Jesse Owens 1913- 1980

1932: Jesse Owens equalling the world record for the 100 yard dash while still a high school student Photograph: New York Times /Getty

1935: Owens fills up a car at a petrol station. He worked as a petrol pump attendant to help finance his studies at Ohio State University Photograph: New York Times/Getty

1935: Owens was a spectacular athlete for Ohio State Photograph: Bettmann /Corbis

1935: Legendary boxer and fellow African American sporting hero, Joe Louis poses with Owens Photograph: Corbis

1936: Owens winning the 220 yard hurdles whilst at Ohio State Photograph: Bettmann /Corbis

1936: Practising his long jump aboard the S.S. Manhattan while travelling to Germany for the Berlin Olympics Photograph: Joe Caneva /AP

1936: Owens starts a sprint race at the Berlin Olympics Photograph: Hulton Archive /Getty

1936: Setting a new Olympic record to win his elimination heat of the 200 metres in Berlin Photograph: AP

1936: Owens salutes during the presentation of his gold medal for the long jump. Germany's Lutz Long came second and Naoto Tajima of Japan got the bronze medal Photograph: AP

1936: Jesse Owens soars through the air to break the Olympic long jump record and win the gold medal Photograph: Corbis

1936: A snappily dressed Jesse Owens makes a dash for a train at London's Waterloo station. He was to join the Queen Mary en route for New York Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty

1936: Owens and his fellow Olympians were honoured with a ticker tape parade down Broadway, New York upon their return from Europe Photograph: AP

1954: Owens at his drive through cleaning shop which he co-owned Photograph: Corbis

1958: Vice President Richard Nixon meets Jesse Owens who was running for county commissioner for Chicago Photograph: Corbis