30 Jesse Owens Quotes on Courage, Perseverance & Triumph Over Prejudice That Inspire
Jesse Owens (1913-1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, shattering Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan racial supremacy on the world's largest stage. Born James Cleveland Owens, the grandson of enslaved people and the son of Alabama sharecroppers, he moved to Cleveland as a child, where a teacher misheard his initials "J.C." as "Jesse." Despite his Olympic triumph, Owens returned to a segregated America where he was forced to enter through the back door at a reception in his own honor at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
On August 4, 1936, Jesse Owens stood in the long jump pit at the Berlin Olympic Stadium, having fouled on his first two attempts and facing elimination. According to legend, his German rival Luz Long -- the very embodiment of Aryan athleticism -- approached Owens and suggested he place a towel several inches before the takeoff board to ensure a clean jump. Owens followed the advice, qualified easily, and went on to win the gold medal, with Long the first to congratulate him. Whether or not Long actually offered the advice, their embrace in front of 100,000 spectators -- including Hitler -- became one of the most powerful images of sportsmanship in Olympic history. Owens won four gold medals in Berlin, humiliating the Nazi ideology of racial superiority. As he later reflected: "The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself -- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us -- that's where it's at." That insight -- that the greatest victories are internal -- gave meaning to a life marked by both extraordinary triumph and the bitter injustice of returning home a hero to a country that still denied him basic rights.
Who Was Jesse Owens?
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Born | September 12, 1913, Oakville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Sport | Track and Field |
| Known For | Four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics; defied Adolf Hitler's Aryan supremacy ideology; considered the greatest Olympic performance of the 20th century |
Key Achievements and Episodes
Four Gold Medals in Berlin — Defying Hitler
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, held under Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime as a showcase for Aryan racial superiority, Jesse Owens won four gold medals — in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100 meter relay. His victories devastated the Nazi propaganda narrative, as a Black American athlete dominated the events that were supposed to prove white supremacy. Owens set or equaled nine Olympic records during the Games. His achievement is considered the single greatest Olympic performance in history, not only for the athletic brilliance but for the moral courage of competing under the hateful gaze of a genocidal regime.
The Friendship with Luz Long
During the long jump competition, Owens fouled on his first two attempts and was in danger of elimination. His German competitor, Luz Long, reportedly advised Owens to adjust his takeoff mark by placing a towel several inches before the foul line. Owens followed the advice, qualified on his final attempt, and went on to win the gold medal. Long was the first to congratulate Owens, and the two walked arm in arm off the field before 100,000 spectators, including Hitler himself. Long was later killed fighting in World War II, and Owens maintained a correspondence with Long's family for decades, calling the friendship "the most important thing" he took from the Berlin Games.
The Forgotten Hero — America's Broken Promise
Despite his Olympic triumph, Owens returned to an America where he could not eat in the same restaurants or stay in the same hotels as white athletes. President Franklin Roosevelt never invited him to the White House or sent a congratulatory telegram. To support his family, Owens was reduced to racing against horses and motorcycles for money at exhibition events. He later worked as a gas station attendant and playground janitor. Owens did not receive proper recognition until decades later, when President Gerald Ford awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976. His story remains one of the most powerful illustrations of the gap between America's professed ideals and its treatment of Black citizens.
Who Was Jesse Owens?
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (1913--1980) was born in Oakville, Alabama, the grandson of enslaved people and the son of sharecroppers. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Great Migration, where a schoolteacher misheard his initials "J.C." as "Jesse" -- a name that would become immortal. On May 25, 1935, at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Ohio State sophomore achieved what is still called "the greatest 45 minutes in sport": he broke three world records and tied a fourth across the 100-yard dash, the long jump, the 220-yard sprint, and the 220-yard low hurdles. A year later, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics -- staged by Adolf Hitler as a showcase for Aryan supremacy -- Owens silenced Nazi ideology by winning four gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100 meter relay. During those Games he formed a lifelong friendship with German long jumper Luz Long, who publicly offered Owens technical advice on his qualifying jumps -- an act of sportsmanship that defied the regime. Yet when Owens returned to the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt never acknowledged his achievement, never sent a telegram, and never invited him to the White House. Owens could not ride in the front of the bus, could not live where he wanted, and was forced to enter a reception in his own honor at the Waldorf-Astoria through the freight elevator. Stripped of his amateur status by the AAU, he was reduced to racing against horses and dogs to earn a living. In later decades Owens reinvented himself as a goodwill ambassador and motivational speaker, traveling the world to promote the Olympic ideal. He authored three books -- Blackthink (1970), I Have Changed (1972), and Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978) -- that chart his evolving views on race, justice, and the meaning of victory. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 from Gerald Ford and the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously in 1990. His legacy endures as a testament to what the human spirit can achieve in the face of hatred and injustice.
