James "Jesse" Cleveland Owens, who lived from 1913 to 1980, and Frederick Carl Lewis, born in 1961, have been two of the United State's greatest track stars. Their lives have some similarities and differences. Jesse Owens was born in Alabama. His parents were sharecroppers, which means they farmed land owned by someone else. His grandparents had been slaves. Jesse Owens had six older brothers and sisters, and his family lived in poverty in his childhood. His family moved to Cleveland when he was young.

He started setting local track records when he was in junior high, and in high school he won state championships three years in a row and set high school national records.

Jesse chose to go to Ohio State University. This school had no track scholarships at the time, and Jesse worked to support himself and his wife while he attended college. He continued to be an outstanding track star, and represented the United States at the Olympics in 1935, held in Nazi Germany.

Owens' performance in Germany was important because Hitler ruled Germany at the time as a dictator. Hitler believed in white supremacy, and Owens helped the United States discredit Hitler's racist beliefs when he won four gold medals.

When Owens was in the Olympics, winners did not receive opportunities to make money with product endorsements or commercials. Owens continued to work at various jobs to support his family, and became very active in working with underprivileged youth in Cleveland and Chicago. He represented the United States as a goodwill ambassador for sports, was a public speaker and organized the ARCO/Jesse Owens Games, which allowed millions of...

In an interesting coincidence, Jesse Owens was friends with Carl Lewis's parents.
Another of the United State's greatest athletes is Carl Lewis. Lewis was also born in Alabama in 1961, and his family also moved from the South, to Willingboro, New Jersey, when he was two years old. Lewis had advantages Jesse Owens did not have.

To begin with, through much of Jesse's life, racism was common and often accepted in the United States. Although the United States took great pride in Owens' gold medals in 1935 for giving Hitler a black eye, the truth is that Owens came home to a country that also considered him a second-class citizen based on the color of his skin.

Lewis, born 48 years after Owens, grew up during a time when the United States began to openly reject the concept of segregation. Both of his parents were champion athletes themselves. His mother, Evelyn Lawler, represented the United States for the Pan Am games of 1951. His father was also an athlete, and both parents worked as coaches.

Lewis lived a middle class life but had a later start in his athletic career, not really beginning to show his potential until his senior year of high school. Lewis grew up with Jesse Owens as his hero and role model. He won a total of 9 gold medals during his Olympic career in 100-200m, long jump and 4x100m relay. He got all of those medals in spite of the fact that he couldn't compete in the 1980 Olympics because the United States boycotted the Olympics that year.

The…