the day before Owens won his first gold medal. Hitler had
invited the first day’s winners to his box to be congratulated. The final event of the day, the high jump, lasted until
late in the afternoon, and many fans had left the stadium,
including Hitler. When the high jump winner turned out
to be Cornelius Johnson, a black American, a New York
Times headline read, “Hitler Ignores Negro Medalist.”
When Jesse Owens became the star of the Games, journalists changed the story, making Owens the victim.
The next day, the IOC president, Count BailletLatour, informed Hitler that he would either congratulate
all winners of Olympic events, or none. Hitler chose none.
There were no more personal congratulations after that,
except in private.
The American athletes had no reason to dislike
Hitler or the politics of Germany. In fact, at one point,
Jesse Owens and Adolf Hitler appeared to admire each
other. According to Owens, Hitler paid tribute to him
during the competitions. In a newspaper article, Owens
was quoted as saying, “When I passed the Chancellor, he
arose, waved his hand to me, and I waved back to him. I
think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man
of the hour in Germany.” Owens continued to deny that
Hitler ever snubbed him, even after he returned to the
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the world. Because of Leni Riefenstahl’s foresight, talent,
and passion, the 1936 Olympic Games have lived on.
In many ways, the nationalism created by the Berlin
Games has carried over to the 17 summer Olympic Games
that have followed, but to none more so than the 2008
Olympics in Beijing, China. By 2008, China had grown
from a nation of rural poverty to an economic powerhouse.
Like the Germans, the Chinese wanted to use the Olympic
Games to showcase their government and their way of
life to the world. This had been easier to accomplish in
Germany than in China, since human rights violations in
China were not as well hidden.
Another similarity between the two countries was their
attitudes toward the expense of hosting the Games. Neither had a budgetary ceiling. The Beijing Olympics were
by far the most expensive ever, but analyst