50 greatest Summer Olympians in history
By John Buhler
10. Jesse Owens, Track and Field.
American icon Jesse Owens is not only one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of track sneakers, but one of the most culturally influential athletes in history. During the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, where Adolf Hitler was seeking to make the case for the Aryan race’s athletic (and genetic) superiority, Owens crushed the host country’s spirits en route to a legendary four-gold performance.
Owens took top honors in the 100 m, the 200 m, the long jump, and the 4×100 m relay, as he seemed to singlehandedly upend Hitler’s fascist political propaganda — at least for a time.
Sadly, Owens — the son of a Alabama sharecropper who starred at The Ohio State University before achieving Olympic glory — was confronted with racism and segregation throughout much of his life.
And yet, Owens thrived on the track in arguably the most hostile Summer Olympics to date. In fact, his prowess was so impressive that he became the first African American athlete to sign a shoe deal, helping convince adidas founder Adi Dassler to bring the German athletic company stateside during a meeting in the Olympic village.
Owens passed away in 1980 from lung cancer at the age of 66, but his legacy — a star both on the field and in the service of equality — lives on.
Next: 9. Paavo Nurmi.