Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics The Olympics, an event where the most physically fit push themselves to the extreme to win against other nations. In 1936, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis held the Olympics in Berlin, Germany. American athletes were trying to decide if they should travel to Berlin and take part in the "Nazi Olympics," or should they just stay home and protest German racism? The Berlin Olympics was a personal issue for Jesse Owens. He wasn't sure that he should join because of the racism. But he had a lot to show the world. He became a track star in Ohio, during his high school year. The high school track Coach Charlie Riley noticed his running ability when he saw him during a PE class, and asked him to join the tack …show more content…
A mere fifteen minutes later, Jesse took his first attempt it the broad jump. Prior to jumping, Jesse put a handkerchief at 26 feet 2½ inches, the distance of the world record. After such a bold gesture, he soared to a distance of 26 feet 8¼ inches, shattering the old world record by nearly 6 inches. With so many records, no wonder why he has so much to show the world. "A big part of Hitler's superiority ideas, was that his Nazis should rule not just because they were better and smarter, but because they were stronger and healthier," said Owens. By taking part in the games, black Americans would show racists everywhere how wrong they were. Owens and other black Olympians finally decided to go and participate in what was called the "Hitler Olympics." These games were to be held in Nazi Germany. Hitler wanted to prove to the world that the German "Aryan" people were the dominant race, and that what he was doing by killing all the other races was the right thing to do. So he tried to prove his belief in the Olympics, so the whole world could see it for their own eyes. A majority of the Germans thought that Germany would beat anyone, especially blacks. They were wrong, Owens won four gold medals in the 100-meterdash, the 200 meter dash and the broad jump. He also won a team medal in the 400-meter relay team. Owens even set world records for all of these events, and became the first American in
the time, and the Nazis were in power. Before the Olympics, German Jews had been segregated and
“Although I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.” - Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was an African American athlete that won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics at Berlin during the Nazi regime. The 1936 Olympics was quite controversial because of the Nazi’s and their policies for minority groups like the Jews. It was so controversial that the United states nearly pulled out of the international spectacle. Germany wanted to use the Olympics to showcase their country. But Jesse Owens took much of the attention away due to his athletic display. Even with his legendary performance in Berlin, it didn’t change much of his status in the US as a black man. In the
Can you imagine embarrassing the infamous Adolf Hitler in front of the whole world? Jesse Owens did that in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was not an easy road for him to get there, but he did it by putting enough effort and hard work forward. Jesse Owens was able to overcome racial judgment by surviving a poverty struck childhood, training hard in school, and by winning the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Initially, the Nazi’s propaganda minister convinced Hitler it was a great opportunity to warp people’s minds with their propaganda. Hitler also thought it was a great chance to prove his theory of Aryan racial superiority. But, he was proven wrong when the African American Jesse Owens won four gold medals (Gabi Mezger) . Finally, Berlin was actually the decided host before Hitler came to power but they still supported them just as much. The Nazi’s didn’t host an Olympics just for fun, there were actually many political reasons behind the event.
Jesse Owens changed the world by matriculated in the Olympics and showing that everyone is different and better at things than other people. Starting with shaking Hitler's hand and the Gunshot of the run, he showed the world that every race is superior in many ways. In all of the events he competed he took first in and showed that race does not matter. Although, “Jesse Owens, who smoked up to a pack of cigarettes a day for a good deal of his life, died of lung cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on March 31, 1980” (History). When he was awarded the medals he showed the world that all blacks can compete in the olyimpics.
That day he won four events, set three world records, and he tied a fourth record all in forty-five minutes. He tied the world record by running the one hundred yard dash in nine point four-seconds. He then broke a world record by jumping twenty-six feet eight and one quarter inches in the long jump. Later, he finished the two hundred twenty yard dash in twenty point three-seconds for another world record. That same day, he broke a third world record by finishing the two hundred twenty yard low hurdle race in twenty-two point six seconds.(Shwartz 1) He was so outstanding at track and field, that during his junior year of college he won every single one of the forty-two events in which he competed. Three of those events were Olympic trials for the 1936 Olympics (“About Jesse Owens” 3) guarantying that he would be going to Berlin to compete for a medal.
Most people would classify the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 as just another Olympics, and they would be right because the Games did have the classic triumphs and upsets that occur at all Olympic Games. What most people did not see, behind the spectacle of the proceedings, was the effect the Nazi party had on every aspect of the Games including the results. Despite Nazi Germany’s determination to come off as the superior nation in the 1936 Olympics, their efforts were almost crushed by the very people they were trying to exclude.
