Jesse Owens was an American track and field athlete and four-time gold medalist in the 1936 Olympic Games. He specialized in sprints and long jump, and was recognized as “perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history”.
He was indeed the most famous athlete of his time, mainly because at the 1936 Olympic Games he won four gold medals in the 100m sprint, long jump, 200m sprint, and 4x100m relay events. He was the most successful athlete that year and, as a black man, was credited with “single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy“, although he “wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President”.
Today, the 25th of May 2020, marks the 85th anniversary of Jesse Owens setting four world records in 45 minutes in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He set six world records, while two of the races he ran, the 200m and 200m hurdles, gave him 2 records each.
‘Sports Illustrated’ described that event as the “greatest 45 minutes ever in sports”.
At the time, he equalled the 100-yard world record and became the world’s first jumper who jumped 8 meters long.
His unmatched world record spree began at 3:15 pm and went on as follows:
– 15:15: 9.4 dash for 100yd
– 15:25: 8.13m in a sole effort in long jump
– 15:45: 20.3 for 200m
– 16:00: 22.6 over 200m hurdles
The long jump world record remained unbeaten till 1960. Jesse Owens was undoubtedly an athletics genius, one of the greatest of his time.
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