Jesse Owens(1913 — 1980)
Jesse Owens
États-Unis
7 min read
Jesse Owens was an American athlete who specialized in sprinting and the long jump. He became a legend of track and field by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, publicly defying the racist Nazi ideology.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama, United States
- On May 25, 1935, in Ann Arbor, broke or tied four world records in 45 minutes
- Won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (100 m, 200 m, long jump, 4×100 m relay)
- His victories contradicted Nazi propaganda about the superiority of the “Aryan race”
- Died on March 31, 1980, in Tucson, Arizona, United States
Works & Achievements
A legendary performance at the Big Ten Championships, often cited as the greatest single-day feat in the history of track and field.
Owens's first Olympic title, won in 10.3 seconds, defying racist propaganda on the very soil of Nazi Germany.
A winning leap of 8.06 m, marked by the sportsmanship and friendship of his German rival Luz Long.
His third title, set in 20.7 seconds, a new Olympic record for the distance.
A fourth gold medal, with the American team breaking the world record in 39.8 seconds; Owens ran the first leg.
An account of his life and a reflection on the African American condition, helping to make him a memorial figure of the civil rights movement.
Anecdotes
At the 1936 Berlin Games, Jesse Owens struck up a friendship with his German rival Luz Long, the long jump champion. Long even gave him a piece of technical advice during the qualifying rounds, helping him to qualify. After Owens's victory, the two athletes took a lap of honor together, arm in arm, under the gaze of Adolf Hitler.
Owens grew up in a very poor family in Alabama. As a child, he had to work in the cotton fields and suffered from health problems linked to malnutrition. It was a middle-school physical education teacher who spotted his talent and allowed him to train in the mornings before school, because Jesse had to work in the afternoons.
On 25 May 1935, at a college meet in Ann Arbor, Owens broke or tied four world records in just 45 minutes, despite a back injury. Many sports historians consider this performance the most extraordinary ever achieved by an athlete in a single day.
Returning to the United States as a hero, Owens discovered that segregation had not disappeared: at a reception held in his honor in New York, he had to take the freight elevator reserved for goods to reach the hall. He would later say bitterly that President Roosevelt never congratulated him or received him at the White House.
Stripped of financial means after his Olympic glory, Owens took on unusual challenges to earn a living: he ran races against racehorses. He explained that he had to eat, and that you couldn't eat gold medals.
Primary Sources
“Hitler didn't snub me — it was me who snubbed Hitler. I didn't have time to bother with him; I had races to run.”
“You could melt down all the medals and cups I've won, and they wouldn't form a plating on the twenty-four-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment.”
Recorded results: Owens won the 100 m (10.3 s), the 200 m (20.7 s, Olympic record), the long jump (8.06 m, Olympic record) and the 4×100 m relay (39.8 s, world record).
Within the span of forty-five minutes, Owens set new world records in the 220 yards, the 220-yard hurdles and the long jump, and tied the one in the 100 yards.
Key Places
Rural village in the American South where Jesse Owens was born in 1913 into a family of African American sharecroppers.
Industrial city in the North where the Owens family migrated during the Great Migration. Jesse grew up here and revealed his talent in junior high school.
University where Owens trained and broke four world records during a single competition in 1935. He also faced segregation there, having to lodge off campus.
Setting of the 1936 Games where Owens won his four gold medals in front of Hitler. The stadium was designed as a showcase for the power of the Nazi regime.
City where Jesse Owens spent his final years and died of lung cancer in 1980.
