Marathon You Can Do It

Last night, CNBC Sports Biz news reported that the Sports Museum of America is opening in New York. The manager of the museum said one of their star item is the Jesse Owens diary that the star African American athlete kept during the controversial 1936 Berlin Olympics.

In an event where Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of “Aryan racial superiority” and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior. Owens surprised many by winning four gold medals in those: On August 3, 1936 he won the 100m sprint, defeating Ralph Metcalfe; on August 4, the long jump ; on August 5, the 200m dash; and, after he was added to the 4 x 100m relay team, his fourth on August 9 (a performance not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics). Source Wikipedia

In the diary, Owens recounts his experience in Germany. Some notable entries are;

“When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in Germany.”

Then Owens added the following entry,

“Hitler didn’t snub me—it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me a telegram.”

There is an African saying that says “A Hero is never honored at home”

In the diary Jesse also credited his long jump win to a friendly and helpful advice from German competitor Lutz Long. THAT’S THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPICS.

See it at Sports Museum of New York and more from Jessee Owens museum

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written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Olympics, Running, Sports Museum