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Article: Jesse Owens found life the harder race
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- August 13, 1986
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Jesse OwensAn American Life. By William J. Baker. Free Press.
$19.95.
In 1936, the year Jesse Owens won four gold medals and rained on
Hitler's Olympic parade, he finished second in the balloting for the
prestigious Sullivan Trophy.
"Stop kidding me," decathlon champion Glenn Morris was reported
to have said when told he had been named the outstanding amateur
athlete of the year.
Never mind that Owens simply had announced he would turn
professional amid the post-Olympic hubbub. While he did engage in
commercial activities that capitalized on his fame, professional
outlets for trackmen of that day were extremely limited, if not
non-existent.
In petitioning for reinstatement as an ...