Jesse Owens

Inducted: 1974, athlete

Born: September 12, 1913 - Danville, Alabama
Deceased: March 31, 1980

Events
Long Jump - 8.13 m
100 yd. - 9.40
100 m - 10.20
200 m - 20.30

Jesse Owens is best remembered as the sprinter and long jumper who won four gold medals at the politically charged 1936 Berlin Olympics. And yet his greatest day as an athlete was May 25, 1935, when he set five world records and tied another in a span of just 45 minutes to pace Ohio State University at the Big Ten Championships. Owens set world records in the 220 yards and 200 meters straightaway, 220-yard and 200m low hurdles on a straightaway and the long jump, and tied the world record at 100 yards. His long jump mark of 26' 8 1/2" stood for the next 25 years. At the 1936 Olympics, he won the 100, 200 and long jump and ran on the winning 4x100m relay team. In the 200m and long jump, he set Olympic records and the relay team set a world record. Owens first came to national attention at East Tech High School in Cleveland, Ohio (the same school that produced fellow Hall of Famers Dave Albritton and Harrison Dillard), setting national high school records in the 100 and 220-yard dashes and the long jump. At Ohio State University, where he was coached by Hall of Famer Larry Snyder, Owens won eight national collegiate titles, scoring quadruple victories in both 1935 and 1936 in the 100, 220, low hurdles and long jump. During that same time, he also won six National AAU titles, five of them in the long jump. He later became a businessman and public speaker on motivational topics. Owens was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 and elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.

Records Held
World Record: Long Jump - 8.13 m (May 25, 1935 - )
World Record: 100 yd. - 9.40 (May 25, 1935 - )
World Record: 100 m - 10.20 (June 20, 1936 - )
World Record: 200 m - 20.30 (May 25, 1935 - )

Championships
1936 Olympics: Long Jump (1st)
1936 Olympics: 100 m (1st)
1936 Olympics: 200 m (1st)
1936 Olympics: 400 m relay (1st)
1935 Big Ten: Long Jump - 8.13 m (1st)
1935 Big Ten: 100 yd. - 9.40 (1st)
1935 Big Ten: 200 m - 20.30 (1st)
1935 Big Ten: 200 m hurdles (1st)
1935 Big Ten: 220 yd. (1st)
1935 Big Ten: 220 yd. hurdles (1st)
1935 NCAA: Long Jump (1st)
1935 NCAA: 100 yd. (1st)
1935 NCAA: 200 m hurdles (1st)
1935 NCAA: 220 yd. (1st)
1936 NCAA: Long Jump (1st)
1936 NCAA: 100 yd. (1st)
1936 NCAA: 200 m hurdles (1st)
1936 NCAA: 220 yd. (1st)

Education
high school: East Tech (Cleveland, Ohio), 1933
undergraduate: Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 1936

Occupations
Businessman
Motivational speaker