At the Big Ten track and field championships of 1935, Ohio State's Jesse Owens equaled or set world records in four events: the 100 and 220-yard dashes, 200-yard low hurdles and the long jump. He was also credited with world marks in the 200-meter run and 200-meter hurdles. That's six world records in one afternoon, and he did it all in 45 minutes!

The following year, he swept the 100 and 200 meters and long jump at the Olympic Trials and headed for Germany favored to win all three.

In Berlin, dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers felt sure that the Olympics would be the ideal venue to demonstrate Germany's oft-stated racial superiority. He directed that $25 million be spent on the finest facilities, the cleanest streets and the temporary withdrawal of all outward signs of the state-run anti-Jewish campaign. By the time over 4,000 athletes from 49 countries arrived for the Games, the stage was set. The Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 were a gigantic Nazi showpiece. There were more swastikas bedecking the main stadium than there were Olympic flags. And each success of a German athlete was hailed locally as a victory for the master race. Germany headed the medal table with 33 golds compared with second placegetter the United States' 24. But most of Germany's medals were in the more esoteric events such as horse-riding, gymnastics and rowing.

Then Jesse Owens, a black sharecropper's son from Alabama, stole the show - winning his three individual events and adding a fourth gold medal in the 400-meter relay. The fact that four other American blacks also won did little to please Herr Hitler, but the applause from the German crowds, especially for Owens, was thunderous. Jesse Owens embarrassed Adolf Hitler by disproving the Nazi theory that the black races were inferior to the Aryans.

Hitler made sure he had left the stadium before any of Owens' medal presentations. But Owens wasn't the only black athlete he snubbed. On the first day, when Cornelius Johnson won the high jump, Hitler beat a hasty retreat.

Germany won only five combined gold medals in men's and women's track and field, but saved face for the "master race" in the overall medal count with an 89-56 margin over the United States.

The top female performers in Berlin were 17-year-old Dutch swimmer Rie Mastenbroek, who won three gold medals, and 18-year-old American runner Helen Stephens, who captured the 100 meters and anchored the winning 4x100-meter relay team.

Basketball also made its debut as a medal sport and was played outdoors. The U.S. men easily won the first gold medal championship game with a 19-8 victory over Canada, in the rain.

An innovation in 1936 was the Olympic torch, lit by the rays of the sun at Olympia in Greece and carried by 3,000 relay runners to the main stadium in the German capital. It is a tradition that has continued at every subsequent Olympic Games.

On October 1, 2000 Patricia Down writes: I was an Australian competitor in the 1936 Olympics...a swimmer. In Australia, we were very worried we would not get to the Olympics as there was much talk of war. We were the first team to arrive in Berlin..great reception, but surprised at all the military uniforms. Hitler and his entourage always attended the Olympics in full uniform. He upset the I.O.C. by placing German flags arround the stadium instead of competing countries..ordered to take them down.

Opening Ceremony..we heard the French team were not going to recognise Hitler, but they gave the Nazi salute anyway resulting in a thunderous reception, later they stated they gave the Olympic Salute, not the Nazi salute. No one has ever heard of the Olympic salute! There were many instances of the political atmosphere. In closing..Jeanette Campbell from the Argentine received a letter from Holland asking her to organise a boycott by the women of the Opening Ceremony and demand the release of two Dutchmen who had disappeared on a trip to Germany. She let the matter drop. Just a note or two. Thought you might be interested.

1932 Los Angeles Olympic Stadium 1932 1936 Berlin Olympic Stadium 1936 1948 London Olympic Stadium 1948