Jessie Owens - four world records in under an hour

OLYMPIC GAMES: On August 4, 1936 a coloured athlete from the United States took the Berlin Olympic stadium by storm and what a performance he came up with to stun one and all. Jessie Owens is his name and he did bring glory to the Americans and even upset the guest of honour Adolf Hitler.

One of the most enduring stories of the Olympic Games has been the so-called snubbing of Jessie Owens by Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Games of 1936.

Legend has it that Hitler stormed out of the arena just after Owens had won, the long jump, so that he wouldn't have to shake the hand of the American negro.

Owens, a simple and honest man, put the story into correct perspective some years later.

"Hitler wasn't due to present the medals that day," he pointed out. "So there's no reason to suppose we would have come to face to face even if he's stayed."

"It's true that he could have invited me to his private box, the way he invited several German athletes. He didn't do that. But then, neither did anyone invite me to the White House to meet the president when I came home," Owens said.

Sad sideshow

Certainly there was no hero's welcome for the man who had just won four gold medals in Berlin.

American athletic officials virtually forced him out of the amateur ranks before the year had run its course. And, billed as " the fastest man on earth," he raced against horses.

In December 1936, he beat the famous American racehorse Julian McCall over 100 yards. And, on June 10, 1937 at Harrison, Indiana, he took on another four-legged flyer, the greyhound Sweet Harmony. Given a 150-yard start over 330-yard course, Owens beat the dog by nearly five seconds. He also ran a series of races against uniformed baseball players in the ball parks. In so doing, he became a little more than sad sideshow. It wasn't until Dwight D. Eisenhower took the Presidency that Owens had his dignity restored. Eisenhower made him a goodwill ambassador, and later another President, Gerald Ford, awarded Owens the Medal of Freedom (the highest US civilian decoration) for his work in that field.

A dream

Owens was born in Alabama on September 12, 1913, one of 14 children of a poor share cropper. Three died in infancy. Later, when disaster struck the cotton plantations, the family moved north to Cleveland, Chic.

Owen's christian names were James Cleveland and he used to call himself simply J. C. A. Teacher, misunderstanding, called him Jesse and henceforth that became his name.

After school, he worked in a shoeshine and repair shop, and it was his ambition to own a shop when he grew up. But a tall, gaunt Irish coach named Charley Riley gave him another gigger dream.

It was Owen's dedication as much as his natural talent that first impressed Riley. "Jesse", he said, "was a boy who yearned of every bit of instruction! could give him, and he was always the last to quit practice in the evening".

Four Golds

Owens said, Riley taught him to run as if he had a glass of water on his head. "He always taught us that the floor is like a hot brick, so if you leave your feet on the ground too long, you are going to get burned," he remembered. "Everything had to be light, just a touch, and then up, up, up."

His main claim to fame has to be the 1936 Olympics, where he made history by winning four gold medals...... 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump and sprint relay. But probably his greatest - and certainly his most remarkable - moment had come on May 25, 1935. At Michigan's Ferry Field Stadium. Owens had fallen down the stairs and damaged his back. His coach had wanted him to scratch and so avoid the chance of aggravating the injury.

No pain

Down at the start of the 100, a friend had to help Jesse remove his sweatshirt. Owens recalled: "It took me 10 seconds to get on my mark- that back hurt me. Then came the gun and my back didn't bother me again that afternoon," quipped Owens. That run equalled the world record of 9.4 seconds.

Then minutes later, he jumped 26ft 8 inches breaking the world record by more than half a foot. Twenty-five years went by before anyone could match that jump.

And then a further 26 minutes later, he ran the 220-yards hurdles for yet another world record.

Thus, in the space of 45 minutes, James Cleveland Owens had re-written the record books four times.

A. C. de S