Track and field athlete, Jessie Owens is one of the early 20th centuries greatest athletes and competitors.  Owens dominated in sprinting events and the long-jump and gained international fame for his performance in the 1936 Berlin Games.

On this day, September 9th, in 1936, Jessie Owens earned four track and fields gold medals in the same Summer Olympic games.  Owens won the 100m sprint, the long jump, the 200m sprint and the 4 x 100 m relay.  Another track and field athlete would not match Owens’ four-medal accomplishment until Carl Lewis accomplished the same in 1984.

Jessie Owens’ dominance of the 1936 Olympics played a far larger role beyond his individual accomplishments.  Owens’ victories were a symbolic blow against Hitler’s Nazi regime that had predicted arian dominance in the games.  The games served as a great victory for both African Americans and the United States as a whole.