The best ever 45 minutes in sport

In 1936 a 23-year-old Jesse Owens amazed the entire world of sport by winning four gold, track and field medals in just five days at the Berlin Games. However, this was not a surprise, because the year before the American had produced an even more legendary moment. The Ohio State University athlete needed only three quarters of an hour to break three and equal one world records. In recognition of this achievement Sports Illustrated magazine in 2010 described this feat as “the best 45 minutes in sports history.”

Owens with Charlie Riley - photo: internet.

Jesse Owens was born in 1913 in a small town of Oakville, Alabama. At the age of 10 he moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio. There he began his education: first in elementary school and then in junior high school, where his speed and agility - while playing with his friends - caught the eye of the athletic coach Charlie Riley. The Irishman strongly believed that the boy could have a bright future as a sprinter, which is why their cooperation continued even after Owens transferred to East Technical High School. This partnership resulted in a successful performance at the 1993 US National High School Championships in Chicago, where Jesse equaled the world record in the 100-yard dash (9.4 seconds) and leapt an amazing 7.56 meters in the long jump.

A year later Owens was already a student at Ohio State University, where he trained under the baton of Larry Snyder. He was very fast, but his running technique - especially at the start - was seriously off. Therefore, during his first year, he perfected a strong push from the hole (blocks were not yet allowed), the dynamics of his first steps and his arm work coordination. Snyder also paid great attention to a mental preparation. All this was to pay off in the following years and help Owens qualify for the Berlin Games in 1936.

Jesse with Larry Snyder. Photo: internet

The first serious test of the 1935 season was to be the NCAA Big 10 Conference competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, scheduled for May 25. But three weeks before the event Owens was fooling around with his friends in his dorm, fell down the stairs and badly injured his back. The pain did not allow for normal training, so - together with therapists - he tried various methods to relieve it. It soon appeared that rubbing the back with various ointments and applying warm compresses allowed for a temporary achievement of the desired effect. The heated body relaxed for about an hour, but then the pain and muscle stiffness returned.

Owens and Snyder knew that they had to limit the championship starts to a maximum of 60 minutes. The dress rehearsal was held on May 18 in Chicago, where the Ohio State Buckeyes competed with the local Northwestern and the universities of Wisconsin and Purdue. “Everything went smoothly. I warmed up properly and won the 100- and 220-yard sprints and the long jump. I also won the 220-yard hurdles, but I ran into the last hurdle and it felt as if the electric current was going through my spine. Later on that day I couldn’t get out of the shower by myself due to painn” - Owens told Barbara Moro in an interview for the Illinois State Historical Library in 1961.

He didn’t train for the entire next week, but focused on rehabilitation. They set off for Ann Arbor on Thursday, because they had qualifying races on Friday morning. In order to make the trip more comfortable he didn’t go with the team, but in a separate car,driven by… one of the local journalists. “We managed to get through the qualifiers without any problems, but the pain returned right after. We decided to try applying heat throughout the night. I put special bags with hot water on my back and stomach. The night was tough. The pain didn’t go away and when I woke up in the morning my back was really tight.” - explained Owens.

So he jumped into the tub and took a warm bath. It helped, but only a little. After breakfast it was time to go to the stadium, which was located 16 kilometers away. During the ride he searched for the best position for himself, but the pain radiated down both legs. After reaching Ferry Field he immediately went to a masseur. “He rubbed me down with alcohol and oil from the Wintergreen plant (a plant whose leaves contain salicylate: a chemical that acts like aspirin - TM). Then he put his fingers in a freshly opened jar of Red Pepper Rub. He started by rubbing my lower cervical spine area and then worked his way down. After a while I got up, put on my tracksuit and went outside. I had my indoor running shoes on. I was also holding my spikes in my hand” - revealed Owens.

Jesse winning the race. Photo: internet

There were 40 minutes until the start of his first race. He started jogging with his teammates, but after about 200 yards he told them he couldn’t go on. So he sat down helplessly under a pole near the finish line. That’s when Charles Riley entered the stadium. “He came over to me, knelt down and asked how I was feeling. I told him my back was really hurting. The coach told me not to worry and that everything would be fine.” - explained Owens.

