The Achievement

Over seven days in August 1936, a 22-year-old track and field athlete from Alabama put on the greatest individual performance in Olympic history to that point. Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympic Games: the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and the 4x100 meter relay. No athlete had ever won four track and field gold medals at a single Olympics.

The setting made the achievement extraordinary. Adolf Hitler had intended the 1936 Games as a showcase for Nazi Germany and its ideology of Aryan racial superiority. The regime spent lavishly on stadiums, transportation, and propaganda. Into this theater of white supremacy walked Owens, a Black grandson of slaves, and outperformed every athlete the host nation could produce.

It is worth noting that Owens was not the first Black athlete to win Olympic gold. That distinction belongs to DeHart Hubbard, who won the long jump at the 1924 Paris Games. What Owens accomplished was unprecedented in scale: four golds, three Olympic records, and one world record, all in a single week, all under the gaze of a regime that considered him racially inferior.

From Alabama Sharecropping to Ohio State

James Cleveland Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama, the youngest of ten children in a family of sharecroppers. When he was nine, his family joined the Great Migration northward, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. A teacher misheard his initials "J.C." as "Jesse," and the name stuck.

In Cleveland, Owens discovered his athletic talent. At Fairmount Junior High, he met Charles Riley, a physical education teacher and track coach who recognized Owens's speed and began training him before school (Owens worked after school and could not attend regular practice). Riley became a mentor, teaching Owens technique and discipline.

At East Technical High School, Owens became a national sensation. At the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships, he tied the world record in the 100-yard dash (9.4 seconds) and long-jumped 24 feet, 9.75 inches. Every major college in the country recruited him.

Owens chose Ohio State University, where he could not live on campus (the university's dormitories were segregated) and could not eat at most restaurants near the school. He lived off campus with other Black athletes. Despite these conditions, he produced one of the most remarkable days in track and field history on May 25, 1935. At the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Owens set three world records and tied a fourth in the span of 45 minutes.

Berlin, August 1936

The 1936 Summer Olympics opened on August 1 in Berlin's newly built Olympic Stadium. Hitler attended the opening ceremonies and planned to use the Games as a propaganda tool. The regime had temporarily removed anti-Jewish signs from Berlin's streets and instructed police to ease their harassment of minorities during the Games.

Owens's first event was the 100 meters. He won his preliminary heats easily, then took the final on August 3 with a time of 10.3 seconds, equaling the Olympic record. The victory was decisive. German sprinter Erich Borchmeyer, expected to contend, finished fifth.

The long jump on August 4 provided the competition's most dramatic moments. Owens nearly failed to qualify after fouling on his first two attempts. According to Owens's later accounts, German competitor Luz Long suggested he move his takeoff mark back to avoid fouling. Owens qualified on his third attempt and then won the final with a jump of 8.06 meters, an Olympic record. Long was the first to congratulate him. The two walked arm in arm off the field, a moment that infuriated Nazi officials.

The 200 meters on August 5 was another dominant performance. Owens ran 20.7 seconds in the final, an Olympic record, finishing four meters ahead of the field. His third gold came on the third day of competition.

The 4x100 meter relay on August 9 was controversial before it was historic. U.S. coaches replaced Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller (both Jewish) with Owens and Ralph Metcalfe at the last minute. The official explanation was that the coaches wanted their fastest runners, but many believed the decision was made to avoid embarrassing Hitler by having Jewish athletes on the winning relay team. The U.S. team won in a world-record 39.8 seconds.

The Hitler Handshake Myth

The most repeated story about the 1936 Olympics is that Hitler refused to shake Owens's hand. The reality is more nuanced.

On the first day of competition, Hitler publicly congratulated several German and Finnish gold medalists in his viewing box. Olympic officials told him that as host, he must congratulate all gold medalists or none. Hitler chose to stop congratulating winners publicly.

Owens himself gave varying accounts over the years. In some interviews, he said Hitler gave him a wave or a nod from the stands. In a 1936 interview shortly after the Games, Owens said: "Hitler didn't snub me. It was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram." President Franklin Roosevelt never invited Owens to the White House or acknowledged his achievement.

Coming Home to Jim Crow

Owens returned to the United States as the most famous athlete in the world. None of that fame translated into financial security or social equality. After a ticker-tape parade in New York, Owens was unable to find steady work that matched his celebrity. He had lost his amateur status (and his Ohio State scholarship) by accepting payment for some post-Olympic appearances, which closed the door on further competition.

To earn money, Owens raced against horses, cars, and motorcycles at exhibition events. He appeared at county fairs and halftime shows. One of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century spent years as a sideshow attraction because the country that celebrated his Olympic triumph would not hire him for a real job.

Owens eventually found success as a public speaker and goodwill ambassador. He worked with youth programs and spoke about the value of sports and perseverance. In 1976, President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1990, ten years after his death, President George H.W. Bush posthumously awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal.

An Olympic Legacy

Jesse Owens died of lung cancer on March 31, 1980, at age 66 in Tucson, Arizona. His four gold medals in Berlin stood as the record for a track and field athlete at a single Olympics until Carl Lewis matched the feat at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics are remembered today primarily because of Owens. Hitler's propaganda spectacle, designed to prove white supremacy, is instead defined by the performance of a Black man from Alabama. That irony is the most lasting result of the Games.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Jesse Owens the first Black person to win an Olympic gold medal?

No. DeHart Hubbard won the long jump at the 1924 Paris Olympics, making him the first Black athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Owens's unique distinction is winning four gold medals at a single Games, which no athlete of any race had done before him in track and field.

How was Jesse Owens treated when he returned to the United States?

Poorly, by his own account. Despite being the most celebrated athlete at the 1936 Olympics, Owens returned to a segregated America. President Roosevelt never acknowledged his achievement. Owens lost his amateur status and Ohio State scholarship, and he spent years racing against horses and appearing at exhibitions to make a living. He did not receive major national honors until the 1976 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Did a German athlete really help Jesse Owens in the long jump?

According to Owens, yes. Owens told the story many times: after fouling on his first two qualifying attempts, German long jumper Luz Long suggested he adjust his takeoff mark. Owens qualified on his third attempt and went on to win gold. The two men developed a friendship. Long was killed in World War II in 1943, and Owens remained in contact with Long's family for the rest of his life.