3. In 1931, the International Olympic Committee granted the Olympic
Games to Berlin without knowing that Adolf Hitler was to have power to
the country two years after.
4. In 1936, the Nazis were already in command of Germany and take
advantage of the occasion to promote their racist philosophy
5. German sports imagery in the 1930s promoted the myth of Aryan racial
superiority and physical power. Artists idealized athletes' well-developed
muscle tone and heroic strength and accentuated so-called Aryan facial
features — blue eyes and blond hair..
6. Therefore on the völkisch principle we cannot
admit that one race is equal to another. By
recognizing that they are different, the
völkisch concept separates mankind into
races of superior and inferior quality (…) For
in a world which would be composed of
mongrels and negroids all ideals of human
beauty and nobility and all hopes of an
idealized future for our humanity would be
lost forever.
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf Vol. 2 Ch. 1
7. Jesse Owens was the living proof of
Hitler’s huge, crazy mistake
8.
9. Jesse Owens won the Gold Medal in the 100m, 200m,
long jump, and 4x100m relay.
10. This feat would not be accomplished again until Carl
Lewis would Gold-medal in the same four events in
1984.
11. In the finals of long jump Owens competed with a German athlete, Luz Long.
Owens won and Long embraced him.
Hitler must have gone crazy watching their embrace. Racist propaganda was
completely beaten by this gesture.
The two men were friends until Long died in World War II
12. You could melt all the medals I've won, but you could never
reproduce the 24-carat friendship that sprang up between me and
Luz Long on the platform of Berlin. (Jesse Owens) -
13. Jesse Owens had the highest civilian honor, the Medal of
Freedom at the White House in 1976.
Owens died on March 31, 1980 and President Carter added his
voice to the tributes that poured in from around the world.
"Perhaps no athlete better symbolized the human struggle
against tyranny, poverty and racial bigotry.
A decade after his death, President Bush awarded Owens the
Congressional Medal of Honor. Bush called his victories in
Berlin "an unrivaled athletic triumph, but more than that, a
triumph for all humanity."
