Editing Jesse Owens (section)

== The Jesse Owens Rising Star Award ==
Beginning in 2024, a collaboration among the Owens family, the Jesse Owens Foundation, and the [[Wanda Diamond League]] will recognize two exceptional emerging top-performing male and female athletes, aged 23 or under.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jesse Owens Rising Star Award to honour young athletes at WDL Final |url=https://www.diamondleague.com/news/general/jesse-owens-rising-star-award-to-honour-young-athletes-at-wdl-final/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=IDL Diamond League |language=en-US}}</ref>

Each winner will receive a bronze statuette of Owens designed by Belgian sculptor Jan Desmarets. Two [[oak]] trees will also be planted in the host city in honor of the two winners.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-10 |title=Jesse Owens Rising Star Award to honour young athletes at Wanda Diamond League Final - Trackalerts.com, track and field news website |url=https://trackalerts.com/2024/09/jesse-owens-rising-star-award-to-honour-young-athletes-at-wanda-diamond-league-final/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |language=en}}</ref>

The inaugural awards ceremony was held in [[Brussels]] in September 2024, honoring [[2023 World Athletics Championships|2023 World Championship]] silver medalist [[Diribe Welteji]] as the top female performer and [[Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres|2024 Olympic]] gold medalist [[Letsile Tebogo]] as the top male performer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ethiopia’s Welteji named first female winner of Jesse Owens Rising Star Award |url=https://sportsnow.com.ng/ethiopias-welteji-named-first-female-winner-of-jesse-owens-rising-star-award/ |access-date=May 13, 2025 |website=Sports Now}}</ref>