Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Adam Navis.
Voice 2
And I’m Christy Van Arragon. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live
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Can one man prove a dictator wrong? Can a runner fight lies? Can he prove to the world that all people are equal? In nineteen thirty six [1936], one man did just that.
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Today’s Spotlight is on Jesse Owens. Jesse was born in 1913 in the United States. He was very poor, but one thing that never cost any money was running. “I always loved running,” he said, “...because you could do it all by yourself, all under your own power. You could go in any direction, as fast or slow as you wanted. You could seek out new things to see, just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”
Voice 1
During this time in the United States, many white–skinned people treated dark–skinned people, like Jesse, very badly. This caused difficulties in his life. But Jesse found good running teachers who trained him and guided him in life. In 1936 Jesse qualified for the Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
Voice 2
At this time, Adolf Hitler ruled Germany. He believed people with white skin, yellow hair, and blue eyes, were the best people. He believed that they were the strongest and the smartest. These people were part of the “Aryan race”. Anyone else – anyone who looked different, like Jesse Owens – was less than human. Hitler planned to prove his ideas at the Berlin Olympics.
Voice 1
Many American athletes did not want to go to the Olympics because Jewish citizens there were being treated unfairly. But Jesse Owens just wanted to run. It was what he did best. This was his chance and he did not want to miss it.
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If people had known the future, they may not have attended the Olympic Games. Hitler’s government would go on to kill millions of people. But at the time of the Olympics, people could not believe Hitler would do what he did. They could not know his terrible plans.
Voice 1
The athletes just wanted to do what they had trained to do, they wanted to compete. They decided that, to protest Hitler’s ideas, they would have to be faster and stronger than his German athletes.
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Owens had prepared himself for a cold reception from the Germans spectators. But when his name was called, the crowd went wild. He did not have light skin, or blue eyes, but they shouted and cheered. They knew about Owens. They wanted see the world’s fastest man run.
Voice 1
As he watched from his special area, Hitler could not have been happy. He would have liked it if someone with white skin was getting the cheers instead.
Voice 2
Owens felt good. He felt like he was floating on air. He was running the one hundred metre race. He was running against the best in the world and anything could happen.
Voice 1
Six men gathered at the starting line. One hundred thousand people held their breath. Owens got down on the ground next to the other five runners. He got into the starting position.
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The starter held his starter’s gun in the air. He spoke, “on your marks”, “ready” ... they were off!
Voice 1
Owens jumped out of the starting blocks. His legs and arms pumped up and down. He pushed his body for more speed. He finished the race one metre before anyone else! His time was ten point three [10.3] seconds! He had just won an Olympic Gold medal.
Voice 2
From where he watched from his special area, Hitler was not pleased. Someone suggested to him that he should take a picture with Owens. Hitler responded,
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“The Americans ought to feel shame for letting their awards be won by people with black skin. I would never shake hands with them.”
Voice 1
For Owens, the next day was about the next competition – the long jump. This is where people run and jump as far as they can.
Voice 2
The Germans had a jumper named Luz Long. He was strong and fast. His eyes were blue and his hair was yellow. He was the kind of athlete that Hitler wanted.
Voice 1
When the time came for Owens to jump, he went through his normal warm–up. He began with a trial run, down the track and into the sand pit. He did this to establish how many steps he needed to take. But as he finished his first warm–up he turned around to see the judge mark his first attempt as “foul”!
Voice 2
It turned out that he was not able to warm–up this way! His warm–up counted as an attempt. Owens still had two jumps left. But, on his second jump, he only went twenty three feet, three inches. This was two inches less than he needed to qualify. He had only one jump left!
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Owens felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around: it was Luz Long! Long told him to put a mark in front of the jumping area and in that way he would not foul the last jump.
Voice 2
Owens took this help and on his next jump he met the required distance easily. Long smiled at him. But he would not give up the gold medal without a fight.
Voice 1
Owens and Long were clearly the best jumpers. The gold medal would go to one or the other. On his second jump Owens landed at twenty five feet, ten inches! But two jumps later Long jumped the exact same distance. They were tied for first place.
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Owens took his next jump and broke the Olympic record with a jump of twenty six feet! Long did his best, but fouled on the take off. Owens had won another gold medal!
Voice 1
But he still had one jump left. He was so excited that he ran down the track and launched himself into the air. He landed at twenty six feet, five and one half inches!
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Long was so excited for Owens that he marched him around the stadium. After this, the two men would become close friends.
Voice 1
Owens earned two other gold medals in the Berlin Olympics. He achieved what few people had ever achieved. But more than this, he showed that a person’s strength, skill, or intelligence cannot be told by the colour of their skin. One writer says this about Jesse Owens:
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“Nothing Jesse Owens did took away from the terrible things to come. He saved no lives. However, while many countries were choosing to believe that things were not as bad as they heard, Owens stood up to Hitler at his own Olympics. He disproved Hitler’s terrible theories with his amazing running and jumping.”
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