The first to win 4 gold medals in Track & Field in one Olympics (1936), Jesse's historic feat was a political "In your face" to the host country's leader Adolf Hitler. Hitler's claim to Aryan supremacy was put to shame when Jesse humbly won the 100 Meters, 200 Meters, the long jump and the 4 x 100 Meter events in Berlin, setting either Olympic Records or World Records in all four events. Although it appeared that Hitler himself refused to acknowledge his excellence, the blond-haired German competitor he defeated in the long jump, Luz Long, hugged Owens and they walked arm and arm around the stadium together. Now that is the true Olympic spirit!.

Jesse knew only to face obstacles and figure out how to overcome them. Before the 1935 Big Ten Championship, Owens fell down some stairs and hurt his back. He was advised to withdraw. He set world records in the 220-yard dash, the 220-yard hurdles, and the broad jump and tied the world record in the 100-yard dash.

Back in the USA, there were still social/racial obstacles to overcome. Owens was the first black captain of an Ohio State University sports team. He earned that title at a time when black athletes were not allowed to live on campus. Even as a famous Olympian, he still had to overcome social barriers as a black American. With respect to that challenge in life, he states in one of his books: "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."