Jesse Owens （1913—1980）杰西·欧文斯是现代奥运历史上最伟大的田径运动员之一。他出生于美国南方一个贫穷的农民之家，1936年代表美国队参加柏林奥运会，一举夺取了4枚奥运会金牌。

    杰西·欧文斯的出色表现有力地打击了希特勒所鼓吹的日尔曼民族的优越。为了纪念他对世界体育运动的贡献，美国体育机构设立“杰西·欧文斯奖”，用以奖励在体育运动中成绩杰出的运动员。我国著名田径女运动员王军霞曾于1994年获得该项殊荣。

1 A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
一生的训练就是为了那短短的十秒钟。

2 Friendships born on the field of athletic¹ strife² are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded⁴, friends gather no dust.
在赛场上留下的友谊是竞争的真谛所在。奖杯会磨损，但是友谊地久天长。
Strife: 争斗
Corrode³: 腐蚀

3 We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication⁵, self-discipline, and effort.
每个人都有梦想。但是梦想成真需要非凡的决心、投入、自律和努力。
Determination: 决心
Dedication: 投入

4 If you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard.
如果你不想赢得比赛的话，奥运会也许可以在小后院举行了。

5 The thrill of competing carries with it the thrill of a gold medal. One wants to win to prove himself the best.
竞争所带来的刺激之中就有金牌的刺激。运动员借赢得比赛来证明他是最好的。
Thrill:刺激

6 Life doesn't give you all the practice races you need.
生活不会给你所有的预演。

7 One chance is all you need.
  你所需要的就是把握好一次机会。

 8 The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable⁶ battles inside all of us - that's where it's at.
金牌之争不是真正的战斗。真正的战斗在于战胜自我---我们每个人都要面临的那既看不见又不可回避的战斗。
Invisible: 看不见的
Inevitable: 不可避免的

9 The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness.
    人与人之间最宝贵的纽带就是相互之间的仁慈。

10 I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible. From the air, fast down, and from the ground, fast up.
我尽量让我的双脚在跑道上停留最短。从空中急速冲下，从地面快速飞起