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Jesse Owens
James Cleveland 'Jesse' Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama, the son of sharecroppers and the grandson of slaves. When Jesse was nine years old, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Great Migration, seeking better opportunities in the industrial North. It was in Cleveland where young Jesse's exceptional athletic talents were first recognized.
Full profile →Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie was born on April 18, 1973, in Arsella, a small town in the Arsi Province of Ethiopia. He was one of ten children in a farming family, and his early life was shaped by the rugged Ethiopian highlands. As a child, Gebrselassie ran ten kilometers each way to school and back, carrying his books under his arm. This daily routine at high altitude unknowingly built the aerobic foundation that would make him one of the greatest distance runners the world has ever seen. His distinctive running style, with his left arm slightly crooked as if still carrying those school books, became one of athletics' most recognizable trademarks.
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