Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics — in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100m relay — a feat of athletic domination in front of Adolf Hitler that became one of sport's most powerful political moments. His long jump record of 8.13 metres at Berlin stood for 25 years. The International Olympic Committee voted him the Olympic Athlete of the 20th Century in 1999 in recognition of his achievement as a symbol of athletic excellence and human dignity over political ideology.