Jesse Owens

In 1936, the Olympic Games were in Berlin.

Adolf Hitler, the German leader, wanted to show off his country and his political ideas to the world. Hitler's political party - the Nazi Party - believed that white people were better than other races. But one athlete demonstrated in a spectacular way that this was not true!

Jesse Owens was a 22-year-old black American athlete. He was the grandson of an African slave and became one of the USA's greatest athletes.

In 1935, he broke three world records in an hour at the University of Michigan. 

Then, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics he won four gold medals: the 100 and 200 metre sprints, long jump, and the 4 x 100 metres relay. Owens was the most successful athlete of the Olympics and showed that Hitler's ideas about race were wrong!

Jesse Owens has become a sporting legend. A street near the Olympic Stadium in Berlin now has his name, and every year the USA's best athlete is given the 'Jesse Owens Award'.