1913-1980
Track & Field/ Olympic Hero

Hard Times.

Personal difficulties, racial discrimination, and challenges to his status as an athlete plagued James Cleveland Owens throughout his career, but on the track and field he put them aside to perform unequaled feats of athletic prowess. In the early 1930s he was the nation's most promising high school star. At Cleveland East Technical High School in 1932, when he was nineteen, he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds, tying the world record; long jumped 24 feet, 11.25 inches; and ran 220 yards in 20.7 seconds. He broke the world indoor broad-jump record in 1933. Yet no colleges were interested in him. He enrolled at Ohio State (known then for its discriminatory practices against blacks). To earn his scholarship he operated a freight elevator in the State Office Building after attending classes and working out with the track team.

Great Day.

In a single day in...