TRACK & FIELD
James Cleveland (Jesse) Owens
September 12, 1913 March 31, 1980 (aged 66) Oakville, Alabama
5 ft. 11 in. (180 cm) – 165 lb (75 kg)
The “Buckeye Bullet” Jesse Owens is one of the most famous athletes in track and field history” with his monumental victories at the 1936 Berlin Olympics winning four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump, besting Nazi Germany competitors on their home soil. In the course of a week, the Ohio State Buckeye dealt a blow on the world’s stage to Adolph Hitler’s Nazi propaganda of a superior race dominating the world. “Hitler Salutes Jesse Owens” Vann, Robert L. (August 8, 1936)
A student of East Technical High School in Cleveland at the 1933 National High School Championship in Chicago he tied the world records of 9.4 seconds in the 100 yards (91 m) dash and 24 feet 9+1⁄2 inches (7.56 m) long-jump and 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds, becoming the first to break 23 seconds).
Attending the Ohio State University, under coach Larry Snyder (1896-1982), Owens won a record 8 individual NCAA championships, 4 each in 1935 and 1936. At a 1935 Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was dubbed “the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport” he scored three world records and tied another. A performance that has never been equaled. ESPN has Owens as the sixth-greatest North American athlete of the 20th century and the highest-ranked in his sport. In 1999, he was on the six-man short-list for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Century.
Owens continued on to endorsement work for such corporations as Quaker Oats, Sears and Roebuck, and Johnson & Johnson. Owens traveled the world and spoke to companies such as the Ford Motor Company and stakeholders such as the United States Olympic Committee. In 1972, he and his wife retired to Arizona.
1936 Olympics Berlin, Germany
4 GOLD METALS
1. 100 m
2. 200 m
3. 4x100m Relay
4. Long Jump
GO Bucks! w2
Copyright: Willis Whiteside 2023 All Rights Reserved.
REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens