Jesse Owens was born in Alabama in the USA, in 1913. There were ten children in his family. Jesse was the youngest. He went to school in the city of Cleveland. At school he showed he had a special talent for athletics  . He could run fast. He could jump high. He could jump far. Because he was good at athletics, Jesse became a student at Ohio State University. In May, 1935 in Michigan, USA, he broke the world record for the long jump. This was his first world record. On the 25th May Jesse did something unusual. In 45 minutes he broke six world records. Some people think that this was the greatest athletics achievement ever. In 1936 Jesse went to the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. There were only nineteen black athletes in the USA team. He won gold medals in the 100 meters race, the 200 meters race, the long jump and the relay race. Jesse was not a professional athlete. This meant that he could not get money for running. Later, he became a professional athlete. To make money he had to appear in strange races. Sometimes he had to race against horses. In 1960 somebody broke Jesse's last world record. In 1980 Jesse died. He won   _   gold medals in 1936 in the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.
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