Owens Shatters Records: A Challenge to Racial Stereotypes
Jesse Owens set three world records and tied a fourth in 45 minutes at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 25, 1935. He equaled the 100-yard dash record (9.4 seconds) at 3:15 PM, set a world record in the long jump (26 feet 8.25 inches) at 3:25 PM, set a world record in the 220-yard dash (20.3 seconds) at 3:45 PM, and set a world record in the 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds) at 4:00 PM. The long jump record stood for 25 years. Owens competed with a back injury so severe he could barely bend over. He went on to win four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, embarrassing Hitler's claims of Aryan superiority. Despite his Olympic triumphs, Owens returned to a segregated America where he could not eat in the same restaurants as white athletes.
May 25, 1935
91 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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