Jesse Owens is recognized as a hero not just because he is fast. Some people might say that they know him for just that reason. However, there are lots of fast people who are not known. Jesse Owens is known because Chancellor Adolf Hitler did not shake the hand of Jesse Owens or even recognize his feat of winning four gold medals, because Owens was an African American. Jesse Owens owed much of his success to his coach Charles Riley, who probably was the most important one making him have the career that he did. Owens came from a background that required him to work after school in a shoe shop. He couldn't attend the regularly scheduled track practices organized by his school. However, Charles Riley saw the boy had both a passion  and a talent for running, and so arranged for him to be able to practice before school instead. Jesse Owens achieved this success despite  his racial background, which at the time was a huge limitation to him. He could only eat in certain restaurants and sleep in certain hotels, as could all African Americans of the time. He was also never offered a scholarship for school despite setting records for NCAA  championships. The Berlin Olympics in 1936 is where his star rose as high as it would ever be able to. These Olympics were during the height of Hitler's rule. It took courage to race in front of Hitler and many other racist . It took time, determination, and perseverance  to race like him. He won four gold medals at those Olympics. It would take almost fifty years for someone else to walk away from the Olympics with four gold medals. He passed away at the age of 66 from lung cancer. Jesse Owens was well-known around the world mainly because he_.
sets records for NCAA championships was brave enough to race in front of Adolf Hitler didn't want to shake hands with Hitler is recognized as a hero of the white Americans