MR. BIG TENJessie Owens, 60, chats with fans before the start of the 74th Big Ten outdoor track championships at the University of Michigan's Ferry Field Friday afternoon. Thirty-nine years ago, he set three world records and tied another on the same field while running for Ohio State. They still hold as Big Ten records.
DATE: 5-17-1974
ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot
SUBJECT: Jesse Owens
APPROXIMATE SIZE: 7-3/8"x10-1/8"
NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1
COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large number of entertainment photos, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends.
BIO: James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens 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".
SKU: LP04987
Item: LP04987