Instead of proving Aryan racial superiority, what happened was the opposite. An African-American man named Jesse Owens stole the spotlight and proved Hitler's theories wrong, to the delight of everyone who opposed his ideas.
Jesse Owens won gold in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m, and long jump. Taking home four gold medals, he had the highest number of gold medals, with the best-scoring German athlete only getting two gold medals. He was named the most successful athlete of the 1936 Games, marking his place in Olympic history. His record number of gold medals was unbroken for 48 years.
Owens was already oppressed in Germany as an American in the Olympics, but being black made things even tougher for him, being referred to as an animal by some people and being seen as not worthy by others. In addition to Hitler's plan to show the world the idea of Aryan superiority, the pressure on Owens was very high. He had to endure the prejudice against him in Germany and keep thinking about his friends back in America who were endlessly supporting him in order to stay determined. People back in the US, no matter if they were white or black, were depending on him and many other American athletes to make their country proud and relevant in the international setting.
Record crowds showed up, and the tension between countries was high. Owens came close to not succeeding in some places (such as him fouling in the long jump) but was able to persevere and win four Olympic gold medals, making Owens the most popular hero of the Olympics. Thanks to the hard work of Jesse Owens, Hitler wasn't able to further his theories of Aryan superiority, and the international community was relieved.
6 comments:
This gives really good background on such a triumphant moment. Not only was it a fantastic athletic feat, but also disproved an ignorant ideology
It's pretty crazy how even how he represented America and gave it a good impact on the name people were still able to treat him bad and discriminate.
Great insight on how tensions were building between the United States & Germany prior to the start of World War II.
I think you did a good job on analyzing the impact that Jesse Owens had on the 1936 Olympic Games. It would also be interesting if you included information on the Jewish athletes that were excluded, but overall, you did a great job.
Although there was a great amount of tension in the olympic games for anti-semitism from germany, he was proved wrong through the achievements of Jessie Owens. It might have seemed as if equality had won, but in the end, Hitler used fascist ideals to perpetuate racism in Germany and spread if to neighboring countries leading to the start of the world war two.
Interesting article on the impact that a civilian could do against a foreign country. I like your insight on the fact that Jesse Owen was black and and from America, so he was a minority in the Olympic games. He broke two different social norms during those games.
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