Talk:Jesse Owens

typo

to any qualified editor ... there is a typo at large, in the 'Berlin Olympics' section. search 'teeammate.

Edit request

Under Death, the article states Owens smoked a pack-a-day of cigarettes for 35 years, starting at age 32. That cannot be as he died at 66! The source states he started smoking age 32 so suggest removing the "for 35 years" reference.

Unrelated, Jesse Owens ran the 100m in 10.2 seconds ('36 Berlin Olympics) not 10.3s. This was probably a type but they didn't even record tenths of a second at that point so it's definitely wrong. Seeing as how this time is hugely significant this should be changed forthwith. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Werymash (talk • contribs) 03:04, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 March 2022

Jesse Owens ran an official 100 meters world record of 10.2 seconds in 1936 - so, his best time is not 10.3 seconds as stated in the article. (Source IAAF/World Athletics)

wortld wide web

^{77,777 are you a doctor} 216.200.84.87 (talk) 19:54, 12 September 2023 (UTC)

The "Owen's success at the games caused consternation for Hitler" paragraph must be removed.

"Owens's success at the games caused consternation for Hitler, who was using them to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany. He and other government officials had hoped that German athletes would dominate the games. Nazi minister Albert Speer wrote that Hitler "was highly annoyed by the series of triumphs by the marvelous colored American runner, Jesse Owens. People whose antecedents came from the jungle were primitive, Hitler said with a shrug; their physiques were stronger than those of civilized whites and hence should be excluded from future games."

This section of the article is clearly written in bad faith, pure and simple. Not only are the sources used of very low quality, but the argument itself doesn't make any sense, and clearly contradicts what Owens himself perceived regarding Hitler. "He and other government officials had hoped that German athletes would dominate the games" but they did dominate the games! Germany had the 1st place in both gold medals and total medals, they won 14 more gold medals than the US, who occupied the 2nd place in the Olympics.

Even more laughable is the use of a quote by Albert Speer, out of all people! Speer, who constantly lied DURING and AFTER the war regarding his involvement in Nazi policy, and who, after the war, did all he could to distance himself from the figure of Adolf Hitler! How can his word be deemed credible knowing this? Literally just read the Wikipedia article on Albert Speer and search for the "The Speer Myth" section. 2800:150:14A:5A5:3966:BA94:4619:E65A (talk) 17:13, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

I concur. Also the african-american athletes were of course allowed to ride on the bus, to go shopping whereever and whenever they wanted, where housed in the same facilities/hotels as all other people, and when they ordered a cafe in a restaurant, they were of course served! Try that in the US at that time. 2003:DC:F716:6F00:E0BF:C376:BC13:E97D (talk) 03:58, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

how he died

he died because he was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer 208.122.74.111 (talk) 19:06, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

Friendship between Jesse Owens and Lutz Long

In an article on Quora, it is described that Jesse Owens became friends with Lutz/Luz Long. Maybe it should be mention in the Ssection about his olympic career. https://www.ww2history.org/at-war/the-friendship-of-american-jesse-owens-and-german-carl-luz-long-and-the-1936-berlin-xi-olympic-games/ https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-saddest-last-words-in-history/answer/Jean-Marie-Valheur Bloksma (talk) 12:16, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

Neither of these are reliable sources. If you would like to add this information, please provide reliable sources on this information. guninvalid (talk) 05:28, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: HIST 121- U.S. History since 1877

— Assignment last updated by Public-historian-90 (talk) 15:47, 2 April 2025 (UTC)