In the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, he became an internationally famous athlete by winning four track and field gold medals, and, as a Black man, harming Hitler's attempt to use the games as a showcase for Aryan superiority.
|| Achievements made possible by
Sheer hard work and the encouragement of Charles Riley, his junior-high track coach at Fairview Junior High, who had entered him on the track team.
|| Notable
Owens was segregated as a 'black American'. After his athletic career ended, he was forced to make a living by running a dry cleaning business and even worked as a gas station attendant. In 1966 he was prosecuted for tax evasion. Despite being an athlete, he was an avid smoker for 35 years, and died of lung cancer at the age of 66 in Tucson, Arizona.
|| Born
Lawrence County, Alabama in the Oakville community.
|| Education
Attended Ohio State University while working part time jobs to pay for his education
|| Married
In 1935 he married Minnie Ruth Solomon, his sweetheart since junior high school.