# Canonical recap data for Jesse Owens Dominates Berlin Olympics (1936)
# Source: https://recap.at/1936/jesse-owens-1936-olympics
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: jesse-owens-1936-olympics
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1936/jesse-owens-1936-olympics"
title: Jesse Owens Dominates Berlin Olympics
aliases:
- Berlin Olympics 1936
- Jesse Owens' four golds
- Nazi Olympics
subtitle: Jesse Owens's four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics demolished Nazi racial ideology while becoming one of sport's most iconic triumphs.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1936-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1936
decade: 1930
country:
name: Germany
slug: germany
summaryShort: James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who made history at the 1936 Olympic Games by winning four gold medals, setting Olympic records in each event. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in track and field history.
summaryLong: James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who made history at the 1936 Olympic Games by winning four gold medals, setting Olympic records in each event. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in track and field history.
lede: Jesse Owens, an African American sprinter and long jumper from Alabama, won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in front of Adolf Hitler. His dominance in track and field challenged the Nazi regime's ideology of racial superiority, making the Games a flashpoint between sport and politics.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Jesse_Owens_1936.jpg/1280px-Jesse_Owens_1936.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Jesse Owens"
importance: 86
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Gold medals won
  value: 4 (100m, 200m, long jump, 4×100m relay)
- label: Long jump record
  value: 26 feet 5 5/8 inches (8.06 meters)
- label: Olympic records set
  value: 4 (all four events)
- label: 100m time
  value: 10.3 seconds (Olympic record, tied world record)
- label: Owens' age during Games
  value: 22 years old
- label: Competing nations
  value: "49"
- label: U.S. team medal count
  value: 56 total medals (24 gold)
timeline:
- date: 1936-08-03
  title: 100m sprint heat and final
  description: Owens wins first gold, equaling world record of 10.3 seconds in the final
- date: 1936-08-04
  title: Long jump qualification and final
  description: Owens sets Olympic record at 26 feet 5 5/8 inches; German competitor Luz Long aids his technique
- date: 1936-08-05
  title: 200m sprint heat and final
  description: Owens wins second individual gold medal, setting new Olympic record of 20.7 seconds
- date: 1936-08-09
  title: 4×100m relay final
  description: U.S. team including Owens wins gold with Olympic record; relay team replaces two Jewish runners before race
- date: 1936-11-30
  title: AAU eligibility ruling
  description: Owens loses amateur status after competing in professional races, unable to compete at 1940 Olympics
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens"
  title: Jesse Owens
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Owens' performance at Berlin was a direct refutation of Nazi racial pseudoscience, delivered on the world's largest propaganda stage. His medals—and his treatment afterward in a segregated America—exposed the hypocrisy of celebrating achievement while denying basic rights.
categories:
- sports
- festival
taxonomy:
domain: sports
eventTypes:
- olympics
- record_breaking
canonicalClasses:
- competition
- celebration
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: renewal
metaDescription: Jesse Owens wins 4 golds at 1936 Berlin Olympics, defying Nazi ideology on sport's biggest stage.
wikidataQid: Q52651
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260525161232/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-25
  label: Jesse Owens
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens"
