Nicknamed "JC" when he was young or later "The Buckeye Bullet", James Cleveland Owens or Jesse Owens is the best sprinter of the interwar years. First black sportsman of international renown, he inflicted a real snub on racism in Berlin in 1936 by winning 4 gold medals! 4 gold medals, a feat that only Carl Lewis would later repeat by winning the same events as Owens in Los Angeles (100 metres, long jump, 200 meters and 4 X 100 meters).

At the stadium in 1936, he befriended the German athlete Luz Long, who was the long jump favourite. Luz Long defeated, accompanied Owens on his lap to celebrate the American's victory. The last letter that Luz Long sent to Owens shortly before his death, asking him to talk to his son, is a wonderful testimony of their relationship... and much more: "I have the feeling that this will be my last letter, so when you return to Germany, once the war is over, go see my son and tell him who his father was, please, Jesse, tell him how two men on this earth can be friends".