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[[Image:Jesse Owens.jpg|right]]

[[Image:Jesse Owens.jpg|right]]

'''James Cleveland Owens''' (b. September 12, 1913, Oakville, [[Alabama]] - March 31, 1980) American athlete; he won four gold medals at the 1936 [[Olympics|Olympic Games]] in Nazi [[Berlin]].<ref>http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/owens-wins-4th-gold-medal</ref>

'''James Cleveland''' "'''Jesse'''" '''Owens''' (September 12, 1913{{snds}}March 31, 1980) was an American [[track and field]] athlete and four-time [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics|Olympic]] gold medalist.

The media and spectators paid special attention to [[Jesse Owens]] (1913-1980), the black American track and field star. Owens, who craved the chance to compete, resisted the [[NAACP]]'s pleas that he support the boycott. He won four gold medals and was enthusiastically cheered in the face of Nazi propaganda about "Negro inferiority."  The film "Olympia" (1938), made by Nazi producer-director [[Leni Riefenstahl]] set the modern standard for high quality documentaries, and prominently featured Owens. He was miffed that not only Hitler did not congratulate him, but neither did President Roosevelt.

Owens specialized in the [[Sprint (running)|sprint]]s and the [[long jump]] and was recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history".<ref>{{Citation |last= Litsky |first= Frank|year=1980 |title=Jesse Owens Dies Of Cancer at 66 |publication-place=''New York Times'' |url=http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0912.html |accessdate= March 23, 2014 }}</ref> His achievement of setting three world records and tying another in less than an hour at the 1935 Big Ten track meet in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] has been called "the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/more/05/24/owens.record.day/ |title=Greatest 45 minutes ever in sports |last=Rothschild |first= Richard |date= May 24, 2010|website= Sports Illustrated.com |accessdate= March 23, 2014}}</ref> and has never been equaled. At the [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in [[Berlin, Germany|Berlin]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], Owens won international fame with four [[Olympic gold medal|gold medal]]s: [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|100 meters]], [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres|200 meters]], [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump|long jump]], and [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 meter relay]]. He was the most successful athlete at the games and as such has been credited with "single-handedly crush[ing] [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] myth of [[Aryanization|Aryan]] supremacy."<ref name=Schwartz>{{cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html |title=Owens Pierced A Myth |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |publisher=ESPN Internet Ventures |work=ESPN |year=2000 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/20000706211910/http://espn.go.com:80/sportscentury/features/00016393.html |archivedate=July 6, 2000 }}</ref>

In 1976, Jesse was awarded the highest honor an American  civilian can receive. President [[Gerald R. Ford]] awarded him with the Medal of Freedom. [http://www.jesseowens.com/biography/]

In 1976, Jesse was awarded the highest honor an American  civilian can receive. President [[Gerald R. Ford]] awarded him with the Medal of Freedom. [http://www.jesseowens.com/biography/]