Owens, Jesse
1913-1980 · Contribution: 1935-1936
Track and field athlete
Won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, directly undermining Nazi claims of Aryan racial supremacy
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1913, Oakville, Alabama
- Active since
- 1933
- Category
- Sports & Athletics
- Best known for
- Four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Impact on the world
Owens' four golds in Berlin, in front of Adolf Hitler, directly undermined Nazi claims of Aryan racial supremacy and became one of the defining moments in the history of sport.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Book or scholarly workFind
Encyclopædia Britannica
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Related visionaries
Lewis, Carl
1961-
Won nine Olympic gold medals across four Olympic Games, including matching Jesse Owens' feat of four golds in a single Games
Louis, Joe
1914-1981
Defeated German boxer Max Schmeling in a fight widely seen as a symbolic rebuke of Nazi ideology
Rudolph, Wilma
1940-1994
First American woman to win three track and field gold medals in a single Olympics
Carlos, John
unknown
Won bronze in the 200m at the 1968 Olympics; staged a silent raised-fist protest against racial injustice on the medal stand