Perseverance in Triumph

Jon Smith

AP Language Period 5^[a]

Mr. Robson

July 5, 2015

Perseverance in  Triumph

Racism has always been a problem in the world and in the athletic community it can actually keep world class athletes from competing. The novel Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics, by  Jeremy Schaap has many examples of such racism which helps the reader understand and comprehend just how perseverance can help one face such adversity. Jesse Owens is known as the greatest Olympic athlete in history. His defining moment came during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Against a backdrop of Nazi Germany, swastikas, American racism and Hitler's myth of Aryan Supremacy, a 22-year-old-African American, despite a challenging path, won four gold medals and captured international fame.  Like many African-Americans of the time, Owens  grew up in poverty and grappled with discrimination. Owens accomplishments are a credit to his determination and  perseverance. Few have ever ran as fast or as well as Owens. Winning four gold medals at the Olympics and breaking three world records while tying a fourth (all which were under an hour) at a college track meet, as he did in 1935 is impressive and a rare feat. You can learn from many of his experiences. Owens is presented as a remarkable and natural talent who remained humble about his accomplishments, while always wanting to accomplish more. According to the Marner Webster dictionary  Perseverance is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is extremely difficult. It is not only a measure of success, it also measures just how much sacrifice one is willing to make in the name of success. Perseverance often propels people towards their amazing accomplishments. Jesse Owens lifetime goal was to always improve. He was actually his own biggest competitor and he refused to settle. In the years preceding 1936 Olympics in Berlin, he worked toward that one unwavering goal, to take part and represent his country in the Olympics.

 Owens always faced many challenges throughout his life, the biggest and most obvious challenge being the color of his skin. Born the grandson of a slave and a son of a sharecropper,  he strived for a better life. With the American racism of the 1930’s coupled with the Nazi myth of Aryan Supremacy, Owens faced discrimination everyday of his life.  Many of his fellow African-American teammates were also affected by this degrading treatment and it ultimately hurt their performance. Owens did not let others tell him what he could and and could not do. He would only allow himself  be compared to his previous personal achievements. Without a doubt, his life was harder due to his race: “they could not stay with their other white teammates, get proper shoes, and even live on campus… Hitler believed and shared that blacks and jews were not welcome” (Schaap 183). Owens still wanted to be the best he could possibly be and he focused his all of his energy to that end. He did not allow these outside influences to distract him or bring him down