Because he is well-known as being one of the first African Americans in the Games, many people believe that he had a luxurious life filled with fame and money. However, the documentary "More Than Gold" reveals that this was not the case. Amidst the "Black Power" time of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Owens exclaimed that "The black fist is a meaningless symbol. When you open it, you have nothing but fingers - weak, empty fingers" ("Quotes by Jesse Owens"). Owens, who just wanted to participate in Track and Field alongside other spectacular athletes, reinstated the important principle that "individual excellence, rather than race or national origin, distinguishes one man from another" ("About Jesse Owens"). Although he did not have the lucrative career that he deserved (like many other minority athletes of the time), Owens refused to let his message go to waste. He often spoke with younger generations, trying to iterate to them that underprivileged youth should still have the opportunity to make it "big" if they have the talent to. For this, he was considered a "champion on the playground of the poorest neighborhoods" as much as he was a champion of the Olympic Games ("About Jesse Owens"). Even through a life of financial hardships, Owens inspired many African American athletes to achieve their utmost
The Nazi Olympics in Berlin in 1936 destroyed Hitler’s master race history. "There was very definitely a special feeling in winning the gold medal and being a black man," Woodruff said. "We destroyed [Hitler's] master race theory whenever we started winning those gold medals,” said runner John Woodruff (7). John Woodruff was a black man who won a gold medal. Another African American Jesse Owens won four track and field gold medals. These two people defied the Aryan ideal that Hitler believed that Aryan dominated the world. Another important impact the Olympic brought happened in 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. In that Olympics, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon refused to participate because of a dispute over the Suez Canal; Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands boycotted the Games in protest over the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary; China boycotted the Games because a flag of Taiwan was raised in the Olympic Village. The original purpose of the Olympics was to make the countries collaborate, however, it also brought negative impacts. Another example is that Olympics in Mexico city in 1968. Americans politicised the Games by letting two African Americans, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, represent the United States. Tommie Smith and John Carlos placed first and third in the track and field. During their medal ceremony, they raised a clenched fist above their
“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas” (Advertising, Demonstrations, Propaganda* 98). This rule shows just what the Germans were hoping for, a peaceful, passive, war-free environment in which countries can get together and compete. Although we all know that quite the antithesis was upon the 1972 Olympics in Munich between September the fifth and September the sixth. The Munich Massacre, one of the worst massacres of all time, was driven by the vengefulness of the Palestinian group known as Black September, towards the people of Israel, or more relevantly, towards their Olympic team (Rosenberg). Since this confrontation between Palestine and
Adolph Hitler wanted the 1936 Berlin Olympics to be a large scale national spectacle. So that the rest of the world could see the glory of Nazi Germany, he hired film producer Leni
Most Germans hoped that the 1972 Olympics would help to heal the racial damage caused by the 1936 Olympics. It was the first time the games had returned to the state since Nazism
The world record holder Jesse Owens digs his own starting blocks into the cinder track, Ready, Set, Go. Jesse sprints the 100 meters and gains one of four gold medals. Jesse Owens is one of the greatest track athletes that ever lived. He ran jumped and in his later career even won against horses. Many called him the fastest man alive. Although some may say Jesse Owens did not change America’s position on racism, he was an influential and controversial person because he made the American Dream and did what no one expected.
Few athletes have transcended their sports to become a symbol of an era as did Jesse Owens. Enduring a childhood marked by grinding poverty in Alabama, Owens became a star athlete in high school after his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. His achievements earned Owens several lucrative offers to attend college as a track-and-field athlete, and he enrolled at Ohio State University in 1933. On May 25, 1935, Owens made national headlines for setting five world records and tying another record at the Big Ten Intercollegiate Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Although many historians consider Owens's performance that day the greatest achievement by any track-and-field athlete
The Olympics, an event where the most physically fit push themselves to the extreme to win against other nations. In 1936, Adolph Hitler and the Nazis held the Olympics in Berlin, Germany. American athletes had a hard time deciding if they should travel to Berlin and take part in the Nazi Olympics. The Berlin Olympics was a personal issue for the American team, which included Jesse Owens. He wasn't sure that he should join the team because of the views that were expressed by the Nazis. Despite this, he had a lot to show the world.