Jesse Owens

Destiny and tavor P:6.

Popularity.
My athlete is popular because he won 4 gold medals for American at the 1936
Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Also, he was one of the fastest runners at that
Olympic competition at the time.
Childhood.
He was the 10th and final child between two sharecroppers, his grandparents
were slaves, which resulted in him being a slave as well. Owens was picking up
100 pounds of cotton a day to help his family. He would often get sick from
being out in the field all day.
Career Accomplishments & Achievements
Jesse Won gold medals in the long jump, the 100 & 200 meter dashes and 4 x
100 metre relay. He was the first african american track and field athlete to
win four gold medals at a single Olympic games.
Involvement in Civil Rights.
In the early years he spoke out against Tommie Smith and John Carlos when
they gave a Black power salute in the Summer Games in Mexico City for the
200 - metre race saying “The black fist is meaningless. It has no meaning
unless there's money on the inside, that's where the power lies. “
Influence.
Jesse Owens had a big influence on American Culture because the American
Culture places a big influence on sports. His wins, His losses all shaped a
major breakthrough in American sports & the Olympics overall.
Death and legacy
Jesse died on march 31, 1980, he was an avid smoker and died of disease at
the age of 66 in tucson arizona. He was buried at oak woods cemetery his
grave marker says ¨jesse owens 1936 olympic champion¨. The room jesse
occupied during the berlin olympics was made into a living museum with
pictures of his accomplishments.