Born September 12, 1913, Danville, Ala. Died March 31, 1980.

On May 25, 1935 at Ann Arbor, Mich., Jesse Owens became immortal with one of the greatest feats ever performed on a single day by an athlete in track and field competition.

In the span of 45 minutes, Owens set five world records and tied another to pace Ohio State University at the Big Ten Championships. Owens set world records in the 220 yards and 200 meters straightaway, 220-yard and 200-meter low hurdles on a straightaway and the long jump and tied the world mark at 100 yards. His mark of 26-8 1/2 in the long jump was to stand for the next 25 years. His performance at the 1936 Olympic Games also was historic with a four-gold medal performance. Individually, he won the 100, 200 and long jump and ran on the winning 4 x 100-meter relay team.

Owens first came to national attention at East Tech High School in Cleveland, Ohio (the same school that also produced fellow Hall of Famers Dave Albritton and Harrison Dillard), then went to Ohio State where he was coached by Larry Snyder, who is also enshrined in the Hall of Fame. At OSU, Owens won eight national collegiate titles, scoring quadruple victories in both 1935 and 1936 in the 100, 220, low hurdles and long jump. During that same time, he also won six National AAU titles, five of them in the long jump. He later became a businessman and public speaker on motivational topics, being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976. He was elected to U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.