Every four years, when the Olympics come around, we are treated to stories about previous Olympic Games, and the arguments over "Who was the all-time greatest?"

Comparisons involving athletes from different eras are strictly speculations and really don't mean very much. But you can be assured that when these discussions take place, the name, Jesse Owens is bound to turn up on the short list of "Greatest Athlete," based on his performance in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

James Cleveland J.C. Owens (called Jesse) was born with a passion to run. His high school coach allowed him to practice before school, to accommodate his after school job -- working in a shoe repair shop.

He didn't disappoint his coach. As a senior in high school he equaled the world's record in the 100 yard sprint, in 9.4 seconds, and long jumped 24'9" at the National High School Championships in Chicago in 1933.

His high school exploits brought him to the attention of colleges around the country, especially at Ohio State, where he competed. But Owens never did get a scholarship to OSU -- his attendance at that school depended on the University's being able to get a job for his father. After all, these were the Depression years of the 1930s.

Owens' finest day on the track may have occurred at the Big Ten championships in 1935, when he set three worlds records (220 yard dash, 220 yard low hurdles, and the long jump) and tied a world record in the 100 yard sprint. NBC sportscaster Bob Costas called Owens' feat that day the greatest sports achievement since 1850.

The next year, Owens led a very good U.S. team to Berlin for the Olympics. The Olympics that year were set up to be a showcase for Adolph Hitler to show off his "Resurgent Germany" and to prove that his Germans were the Aryan "Super Race"; at the same time showing up African-Americans as inferior.

The Germans did indeed have an unusually strong Olympic team, and ended the games by capturing the lion's share of medals. But overshadowing Hitler's Aryan Supremacy was the performance of the USA's Jesse Owens, "The Buckeye Bullet."

Over the course of the '36 Games Owens won four gold medals -- the 100 meter sprint, the 220 meter dash, the long jump, and he ran a leg on the 4 x 1 00 meter relay. Four gold medals in one Olympiad was an unprecedented record, and the fact that the feat was accomplished by an African-American athlete flew in the face of Hitler and his dream of an Aryan Super Race.

Much has been written about the fact that Hitler snubbed Owens by refusing to shake his hand. Later, Owens described the event somewhat differently.

Owens did not feel that he was badly treated by the Germans. He credited Lutz Long, a German, and one of his competitors in the Long Jump, with giving him information about the runway that helped Owens win that event.

Further, he explained Hitler's actions: At one of the early medal ceremonies Hitler was on hand and shook hands with the German medal winners, but not all the winners.

The Olympic committee thereupon decided that Chancellor Hitler should not discriminate. Hereafter, he could shake hands with all the winners or none. He chose to shake hands with no one.

Later, on the way to a medal ceremony, Owens passed Hitler's box seat. He said that the Chancellor rose and waved to him and he waved back. There was no snub, though the world press seized upon the event and distorted it, even to this day.

On the contrary, Owens felt that he had been snubbed by President Roosevelt. Roosevelt ignored his triumph. "Not even a telegram," Owens complained.

It was not until the Eisenhower administration that a U.S. President acknowledged Owens' feat.

Returning to the U.S., Owens was treated to a ticker-tape parade in his honor. However, he was forced to use the freight elevator at the Waldorf Astoria to get to the ballroom to attend a banquet in his honor, because of the hotel's "No Negroes" policy.

The years following the Berlin Olympics were not easy for Jesse Owens. The U.S. team was invited to Sweden to compete in international games. Owens declined and returned to the U.S. -- he had to get home to begin making a living for his young family. The U.S. Olympics Committee was furious and revoked his amateur status, thus foregoing any chance at future Olympics for Jesse Owens.

In 1936, it was not as easy to earn a fortune by being "The World's Fastest Man" as it is in 2008. In a February '37 INS interview, reported in the Denver Post, Owens told how he had accepted a role in a movie where he had done a bit of running. He had also formed his own jazz band and had embarked on a 24-week nationwide tour. "I've already made $65,000 (and invested $40,000) since the Olympics, and expect to make another $250,000. Then I'll return to Ohio State and complete my degree ... Then I'll accept a coaching job somewhere. Bill Robinson (the dancer) has made a good living with his feet -- and I haven't done so bad with these feet either!"

However, things did not go as smoothly as he had hoped. He traveled the country, giving talks and demonstrations, and running against local champions, even race horses. (He once made a good-will, sports related visit to McCook.)

He was reduced to running a dry-cleaning business and pumping gas at a service station. By 1966 he had hit rock bottom. Bankrupt, he had even been prosecuted by the IRS for tax evasion.

1966 was also the beginning of Owens' rehabilitation, when he began work as an unofficial U.S. Ambassador of Sports.

In that capacity he traveled the globe, giving talks on the Olympics and Sportsmanship to corporations, governments and large groups.

Jesse Owens was a widely quoted spokesman on sports, and served as a consultant to U.S. Presidents on sports issues, beginning with Dwight Eisenhower, Shortly before his death in 1980, he lobbied President Carter (unsuccessfully) to NOT boycott the Moscow Olympics. He felt they were too important for the U.S. to ignore.

A pack-a-day smoker for 35 years, Owens passed away in 1980 at the age of 66, and is buried in Chicago. He has been greatly honored. Even since his death, honors have poured in for the great Olympic champion. Some of his honors include:

* He was inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame in 1970.

* He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ford in 1976.

* He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George H W Bush in 1990.

In 1996, the 60th Anniversary of his triumphs, the Olympic torch passed through Owens' birthplace, Oakville Ala., and a park there was named in his honor.

The German fascination with Owens has continued over the years and after his death a street and a school in Berlin were named in his honor.

Two US postage stamps have been issued in his honor, in 1990 and 1998.

A medical plaza in Phoenix is named after Jesse Owens.

The Ohio State track and field stadium is The Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Perhaps the greatest honor for Owens comes from the 3,500 young people across the US who have been helped with their education by the Jesse Owens Foundation.

Source:

Denver Post, February 11, 1937, Jesse Owens, Wikipedia