And a myth was born that Hitler had snubbed Owens by failing to congratulate him. Two Jewish sprinters were denied the chance to compete for the United States at the last possible moment, most likely out of misguided deference to the Nazi hosts.

At the games themselves the subplots and intrigue continued: Owens was befriended by a German rival, broad jumper Luz Long, who, legend has it, helped Owens win the gold medal at his own expense. A boycott was afoot, based on reports of Nazi hostility to Jews, but was thwarted by the president of the American Olympic Committee, who dismissed the actions of the Third Reich as irrelevant. From the start, American participation in the 1936 games was controversial. But it is also the intimate and complex tale of the courage of one remarkable man.ĭrawing on unprecedented access to the Owens family, previously unpublished interviews, and exhaustive archival research, Jeremy Schaap transports us to Nazi Germany to weave this dramatic tale. The story of Jesse Owens at the 1936 games is that of a high-profile athlete giving a performance that transcends sports. In 1936, against a backdrop of swastikas flying and of storm troopers goose-stepping, an African-American son of sharecroppers won a staggering four Olympic gold medals and single-handedly crushed Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy. “A remarkable job of tackling a complex subject and bringing it to life.” - John Feinstein “Add even more luster to the indelibly heroic achievements of Jesse Owens.From the ESPN national correspondent and author of the New York Times bestseller Cinderella Man comes the remarkable behind-the-scenes story of a defining moment in sports and world history. With incisive reporting and rich storytelling, Schaap reveals what really happened over those tense, exhilarating weeks in a “snappy and dramatic” work of sports history ( Publishers Weekly).

Drawing on unprecedented access to the Owens family, previously unpublished interviews, and archival research, Jeremy Schaap transports us to Germany and tells the dramatic tale of Owens and his fellow athletes at the contest dubbed the Nazi Olympics. It is also the intimate and complex tale of one remarkable man’s courage. The story of Jesse Owens at the Berlin games is that of an athletic performance that transcends sports. At the 1936 Olympics, against a backdrop of swastikas and goose-stepping storm troopers, an African American son of sharecroppers won a staggering four gold medals, single-handedly falsifying Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy. This New York Times best-selling author’s account of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin offers a “vivid portrait not just of Owens but of ’30s Germany and America” ( Sports Illustrated).

Triumph the untold story of jesse owens