Owens, Jesse (1913–1980)
)
US athlete Jesse Owens. An outstanding athlete, Owens broke many world records, including a long jump record that stood for 25 years. His supremacy at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, in which he won four gold medals, dealt a blow to Adolf Hitler's attempts to use the Olympics as a demonstration of Aryan racial superiority.
US track and field athlete who excelled in sprints, hurdles, and the long jump. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics he won four gold medals.
Career highlights
Olympic Games
gold 100 metres, 200 metres, 4 × 100-metre relay, long jump: 1936The Nazi leader Hitler is said to have stormed out of the stadium at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, in disgust at the black man's triumph. Owens held the world long-jump record for 25 years, 1935–60. At Ann Arbor, Michigan, on 25 May 1935, he broke five world records and equalled a sixth in less than an hour.
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