page no. 11
Jesse Owens "crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy"
“I saw Herr Adolph Hitler, salute this lad. I looked on with a heart which beat proudly as the lad who was crowned king of the 100 meters event, get an ovation the like of which I have never heard before. I saw Jesse Owens greeted by the Grand Chancellor of this country. I saw a vast crowd of some 85,000 or 90,000 people stand up and cheer him”. James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (1913 – 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.
Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history". He set three world records and tied another, all in less than an hour, at the 1935 Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan—a feat that has never been equaled and has been called "the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport".
He achieved international fame at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, by winning four gold medals: 100 meters, long jump, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay. He was the most successful athlete at the Games and, as a black American man, was credited with "single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy".
The 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a relay system from Greece to the Olympic venue. Leni Riefenstahl filmed the relay for the 1938 film Olympia.
"The sportive, knightly battle awakens the best human characteristics. It doesn't separate, but unites the combatants in understanding and respect. It also helps to connect the countries in the spirit of peace. That's why the Olympic Flame should never die."
Adolf Hitler, commenting on the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, Germany.
The Games were the first to be televised, with radio broadcasts reaching 41 countries. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee to film the Games Her film, titled Olympia, pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.
Hitler saw the 1936 Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy and antisemitism