Quotes on Dreams, Determination & Self-Discipline
Jesse Owens's four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics -- in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100-meter relay -- represented the most powerful repudiation of Nazi racial ideology ever delivered on a sporting field. Adolf Hitler had organized the Games as a showcase for Aryan supremacy, and the sight of a Black American grandson of enslaved people dominating track and field in the Olympic Stadium shattered that narrative before a global audience. Owens's long jump of 8.06 meters, set with a primitive runway and no modern footwear, stood as the Olympic record for 24 years. His determination was forged in the poverty of sharecropping Alabama and the segregated streets of Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked part-time jobs while training under coach Larry Snyder at Ohio State University.
"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it."
Widely attributed; quoted in motivational speeches during his years as a goodwill ambassador
"The only victory that counts is the one over yourself."
Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man (1970)
"In the end, it's extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more that that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don't win, how can you lose?"
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself -- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us -- that's where it's at."
Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man (1970)
"One chance is all you need."
Widely attributed; frequently cited in accounts of his 1936 Olympic long jump final
"There is something that can happen to every athlete and every human being; the instinct to slack off, to give in to pain, to give less than your best; the instinct to hope you can win through luck or through your opponent not doing his best, instead of going to the limit and past your limit where victory is always found. Defeating those negative instincts that are out to defeat us, is the difference between winning and losing -- and we all face that battle every day."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"Life doesn't give you all the practice races you need."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
Quotes on Running, Competition & the Olympic Spirit
Owens's performance at the Big Ten Championship on May 25, 1935, is considered the single greatest day in athletic history: in just 45 minutes, he set three world records and tied a fourth, accomplishing these feats while suffering from a back injury sustained falling down a flight of stairs the previous week. He equaled the 100-yard dash world record of 9.4 seconds, set a long jump world record of 26 feet 8.25 inches that would stand for 25 years, and broke the world records in the 220-yard dash and 220-yard low hurdles. His Olympic performances the following year were watched by 110,000 spectators at the Berlin Olympic Stadium, and his 10.3-second 100 meters in the final was achieved on a cinder track far inferior to the synthetic surfaces that modern sprinters enjoy.
"I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"A lifetime of training for just ten seconds."
Widely attributed; on the culmination of years of preparation in the 100-meter dash
"Running is real. It's all joy and woe, hard as diamond. It makes you weary beyond comprehension, but it also makes you free."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"To a sprinter, the hundred-yard dash is over in three seconds, not nine or ten. The first 'second' is when you come out of the blocks. The next is when you look up and take your first few strides to attain gain position. By that time the race is actually about half over. The final 'second' -- the longest slice of time in the world for an athlete -- is that last half of the race, when you really bear down and see what you're made of. It seems to take an eternity, yet is all over before you can think what's happening."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"If you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard."
Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man (1970)
"The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads -- in the end -- to the best within us."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible. From the air, fast down, and from the ground, fast up."
On his sprinting technique; quoted in biographical accounts of his training methods
"It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it's close."
On competition; quoted in Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"I decided I wasn't going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever."
Recalling his record-breaking long jump; Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
Quotes on Racism, Prejudice & the Struggle for Dignity
Owens returned from Berlin as the most famous athlete in the world but found that his Olympic glory did not protect him from American racism. President Franklin D. Roosevelt never invited him to the White House or sent him a telegram of congratulations -- a snub that Owens later said hurt more than anything Hitler did. To make money, Owens was reduced to racing against horses and motorcycles at county fairs and running in exhibition races against amateur athletes. The Amateur Athletic Union stripped him of his amateur status for refusing to participate in a post-Olympic tour of Europe, ending any chance of future Olympic competition. His famous observation that Hitler did not snub him but his own president did remains one of the most searing indictments of American racial hypocrisy.
