Jesse Owens was the grandson of enslaved people and the son of an Alabama sharecropper. He fell in love with running as a young boy and could supposedly do 100 yards in 11 seconds by junior high. In college he stunned the sports world: at one meet in 1935, he broke or tied four world records in about 45 minutes - while nursing a sore back.
The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin, hosted by Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler wanted to use the Games to show off what he claimed was the superiority of white “Aryan” athletes. Owens won the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4×100 relay - four golds in a single Olympics, a feat only matched many decades later.
Despite his Olympic glory, he came home to a country where Black athletes still couldn’t ride in the front of the bus. He raced against horses and motorcycles in exhibitions just to make a living. Today, the long jump record he set in 1936 lasted for 25 years before anyone could beat it.
