Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens, formerly known as James Cleveland Owens, is an African-American track and field star and sprinter. He was born on September 12, 1913, in a family of cotton farmers in Alabama, in the south of the United States. He is a descendant of black slaves. He died in Arizona on March 31, 1980. The greatest athlete in modern Olympic history, he is known as the "best track and field athlete of this century."