Triumph: Jesse Owens And Hitler's Olympics

‘In only a few German cities may Jews use public athletic fields. To build and maintain their own grounds is almost impossible because of the cost. Consequently, many Jewish sportsmen have been forced to play in the country fields and pastures where no facilities are available for many contests such as track events…’

Hans Woellke—who had won the gold medal in the shot put, the first Olympic gold medal ever won by a German man in track and field—was summoned to the Führer’s box. Riefenstahl entered the box too, where she made small talk with Hitler and Göring. Soon Hitler was also congratulating Tilly Fleischer, who, shortly after Woellke’s victory in the shot put, gave Germany its second track-and-field gold medal of the day (and ever), in the javelin. A pretty blonde who had won the bronze medal in Los Angeles, Fleischer so impressed Hitler that he insisted that they be photographed together. Woellke and Fleischer “have been proclaimed national hero and heroine and were welcomed by Hitler with impressive fervor,” Grantland Rice observed as the stadium erupted in cheers and heils for its champions. “I have never seen such a demonstration anywhere at any time before. The outbreak of national feeling is beyond belief.”

I see the sun breaking through the clouds when I realize that millions of Americans will recognize now that what I and the boys of my race are trying to do is attempted for the glory of our country and our countrymen. Maybe more people will now realize that the Negro is trying to do his full part as an American citizen.”