The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself-- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us-- that's where it's at.
-- Jesse Owens
For more about Jesse Ownes, keep reading....
About the Quote
As with many things, much happens away from public view. This includes struggles we have to become better in some way. Better athletic performance in competition comes from practice. Better report card grades come from increased effort at mastering academic courses.
The gold medal is the final step in the quest for winning. The first step was made when the decision was made to learn the basics and to master them by consistent and persistent repetition.
Even if we mastered the mechanics of what we do-- athletics, academics, performing arts, etc.-- there are other things we need to master and develop in order to reach the highest awards we can earn. Among these are emotional control, mental discipline, and tolerance for pain.
Some Information about Jesse Owens
James Cleveland Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama, US on 1913-September-12. He died in Phoenix, Arizona, US on 1980-March-31.
Better known as Jesse Owens, he is best known for his 4 Gold Medals in track and field at the 1936 Berlin Games.
On 1935-May-25, over one year before the Summer Olympics in Berlin, broke world records in 3 events and tied a 4th:
| Set/Tied | Event | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Set | 220-yard (200m) dash | 20.3 seconds |
| Set | 220-yard (200m) low hurdles | 22.6 seconds |
| Set | long jump | 26.67 feet (8.13 meters) |
| Tied | 100-yard dash | 9.4 seconds |
Jesse Owens made these marks at a Western Conference track and field meet at the University of Michgigan (Ann Arbor) when he competed for Ohio State University (Columbus). The Western Conference would later be renamed the Big Ten Conference.
By the time of the Summer Olympics, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party ruled over Germany for 3 years. As pure athletic and sports achievements, Jesse Owens performance at the 1936 Berlin Games were noteworthy. Combined with the geopolitical environment of the time, they became legendary. American newspapers wrote that Hitler snubbed Jesse Owens at the medal ceremonies because he was an African-American and Hitler was the leading proponent of Aryan racial supremacy. As early as Day 1, Hitler and the International Olympic Committee disagreed on which athletes he could congratulate in public; so rather than congratulate in public just the German winners and a few others, Hitler decided to no longer congratulate winners in public. Jesse Owens won his first Gold Medal on Day 2.
-- Source
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