On May 25, 1935, the Big Ten Championships was held to determine the best track and field stars in the conference. J.C. Owens was born the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave in Alabama. At age 9, his family moved to Ohio. His first teacher there asked him his name, but she misunderstood his accent and wrote down “Jesse”. In high school, he joined the track team. He was an amazing athlete and dominated in his events. He tied the world record for the 100-yard dash as a senior. He went on to Ohio State University. He became known as the “Buckeye Bullet”. He was a phenomenal athlete who excelled in the sprints, jumps, and hurdles. Despite being the best performer on the team, he was not given a scholarship because he was black. He had to work odd jobs to pay his tuition. He could not live in a dormitory on campus. When the team traveled, he had to stay in blacks-only hotels. He couldn’t eat in restaurants with his teammates.
On May 25, 1936, as a 21-year-old sophomore, Jesse attended the Big Ten championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Five days earlier, he had fallen down some stairs and badly bruised his back. It was unclear if he would be able to compete. He had to be helped out of the car and could barely touch his knees. His coach and he agreed to take it one competition at a time. The first was the 100-yard dash (this was before the event changed into the 100 meters). At 3:15, he came out of the starting blocks miraculously feeling no pain. He tied the world record at 9.4 seconds. No one would run faster for another 13 years. At 3:25, he took his first broad jump (today it is called the long jump). He jumped 8.13 meters. It was a world record and he was the first to break the 8 meter mark. His record would stand 25 years. At 3:34, he ran the 200-yard dash in 20.3. That was a full .3 seconds faster than the record. At 4 P.M., he won the 220-yard low hurdles in 22.6 seconds. He was the first human to break 23 seconds. In 45 minutes, he had broken or tied four world records. Many track experts believe it was the greatest 45 minutes in the history of track, maybe in sports in general.
Owens went on to win the four events at the NCAA championships in 1935 and 1936. He then gained sports immortality at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
https://olympics.com/ioc/news/jesse-owens-and-the-greatest-45-minutes-in-sport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens
https://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/05/24/owens-recordday
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