Jesse Owens: Legendary Track Star (Famous African Americans)

"I always loved running," said Jesse Owens, who as a boy could outrun all his playmates. When he competed in the Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, people used words like "express" and "comet" to describe him. Owens won an amazing four Olympic gold medals in track and field events—and demonstrated to the world that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's theory of racial inferiority was wrong. An athlete, humanitarian, speaker, and author, Owens dedicated his later years to helping the youth of America reach for greatness.