years, Jesse Owens discovered running and from a skinny boy he developed into a strong runner. Thanks to his coaches (Charles Riley and Larry Snyder) and his great discipline, he progressed rapidly and began to break records in the long jump and high jump. Later, a meeting with a former Olympic champion, Charlie Paddock, gave him the desire to participate in the Olympic Games.

A number of universities actively recruited Owens, but he felt that college was only a dream. He felt he couldn't leave his struggling family and young wife when a paycheck needed to be earned. But Owens finally agreed to enter Ohio State University where he experienced racism, however the incidents merely strengthened his desire to succeed.

In 1936 he became the first black American athlete entering history by winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin, in front of Adolf Hitler who saw his myth of Aryan supremacy being crushed.

Four gold medals taken away from Nazi Germany and held up to the nose of the United States during racial segregation. Moreover he became friends with Luz Long, his German rival. He became a symbol of the fight against racism

Forty years after Owens won his gold medals, he was 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. In 1979 President Jimmy Carter honored Owens with a Living Legend Award.

Owens then moved his business from Chicago to Phoenix, Arizona, but as time progressed, his health deteriorated. Unfortunately he died of a lung cancer on March 31, 1980

Althouht racism at home had denied Owens the financial fruits of his victory after the 1936 games, his triumph in what has been called the most important sports story of the century continued to be an inspiration for modern day Olympians like track stars Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis. In Jet magazine (1996), Johnson credited Owens for paving the way for his and other black athletes' victories.

In August 2009, at the World Championships in Berlin, the American team paid tribute to its former champion by wearing the initials "JO" on its jersey.

...