Jesse Owens and other sprinters take off in a 100-meter dash heat in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Owens (foreground) won the heat in 10.3 seconds on Aug. 2, 1936. The next day he captured the gold medal. Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, making him one of the most famous track and field athletes in history.

The remarkable feats of the Americans, particularly Owens (1913-1980), who was black, struck a propaganda blow against Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, who planned to use the Games as a showcase of supposed Aryan superiority.

When Owens died at age 66 in 1980, his obituary in The Times said, "The Jesse Owens best remembered by many Americans was a public speaker with the ringing, inspirational delivery of an evangelist. Later in his life, he traveled 200,000 miles a year making two or three speeches a week, mostly to sales meetings and conventions, and primarily to white audiences. With his own public relations and marketing concern, he earned more than $100,000 a year."