4 Chapter 3 School Days

Chapter 3 School Days Jesse wanted to work with Coach Riley, but there was a big problem. Jesse had so many jobs after school, he had little time to train! Coach Riley agreed to meet him early in the morning before school started. He showed Jesse how to run smoothly and easily. He told Jesse to run as if he were stepping over hot coals, to stay strong and straight and light. Coach Riley also welcomed Jesse into his home and invited him over for dinner. Jesse later said that Coach Riley was the first white person he had ever really known.

At age seventeen Jesse began taking classes at East Technical High School. By then, all his siblings were working full-time; none had finished high school. Jesse wanted to be different. He saw attending high school and being on the track team as the pathways to success. Fortunately for him, Coach Riley had been asked to help with East Technical's track team.

Jesse's great speed and Riley's coaching were a winning combination. Jesse won race after race. He was best at sprinting, at the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes, which were the shortest races. In 1932, Coach Riley introduced Jesse to gold-medal champion Charley Paddock, who had won the 100-meter dash (similar to the 100-yard dash) at the 1920 Olympics. Paddock also held the world 100-meter record at the time—10.4 seconds. He was known as the "fastest man in the world." Paddock talked to Jesse about how much hard work was required to be the best. Jesse was inspired by the great runner's words.

Even though he was still in high school, Jesse tried out for the 1932 Summer Olympics. Trials were held at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to find the best athletes for each race. Jesse had won a lot of highschool races but had never faced such skilled competitors before. Jesse ran well but didn't make the Olympic team that year. Among the runners that beat him was Eddie Tolan. At the 1932 Olympics, Tolan became the first African American to win the 100-meter gold medal.

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CHARLEY PADDOCK (1900-1943) CHARLES PADDOCK WAS ONE OF THE BEST SPRINTERS OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY. BORN IN TEXAS, HE WAS ONLY EIGHTEEN AND IN THE US ARMY WHEN HE WON HIS FIRST BIG RACES AT A MEET IN PARIS. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HE WON THE 100-METER RACE AT THE 1920 OLYMPICS IN BELGIUM. HE EARNED A SECOND GOLD MEDAL IN THE 400-METER RELAY AND A SILVER FOR FINISHING SECOND IN THE 200-METER DASH. IN 1921, PADDOCK SET A WORLD RECORD BY RUNNING THE 100 METERS IN 10.4 SECONDS. PADDOCK WAS FAMOUS FOR TAKING A BIG LEAP WITH HIS ARMS OUTSPREAD AS HE REACHED THE FINISH. HE SEEMED TO FLY OVER THE LINE. HE WAS A HANDSOME, WELL-SPOKEN MAN WHO ENJOYED ALL THE ATTENTION HIS FAMOUS SPEED BROUGHT HIM. WHEN WORLD WAR II BEGAN, HE RETURNED TO THE MILITARY, SERVING IN THE MARINES. DURING THE