"In response to a request from USA Track & Field, the IAAF has, for the first time ever, granted permission for a very special addition to the competition tops of all Team USA members at a World Outdoor Championships. That special addition will be the letters “JO” which will appear just above your left chest in white letters, knocked out of a black circle. The letters “JO” will honor and pay homage to the greatest icon in the history of USA Track & Field, the great Jesse Owens.
Each team member will also receive a 1936 retro apparel kit which includes a t-shirt and jacket. This apparel mimics the casual gear worn by our 1936 team as they competed in Berlin. This gear is meant to honor that team and the historic accomplishments they achieved. It is meant as casual apparel…not as a replacement for any of your official team gear. Wear these items with pride."
I feel extremely honored to have the opportunity to pay homage to such an inspirational person, and I know many of my teammates feel the same. Go USA!
For more information about the historical significance of the Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympic stadium, read the USATF release below.
----------------------------------------------------------
"Running in Jesse’s footsteps
This month, you will experience the great honor of competing at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Berlin at the 1936 Olympic Stadium where National Track & Field Hall of Famer Jesse Owens became an international star and the ultimate icon of USA Track & Field.
The 2009 World Championships will be the first major international meet to be held at the Berlin Olympic Stadium since the 1936 Olympic Games, where Owens won four gold medals (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay & long jump).
At the time when Owens competed in Berlin, Adolf Hitler ruled Nazi Germany, which was preparing for World War II.
Hitler used the Games as a vehicle to showcase a resurgent Germany under Nazi rule. Nazi propaganda at the time unabashedly proclaimed the twisted belief that the Aryan race was superior to all others, while depicting those of African and Jewish descent as inferior.With his remarkable performance in Berlin, Owens, the humble son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave, debunked forever the misguided notion of any race being superior, while conducting himself at all times with grace and class. As for Hitler and the Nazis, they initiated World War II in Europe when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, proving that Hitler’s Germany hosting the 1936 Olympic Games was a tragic farce.
In contrast to Hitler’s notions of Aryan supremacy, Owens was enthusiastically cheered in the stadium each day by 110,000 mostly German citizens, and he was constantly besieged for his autograph while at the Games. Years after his 1936 triumph, Owens was invited back to Berlin, where a packed stadium cheered him as he ran a ceremonial lap and was greeted warmly by the city’s mayor. Additionally, in 1984 a street near the stadium was named in his honor.
The remarkable story of Owens at the Olympic Games and the joint affection between him and the German people was personified during the long jump competition at the 1936 Olympics.
During long jump qualifying, Owens had fouled during his first two attempts. If he were to foul on his third and final attempt, he would fail to make the final and would be out of the competition.
Prior to his final qualifying attempt, German long jump star Lutz Long, who set the Olympic record during qualifying and had become friendly with Owens during the competition, suggested to Owens that he move back his starting point knowing that he would take off well before the end line, and would then certainly sail past the automatic qualifying mark of 7.15 meters/23 feet 5.50 inches.
Owens followed Long’s advice and easily qualified for the final, where he won the competition with a leap of 8.06m/26-5.50, which became the new Olympic record. Long, who won the silver medal, was the first to congratulate Owens and the two walked arm-in-arm out of the stadium.
Following the competition, Owens expressed his gratitude toward his German friend. "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler. You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four carat friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment."
Following his death during the war in 1943, Long was posthumously awarded the "Pierre de Coubertin" or (True Spirit of Sportsmanship) medal.
The remarkable friendship between Jesse Owens and Lutz Long will be rekindled at the 2009 World Championships when Owens’ granddaughter Marlene (Owens) Dortch, and the son of Lutz Long, Kai Long, will represent their families as they award the medals for the men’s long jump final on August 23 at the Berlin Olympic Stadium. The two women and their families also will take part in other events related to the Championships.
Although Owens died in 1980, his legend will live on forever. USA Track & Field honors his memory and accomplishments each year when the Jesse Owens Awards are presented to the nation’s top male and female athletes at USATF’s Annual Meeting. The Jesse Owens Awards are the most prestigious awards presented by USA Track & Field.
Since the beginning of international track competition, the history, tradition and success of USA Track & Field has been second to none around the world. However, with that history comes an enormous responsibility to continue the unrivaled success achieved by Jesse Owens and countless others who have won more Olympic and world championship medals than any other country. Those of you wearing the Team USA singlet in Berlin at the World Championships will have the cherished opportunity to add to that glorious history. The opportunity to go “Running in Jesse’s Footsteps” will provide you with an inspiration to succeed like never before.
FAST FACT
Although he is most remembered for his magnificence at the 1936 Olympics, Owens’ greatest accomplishment at a track meet may have occurred on May 25, 1935 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
On that day, Owens remarkably set five world records and tied another in a span of just 45 minutes to lead Ohio State University at the Big Ten Championships. Owens set world records in the 220 yards and 200 meters straightaway, 220-yard and 200m low hurdles on a straightaway and the long jump, and tied the world record at 100 yards. His long jump mark of 8.14m/26-8.50 stood for the next 25 years."