With 15 minutes left before the last call for the 100-yard dash he stood up again and tried to warm up a bit. The pain was still there, although he didn't feel it in his legs. The weather was warm and sunny. He started to wave his arms around. The warm tracksuit and ointments did their job and he began to feel the beads of sweat running down his back. "Then Larry Snyder came up to me. He said that if it hurts, it might be better if I let it go. But I told him that I wouldn't do it until I finished my first race. That if I was going to be defeated by my rivals, among whom was the great Eulace Peacock, then let it happen after the fight." - said Owens.

Finally they called everyone to the start line. Owens stood up and tried to take off his tracksuit, but the pain wouldn't let him. He couldn't lift his arms up, so his friends came to his aid. He walked to the start and stood there motionless. All the other competitors were pumped and full of energy: they were jumping and stretching. “When I heard ‘On your marks’ I knelt down, dug myself a hole, and felt the pain. With ‘Set’ I lifted my hips and… the pain went away. When the starting pistol went off I simply ran forward. Nothing hurt. My arms worked properly and my legs carried me. I kept the same running position that we had worked on for so many years. I didn’t push my hips forward unnecessarily. They were perfectly balanced. You could put a glass of water on them and not a drop would be spilled.” - explained Owens.

Jesse during the broad jump
competition. Photo: internet

The clock read 3:15PM New York time when Owens crossed the finish line as a winner. He ran 100 yards in 9.4 seconds, although several judges measured him at 9.3. That meant he had equaled the world record! There was no time to celebrate, however, because the long jump competition was already in progress. “I went to the run-up and asked to mark the world record with a handkerchief. I knew I had only one attempt, one chance. At 3:25PM I got going, soared into the air and landed at 8.13 meters: 15 centimeters further than the world’s best mark! The spectators noticed that I had flown well beyond the handkerchief, but they didn’t know what it meant. It wasn’t until it was announced that it had been a successful attempt at the world record that the cheering began.” - said Owens.

At 3:34PM the 220-yard dash was scheduled. Owens went to the starting line and tried to keep his body properly warmed up. He shot out of the holes like a slingshot again and when he finished he left his rivals 6 yards behind his magically healed back. “When it was announced that I had clocked 20.3 seconds, the world’s fastest time, the eyes of every spectator—and there were over 5,000 of them—were fixed on me. They knew they were witnessing a historic moment and every one of them wondered if I could now break the hurdles record.” - explained Owens.

He was approached by Coach Snyder again. He asked how he felt, and when Owens said he was fine, he sent him to the start of the 220-yard hurdles. Everything had worked out as planned up to that point, and the hurdles were no different. At 4:00PM, he crossed the finish line unrivaled. The fans held their breath, and when it was announced that 22.7 was a new world record the photographers and crowd rushed toward him with loud cheers. “Meanwhile, I felt an incredible pain again, which almost made me fall. This time, however, it wasn’t my back that hurt, but my legs. I got cramps to the point that they had to carry me upstairs. On the one hand, 45 minutes of competing is a short period of time, but the wait for the starts, the pressure and the running itself with maximum effort exhausted me completely.” - said Owens.

Jesse running hurdles.
Photo: internet

In the evening Owens - fearing the excited crowd - escaped from the locker room through the window and returned to Cleveland by car with his journalist friend. On Monday he showed up for training as usual, because a new mission “Milwaukee” began. He was to fight there for more regional laurels and a ticket to the NCAA national championships, which - as it turned out - he won in all four events in both 1935 and 1936.

For the American athlete - who a year later had a magical five days in Berlin - it was definitely the most important day in his life. In three quarters of an hour, he had achieved something historic and become a global icon. He knew that he had reached his zenith, that he had run faster and jumped further than anyone else in the world. “Would I have done as well without the injury? I don’t think I would have done any better. It allowed me to focus on just one thing and not worry about the crowd or my rivals. I reached the highest level of concentration.” - explained Owens.

And that was how this incredible story ended. A 22-year-old athlete with a sore back, starting without rest and without blocks on a track where only lane number 1 was occasionally leveled with a roller – because that was the standard at the time – and in footwear that now seems prehistoric, needed three quarters of an hour to break three world records and equal another. That is why it was Jesse Owens, not Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a basketball game in 1962, not Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali from their great boxing fight in 1971, not Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal from the Wimbledon tennis final in 2008, not the US hockey players, the authors of the “Miracle on Ice” at the Olympic Games in Lake Placid in 1980 or the Argentine-French football virtuosos during the World Cup final in Qatar in 2022 are associated with “the best 45 minutes in the history of sports.”