After growing up in a small Alabama hamlet, Owens moved to Cleveland in junior high school where a coach discovered and nurtured his athletic talent. He went on to Ohio State University before competing in the 1936 summer games in Berlin. Easily wooed by the limelight, Owens easily fell prey to ... more

After growing up in a small Alabama hamlet, Owens moved to Cleveland in junior high school where a coach discovered and nurtured his athletic talent. He went on to Ohio State University before competing in the 1936 summer games in Berlin. Easily wooed by the limelight, Owens easily fell prey to get-rich-quick offers and grandiose schemes. Owens was at his best on the track or in the limelight. He had an intrinsic sense of saying what others wanted to hear. He could quickly size up almost any audience and say just the right thing. Owens maintained separate lives. Professionally, he traveled frequently, enjoyed extramarital companionship, and lived lavishly and beyond his means. He paid a price for this lifestyle in his personal life, because he struggled both financially and in his family relationships.