Similarly I learnt that a cricketer named Len Hutton had scored 364 runs to break a record (whatever that meant!). As I got older and became fascinated with each Olympic Games, more and more did I appreciate the magnificence of Jesse Owens’ achievements and how he and others like swimmer Mark Spitz (1972 Olympics) raised the bar in their particular events and earned Olympic fame forever. Over the years I read articles about Jesse Owens and how he will forever be linked to the criminal mind of Adolf Hitler but the recent black and white 30 minute documentary put the whole saga in perspective. It helped me confirm for the millionth time that God has a plan for each of us. In God’s infinite wisdom He decides to whom He will distribute which talent and identifies the occasions when such talent is put to best use for humanitarian purposes. Countless millenniums ago, God knew how the Jesse Owens story would impact the world in more ways than we can ever imagine. God also knew that in 1976 there would be an interesting follow up when a young man named Hasely Crawford would win the 100m gold medal in Montreal and put a small 2x4 twin island, Trinidad and Tobago, on the world map. How has T&T treated our gold medal winner in his personal life after he brought us international fame and glory? Maybe not as well as we should have done, but seemingly much better that his country treated Jesse Owens. Thank you Hasely Crawford - we are so very proud of you. You are our local version of the great Jesse Owens and luckily you are still with us to enjoy your company and hopefully be allowed to influence our youth. God bless! This action against Jewish teammates affected Jesse for a long time, saying: “it was very tough on Marty and Sam.” After the Olympics, Avery Brundage insisted on the high profile athletes doing a goodwill tour of Europe but they were paid no money and endured very inferior facilities. In disgust, Jesse quit the tour and was immediately banned and suspended from all recognized meets. Jesse thought that his success on the track would earn him respect in personal life but this did not happen. On the day he returned home, he took his wife to a hotel but could not get a room. All the promised financial offers did not materialize and to survive, he had to resort to the embarrassment and humiliation of running exhibition races against horses at country fairs. By the early 1950s, Jesse Owens had more or less disappeared from view, though in 1956 I believe he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Sport by President Eisenhower. In 1980, the great, famous, legendary Olympic sprinter/broad jumper/hurdler Jesse Owens died of lung cancer. As a very young son of a sporting father, all I knew was that someone named Jesse Owens was a famous runner who won many gold medals (whatever that meant!). Avery Brundage, head of USA Olympic Committee, was against such a boycott and through his efforts any talk of a boycott fizzled. Jesse had no choice because his coach Larry Snider told him “you are going!” On July 25, 1936, 383 USA athletes sailed for Germany and the Games were opened by Hitler with great pomp and ceremony on August 1. In the 100m, to Hitler’s fury, Owens equalled the world record and another black American, Metcalfe finished second. It was Olympic tradition that the head of state of the host nation personally met the winner of 100m as the world’s fastest human, but Hitler refused and said some very uncomplimentary racial comments about the American pair. In the broad (long) jump, Jesse fouled his first and second jump but won the gold medal with a jump of 26’, a record that stood for decades. The German Otto Long (I think!) was a hot favourite to win the broad jump and he and Jesse had a famous fight for gold, but when in the end Jesse was declared the winner, a most remarkable thing happened as both left the podium and walked around arm in arm which of course under Hitler’s rule was “verboten” (forbidden). After Jesse won the 200m, Hitler uttered his famous: “white humanity should be ashamed” comment since Aryan domination at the Olympics had been a national goal. Interestingly, in the USA team for the men’s 4 x 100m relay, two Jews (a race also hated by Hitler) had been selected, but at the last minute, two black Americans, Jesse and Metcalfe replaced them and the team won gold.As we all know, Adolf Hitler was preaching hatred for all races other than the Aryan race which he declared to be “the superior race.” Hitler did not actually want the Olympics to be held in Germany, but his PR ministers persuaded him that the Olympics would be the tool to prove beyond doubt that Aryans were superior and so he agreed. With Hitler’s racial philosophy in mind, USA and Canada had serious thoughts about boycotting Berlin, as did Jesse Owens when he understood what Hitler was all about. Jesse was already a household name and fell into the rich and famous crowd who feted him to the point where his fitness suffered resulting in his losing several key races he was expected to win. In fact, a guy named Peacock beat Jesse in three important preparatory races and was selected for Berlin but in the end had to miss the Olympics due to injury which allowed Jesse to be rated the top USA sprinter. Jesse’s girlfriend then gave him an ultimatum—come back to her now or it was all over. Jesse returned East and married her the same day!There was an older white man who saw “something special” in Jesse, and often invited him to dinner at his home when he taught him the life skills of courtesy, respect, humility and good table manners which proved more than useful to Jesse in later years when he had to deal with the media on sensitive topics. In time, Larry Snider became his coach and he too had great influence on Jesse’ career, personal development and eventual participation in 1936 Olympics when it seemed a touch and go situation given the racial policies of Adolf Hitler. In 1935, the year before Berlin, Jesse fell down a flight of stairs and injured his back. He also fell in love and fathered a daughter with his girlfriend but left them to go to California for the USA Olympic trials. His athletic ability was noted early and he won a scholarship to Iowa State University where he eventually became the first black captain of the athletic team.Having been born in 1939, it is not surprising that the names of famous people I remember from my earliest years are: Jesse Owens; Don Bradman; Len Hutton; Denis Compton; Winston Churchill; Adolf Hitler, King George V1; Enrico Caruso and Johann Strauss—a nice mix of sport, politics and music which still dominate my life. Recently, I watched a documentary on perhaps the most famous athlete in history—American sprinter Jesse Owens who won three individual gold medals at 1936 Olympics, and since we will enjoy the 2012 London Olympics in less than three months, it may interesting to remind sport enthusiasts of his story in brief. Jesse Owens was born in Alabama, the youngest of ten children of sharecropper parents.
-Hugh Henderson
Source:www.guardian.co.tt