SN 140 Moments: No. 2 - Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at 1936 Olympics in front of Adolph Hitler

Jesse Owens – who set four world records in a college meet with Ohio State in 1935 – was a celebrity heading into the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Yet Owens faced racism at home and bigotry abroad with German dictator Adolf Hitler desperate to validate the ideals of Aryan Supremacy on the Olympic stage. 

"He did not experience it the same way he experienced the discrimination in this country until he had to come face to face with winning and how that was managed by Hitler," Owens' daughter Marlene told The Sporting News in 2024.

Owens won the 100-meter dash (10.3 seconds), 200 (20.7), long jump (26 feet, five inches) and was part of the 400 relay (39.8). He also befriended German long jumper Luz Long during the games. Owens managed the snubs from Hitler and the backlash after Jewish-American sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were removed from the 400 relay. Owens handled all that with remarkable poise and grace.

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