| A story of heroics and unstoppable spirit, this play
is part of Discovery Theater’s original series “The Greatest
Stories Never Told.” Two great athletes race to tell their stories
of rising from childhood illness and infirmity, poverty, and prejudice
-- to the greatest height in athletics: the Olympic Gold Medal! Soaring
music and the exhilaration of world class sports inspire us to greatness
in this portrayal of African American heroes Jesse Owens and Wilma
Rudolph. Told in songs, dances and story, this unforgettable
show was written specifically for Discovery Theater and has been
successfully touring for four years.
A Closer Look – About the Athletes
Jesse Owens, the son of a sharecropper and grandson of a
slave, achieved what no Olympian before him had accomplished. His
stunning achievement of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games
in Berlin has made him the best remembered athlete in Olympic history. Jesse
entered the 1936 Olympics, which were held in Nazi Germany amidst
the belief by Hitler that the Games would support his belief that
the German "Aryan" people were the dominant race. Jesse
had different plans, as he became the first American track & field
athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad.
Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born on June 23, 1940 in Clarksville,
Tennessee to Ed and Blanche Rudolph. Wilma was the 20th child of a family of
22, born prematurely and at only 4.5 pounds! She was born with polio
and as a result of the disease; she was crippled and unable to attend school. Her
mother educated her at home in her early childhood, and also had to bring her
to a hospital for black people 50 miles from their home twice a week and she
was unable to walk normally until she was 12. Despite her early disability,
she played basketball and race track in high school and college, winning acclaim
as an athlete even before she graduated. Her ultimate accomplishment
came in 1960 at the Olympic Games in Rome where she won three gold medals for
the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
For more information, try these websites: www.jesseowens.com and www.wilmarudolph.net
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