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Facts on Jesse Owens

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  • Jesse Owens married his high school sweetheart and had three daughters.

  • Jesse Owens’ real name is James Cleveland Owens.  As a boy he was know by his first two initials J.C. and one of his school teachers mistakenly pronounced his name wrong and began calling him Jesse. 

  • Jesse Owens had 10 other brothers and sisters.

  • One of the streets that lead to the Olympic stadium in Berlin, Germany is named after Jesse Owens. 

  • When Owens was a sophomore at Ohio State University, his nickname was “Buckeye Bullet.”

  • Jesse Owens was born in 1913 in Alabama.  When he was eight, his family moved to Ohio.

  • Owens went to Ohio State University, a segregated school, where he had to endure racial discrimination and prejudice. 

  • Jesse Owens proved to the world during the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany that any individual could achieve greatness, regardless of race, religion or national origin.

  • Owens was a great speaker and traveled around the world giving speeches on religion, dedication and loyalty.  He also devoted much of his time to youth sports programs for underprivileged children.

  • Jesse Owens led the way for other African American athletes. 

     

  • Jesse Owens’ 1935 Big Ten Conference Championships results:
  • 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds.
  • 220-yard dash in 20.3 seconds.
  • 220-yard low hurdles in 22.6 seconds.
  • Broad jump distance of 26 feet 8¼ inches.
  • Jesse Owens' 1936 Olympics results:

  • 100-meter dash in 10.3 seconds.
  • A jump of 26'3 ¼ inches in the broad jump.
  • 200-meter dash in 20.7 seconds.
  • His Olympic team also won the 400-dash relay of 39.9 seconds.
  • Jesse Owens was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Ford in 1976.
  • In 1979, President Carter presented Jesse Owens with the Living Legend Award.
  • In 1990, President Bush presented Jesse Owens' family with the Congressional Gold Medal.

 

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