Jesse Owens (September 12, 1913 - March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history". He set three world records and tied another, all in less than an hour, at the 1935 Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan-a feat that has never been equaled and has been called "the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport". He achieved international fame at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, by winning four gold medals: 100 meters, long jump, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay. He was the most successful athlete at the Games and, as a black American man, was credited with "single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy". The Jesse Owens Award is USA Track and Field's highest accolade for the year's best track and field athlete. Owens was ranked by ESPN as the sixth greatest North American athlete of the 20th century and the highest-ranked in his sport.
This drama based on true events focusing on legendary black athlete Jesse Owens well played by Stephan James in a time of pre-war, racial bigotry , discrimination , and anti-Semitism, the humble African-American track-and-field athlete, and concerning his inspiring journey to overcome racism at home and abroad, culminating in his triumphant track-and-field performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics under the tutelage of gruff Ohio State coach Larry Snyder nicely acted by Jason Sudeikis . The incredible true story of gold medal legend, Jesse Owens , his strong will and stubbornness thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where Jesse faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy. There's also apperance of some historical characters , such as : Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels performed by Barnaby Metschurat , who intends to turn the Olympics into a showcase for Aryan superiority, through the lens of the young German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl finely interpreted by Carice van Houten and athlete Carl 'Luz' Long/David Kross with whom Owens had an enjoyable relationship . The picture displays a sensitive and rousing musical score by composer Rachel Portman. As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by Peter Levy. The flick was competently directed by Stephen Hopkins.
Based on actual events : On December 4, 1935, NAACP Secretary Walter Francis White wrote a letter to Owens . He was trying to dissuade Owens from taking part in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany, arguing that an African American should not promote a racist regime after what his race had suffered at the hands of white racists in his own country. In the months prior to the Games, a movement gained momentum in favor of a boycott. Yet he and others eventually took part after Avery Brundage, president of the American Olympic Committee branded them "un-American agitators". In 1936, Owens and his United States teammates sailed on the SS Manhattan and arrived in Germany to compete at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. According to fellow American sprinter James LuValle, who won the bronze in the 400 meters, Owens arrived at the new Olympic stadium to a throng of fans. Just before the competitions, founder of Adidas athletic shoe company Adi Dassler visited Owens in the Olympic village and persuaded Owens to wear Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik shoes; this was the first sponsorship for a male African American athlete. On August 3, Owens won the 100 m dash with a time of 10.3 seconds, defeating a teammate and a college friend Ralph Metcalfe by a tenth of a second and defeating Tinus Osendarp of the Netherlands by two tenths of a second. On August 4, he won the long jump with a leap of 8.06 metres . He initially credited this achievement to the technical advice that he received from Luz Long, the German competitor whom he defeated but later admitted that this was not true, as he and Long didn't meet until after the competition was over. On August 5, he won the 200 m sprint with a time of 20.7 seconds, defeating teammate Mack Robinson (the older brother of Jackie Robinson). On August 9, Owens won his fourth gold medal in the 4 × 100 m sprint relay when head coach Lawson Robertson replaced Jewish-American sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller with Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, who teamed with Frank Wykoff and Foy Draper to set a world record of 39.8 seconds in the event. Owens had initially protested the last-minute switch, but assistant coach Dean Cromwell said to him, "You'll do as you are told." Owens's record-breaking performance of four gold medals was not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Owens had set the world record in the long jump with a leap of 8.13 m in 1935, the year before the Berlin Olympics, and this record stood for 25 years until it was broken in 1960 by countryman Ralph Boston. Coincidentally, Owens was a spectator at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome when Boston took the gold medal in the long jump. The long-jump victory is documented, along with many other 1936 events, in the 1938 film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl. On August 1, 1936, Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler shook hands with the German victors only and then left the stadium. International Olympic Committee president Henri de Baillet-Latour insisted that Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations. Owens first competed on Day 2 , running in the first and second qualifying rounds for the 100 meters final; he equaled the Olympic and world record in the first race and broke them in the second race, but the new time was not recognized, because it was wind-assisted. Later the same day, Owens's African-American team-mate Cornelius Johnson won gold in the high jump final with a new Olympic record of 2.03 meters. Hitler did not publicly congratulate any of the medal winners this time; even so, the communist New York City newspaper the Daily Worker claimed Hitler received all the track winners except Johnson and left the stadium as a "deliberate snub" after watching Johnson's winning jump.