"When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?"
Interview recollection; quoted in Triumph by Jeremy Schaap (2007)
"Hitler didn't snub me -- it was our president who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram."
On President Roosevelt's silence after the 1936 Olympics; quoted in Triumph by Jeremy Schaap (2007)
"Although I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either."
On the double standard he faced; quoted in biographical interviews
"After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my hand or have me up to their suite. But no one was going to offer me a job."
Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man (1970)
"I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals. There was no television, no big advertising, no endorsements then. Not for a black man, anyway."
On the economic reality facing Black athletes in the 1930s; Blackthink (1970)
"I realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn't a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward."
I Have Changed (1972), reflecting his evolving views on the civil rights movement
"People say that it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals."
On being forced to race animals for income after the Olympics; Blackthink (1970)
Quotes on Friendship, Character & the Meaning of Victory
The friendship between Owens and German long jumper Luz Long, who reportedly advised Owens to adjust his approach during the qualifying round to avoid fouling out, became one of the most celebrated stories of sportsmanship in Olympic history. Long, who was later killed in World War II at the Battle of St. Pietro in 1943, wrote a final letter to Owens asking him to contact his son and tell him about the friendship between their fathers. Owens maintained a lifelong correspondence with the Long family and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford in 1976. His legacy as a symbol of human dignity triumphing over hatred continues to inspire athletes and civil rights advocates worldwide.
"Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust."
On his friendship with German long jumper Luz Long at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
"The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
"Championships are mythical. The real champions are those who live through what they are taught in their homes and churches. The attitude that 'We've got to win' in sports must be changed. Teach your youngsters, who are the future hope of America, the importance of love, respect, dedication, determination, self-sacrifice, self-discipline and good attitude. That's the road up the ladder to the championships."
Speech as a goodwill ambassador; frequently quoted in his public appearances during the 1960s--70s
"We must respect the rights and properties of our fellowman. And then learn to play the game of life, as well as the game of athletics, according to the rules of society. If you can take that and put it into practice in the community in which you live, then, to me you have won the greatest championship."
Public address; quoted in speeches during his years as a youth mentor and ambassador
"For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978), reflecting on the aftermath of Berlin
"Only by God's grace have I made it to see today and only by God's grace will I ever see tomorrow."
Jesse: A Spiritual Autobiography (1978)
Frequently Asked Questions About Jesse Owens
How many gold medals did Jesse Owens win at the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Nazi Germany: the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100-meter relay. His victories in front of Adolf Hitler, who had intended the Games to showcase Aryan racial superiority, made Owens the most celebrated athlete of the Olympics and a powerful symbol of resistance against racism and fascism. Owens set or equaled Olympic records in all four events, and his long jump mark of 8.06 meters stood as an Olympic record for 24 years until Ralph Boston broke it at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Did Adolf Hitler refuse to shake Jesse Owens's hand at the 1936 Olympics?
The widely repeated story that Hitler specifically refused to shake Jesse Owens's hand is somewhat misleading. On the first day of competition, Hitler congratulated German gold medalists in his viewing box, but the Olympic Committee told him he must either congratulate all gold medalists or none. Hitler chose to congratulate none publicly for the remainder of the Games. Owens himself said that Hitler actually gave him a small wave from his box, and that it was US President Franklin Roosevelt, not Hitler, who snubbed him -- Roosevelt never sent Owens a telegram or invited him to the White House after his historic victories.
What happened to Jesse Owens after the 1936 Olympics?
Despite his Olympic triumph, Jesse Owens returned to an America that was still deeply segregated and faced significant financial struggles. He was stripped of his amateur status for refusing to participate in a post-Olympic exhibition tour in Europe, effectively ending his competitive career. To earn money, Owens resorted to racing against horses and motorcycles at county fairs and working various jobs. He eventually became a successful motivational speaker and public relations representative. Owens received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Gerald Ford in 1976 and a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal in 1990. He died of lung cancer on March 31, 1980, at age 66.
Related Quote Collections
- Carl Lewis Quotes — Olympic track excellence
- Jackie Robinson Quotes — Breaking racial barriers
- Usain Bolt Quotes — Speed and track greatness
- Courage Quotes — Bravery and bold action