Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, defying Nazi claims of Aryan racial superiority.

His name evokes athletic excellence achieved against a backdrop of racism—both Hitler's ideology abroad and Jim Crow segregation at home.

He ran like Jesse Owens.

athlete

sprinter

Short-distance racing specialist

100 meters · 200 meters · broad jump · world record · Ohio State · speed · champion · record holder · athletics · race

Olympics

Berlin

Germany's largest city

Hitler · propaganda · racial ideology · triumph · defiance · world record · international competition

legacy

trailblazer

First to forge ahead

  • pioneerEarly explorer or settler
  • iconPictorial screen symbol
  • legendUnverified traditional tale

role model · hero · inspiration · perseverance · determination · achievement · influence · exemplar · courage · dignity

racism

segregation

Forced separation by group

inequality · snub · White House · FDR · ticker-tape parade · dignity · injustice · sharecropper · Alabama · Oakville

Categories
Opposites
racial ideology and athletic achievement

Jesse OwensAdolf Hitler

Nazi ideology · Joseph Goebbels · white supremacy · white supremacists · segregationists

athletic success vs. failure

Jesse Owensalso-ran

Unsuccessful competitor

choker · underperformer

social standing and recognition

Jesse OwensFranklin D. Roosevelt

Family

Owen, Jesse, Owens

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G