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OWENS, JESSE 1913-198O

TRACK & FIELD/OLYMPIC HERO

Hard Times

Personal difficulties, racial discrimination, and challenges to his status as an athlete plagued James Cleveland Owens throughout his career, but on the track and field he put them aside to perform unequaled feats of athletic prowess. In the early 1930s he was the nation's most promising high school star. At Cleveland East Technical High School in 1932, when he was nineteen, he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds, tying the world record; long jumped 24 feet, 11.25 inches; and ran 220 yards in 20.7 seconds. He broke the world indoor broad-jump record in 1933. Yet no colleges were interested in him. He enrolled at Ohio State (known then for its discriminatory practices against blacks). To earn his scholarship he operated a freight elevator in the State Office Building after attending classes and working out with the track team.

Great Day

In a single day in 1935—in the space of forty-five minutes—racing against other amateurs at the AAU nationals in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Owens broke five world records and tied one. Three of those records were still standing almost twenty years later. He matched his own 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard dash; he set world records in the 220-yard dash (20.3 seconds), the 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds), and the long jump (26 feet, 8.25 inches). He also set a world record for the 200-meter portion in a longer race and then bettered it in another portion.

Hitler's Nemesis

His performance at the 1936 Summer Olympics, at which Adolf Hitler's attempt to prove the physical superiority of the Aryan race was challenged by the stunning success of black athletes on the U.S. team, was charged with political as well as athletic significance. Owens's triumph at Berlin began with the 100-meter race, in which he equaled a world record with a time of 10.3 seconds. The next day Owens had difficulty qualifying for the long jump, barely making the finals on his last jump after two defaults; but he eventually won the event with a jump of 26 feet, 5 5/16 inches, an Olympic record. He then won the 200-meter race in 20.7 seconds, another Olympic record. He was a last-minute fill-in, perhaps because he had become such a crowd pleaser, to lead off the 400-meter relay, which the U.S. team won easily, earning Owens his fourth gold medal.

Lasting Fame

Along with Joe Louis, Jesse Owens led the way during the 1930s to greater parity and respect for African American athletes in the world of sports. Few writers patronized him or thought of racially charged nicknames to describe him. Full equality was not something that happened overnight, though. Southern papers would not print his picture. In an era in which white runners like Venzke, Bonthron, and Cunningham got most of the press coverage, Owens was still "the colored runner" of the group. But his fame and prowess outlasted them all.