America 250: Jesse Owens

Alabama-born, Ohio-raised Jesse Owens (1913–1980) became a track and field legend, winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics making him the first American to do so in one Games.

Alabama-born and Ohio-raised, Jesse Owens (1913–1980) became one of the greatest track and field athletes in history. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he won four gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100 relay. He was the first American athlete in track and field to win four gold medals at a single Olympic Games. His victories challenged Nazi Germany’s claims of Aryan racial superiority on the world stage. In 1976, Owens received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter presented him with the Living Legend Award. After his death in 1980, Carter called him a symbol of “the struggle against tyranny, poverty, and racial bigotry.”