This drama based on true events focusing on legendary black athlete Jesse Owens well played by Stephan James in a time of pre-war, racial bigotry , discrimination , and anti-Semitism, the humble African-American track-and-field athlete, and concerning his inspiring journey to overcome racism at home and abroad, culminating in his triumphant track-and-field performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics under the tutelage of gruff Ohio State coach Larry Snyder nicely acted by Jason Sudeikis . The incredible true story of gold medal legend, Jesse Owens , his strong will and stubbornness thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where Jesse faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy. There's also apperance of some historical characters , such as : Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels performed by Barnaby Metschurat , who intends to turn the Olympics into a showcase for Aryan superiority, through the lens of the young German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl finely interpreted by Carice van Houten and athlete Carl 'Luz' Long/David Kross with whom Owens had an enjoyable relationship . The picture displays a sensitive and rousing musical score by composer Rachel Portman. As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by Peter Levy. The flick was competently directed by Stephen Hopkins.
Based on actual events : On December 4, 1935, NAACP Secretary Walter Francis White wrote a letter to Owens . He was trying to dissuade Owens from taking part in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany, arguing that an African American should not promote a racist regime after what his race had suffered at the hands of white racists in his own country. In the months prior to the Games, a movement gained momentum in favor of a boycott. Yet he and others eventually took part after Avery Brundage, president of the American Olympic Committee branded them "un-American agitators". In 1936, Owens and his United States teammates sailed on the SS Manhattan and arrived in Germany to compete at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. According to fellow American sprinter James LuValle, who won the bronze in the 400 meters, Owens arrived at the new Olympic stadium to a throng of fans. Just before the competitions, founder of Adidas athletic shoe company Adi Dassler visited Owens in the Olympic village and persuaded Owens to wear Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik shoes; this was the first sponsorship for a male African American athlete. On August 3, Owens won the 100 m dash with a time of 10.3 seconds, defeating a teammate and a college friend Ralph Metcalfe by a tenth of a second and defeating Tinus Osendarp of the Netherlands by two tenths of a second. On August 4, he won the long jump with a leap of 8.06 metres . He initially credited this achievement to the technical advice that he received from Luz Long, the German competitor whom he defeated but later admitted that this was not true, as he and Long didn't meet until after the competition was over. On August 5, he won the 200 m sprint with a time of 20.7 seconds, defeating teammate Mack Robinson (the older brother of Jackie Robinson). On August 9, Owens won his fourth gold medal in the 4 × 100 m sprint relay when head coach Lawson Robertson replaced Jewish-American sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller with Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, who teamed with Frank Wykoff and Foy Draper to set a world record of 39.8 seconds in the event. Owens had initially protested the last-minute switch, but assistant coach Dean Cromwell said to him, "You'll do as you are told." Owens's record-breaking performance of four gold medals was not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Owens had set the world record in the long jump with a leap of 8.13 m in 1935, the year before the Berlin Olympics, and this record stood for 25 years until it was broken in 1960 by countryman Ralph Boston. Coincidentally, Owens was a spectator at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome when Boston took the gold medal in the long jump. The long-jump victory is documented, along with many other 1936 events, in the 1938 film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl. On August 1, 1936, Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler shook hands with the German victors only and then left the stadium. International Olympic Committee president Henri de Baillet-Latour insisted that Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations. Owens first competed on Day 2 , running in the first and second qualifying rounds for the 100 meters final; he equaled the Olympic and world record in the first race and broke them in the second race, but the new time was not recognized, because it was wind-assisted. Later the same day, Owens's African-American team-mate Cornelius Johnson won gold in the high jump final with a new Olympic record of 2.03 meters. Hitler did not publicly congratulate any of the medal winners this time; even so, the communist New York City newspaper the Daily Worker claimed Hitler received all the track winners except Johnson and left the stadium as a "deliberate snub" after watching Johnson's winning jump.