- SPORT:
- Alpine Skiing
- BORN: 02.11.1919
- Tacoma, Washington
After her Olympic dream was postponed, Gretchen Fraser became the first American to win an alpine skiing medal.
The day after winning three events at the 1936 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Jesse Owens met legendary baseball player Babe Ruth at a dinner honoring the Olympic athletes.
Ruth, the New York Yankees’ slugger, would retire as the leading home run hitter in Major League Baseball. He knew of Owens’ dominance – including the “greatest 45 minutes ever in sports” – and asked Owens if he was going to win Olympic gold.
“I will try,” Owens replied, according to the Jesse Owens Museum.
“Everybody tries; I succeed,” Ruth said. “Why? Because I know I’m going to hit a home run just about every time I swing the bat. Because I know it. The pitchers, they know it too. Know, Jesse, that you will win!”
Indeed, Owens did win.
At the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games, against a backdrop of racial discrimination in Nazi Germany, Owens won four gold medals – a feat that went unmatched for nearly 50 years.
On successive days, Owens won gold in the 100 meters, the long jump and the 200 meters. Four days later, Owens was a late addition to the 4×100-meter relay team that set a world record that stood for 20 years.