e, and set a new Olympic and World record to go along with it.The final and last event that Owens’s was going to compete in was the 400-meter relay. The track was 400 meters around, so every 100 meters they would pass the baton. Owens was the leadoff man because of his ability to run the turns. Metcalfe was waiting for Owens to pass him the baton. His powerful, long legs increased the Americans’ lead. Draper was next, he carried the baton around the curve, and Wykoff streaked first across the finish line. The Americans set a world-record time of 39.8 seconds, and finished about 15 yards in front of everyone. The relay team wanted Owens to stand on the top step of the winners’ platform. But Owens demanded that Metcalfe have the honor. Three times before, Metcalfe had barely missed winning a gold medal. Now Owens wanted Metcalfe to enjoy this moment. After you won a medal, you stand on the platform. Each medallist wore a laurel wreath (a symbol of victory) around his head. Winners received their gold, silver, or bronze medals. They were also given a foot-high live oak tree. Owens received four of these, and left one of them to be planted at Ohio State, where he spent his college years. He gave one to his mother, one to Cleveland’s East Technical High School, where he spent his High school years, and kept one for himself. The 1936 Berlin games were the most controversial Olympics. The IOC voted in 1931 to hold the games in Berlin, this was before the IOC members could have known the Nazi movement would soon control the country. When it became known in the early 1930s that under the rule of the Nazis, German Jewish athletes were being barred from the 1936 German team. Since they violated the Olympic charter, man Americans demanded a boycott of the 1936 games. The boycott movement failed because German officials convinced Avery Brundage, head of the United States Olympic committee at the time, that Jewish athletes ...
