Update: see my expanded article about Owens' Winnipeg visits in the Winnipeg Free Press.
Winnipeg's Osborne Stadium played host to Jesse Owens, one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time, two times in the 1940s.
Owens rose to fame in the world of track and field as a student at Ohio State University. At the 1935 Big Ten Track and Field Championships he set five, and tied a sixth, world record in a period of just 45 minutes, (source).
His crowning achievement was the 1936 Olympic Games where he won four gold medals in the 100-metres, 200-metres, 400-metre relay, and long jump. It was a display unmatched until Carl Lewis at 1984's (partially boycotted) Olympic Games.
To remain active in amateur sports athletes could not be paid a salary or for appearances or promotions. Owens retired months after the 1936 games so that he could earn some money.
Appearances with travelling Negro baseball league teams in the 1940s was a way to pay the bills. He helped fill the stands and got a cut of the gate.
August 21, 1944, Winnipeg Tribune (source)
Owens' first visit to Winnipeg was from August 21 - 23, 1944. He appeared each evening during a three game series between the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Chicago Bombers of the fledgling United States (Negro) Baseball League, (here are their 1945 lineups.)
Each evening, Owens spoke to the crowd for about ten minutes then hosted a series of races against the fastest players from the baseball teams. In one race he spotted them a large head start before passing them, in another he raced hurdles while the others ran on flat ground.
Top: Palmer in first, Gibb third. Winnipeg Tribune (source)
Bottom: Headline, August 18, 1944, Winnipeg Free Press
On the weekend prior to the Owens visit the RCAF hosted a track and field meet at Sargent Park. It bought together the best athletes serving in the Forces stationed in Manitoba, including thousands from around the world here as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
The highlight of the meet was the 100-yard race which was opened up to the best runners in the province. It was a showdown between two athletes-turned-soldiers. One was Winnipeg's own provincial championship holder Sandy Gibb of the Canadian Army, the other was sprinter Ken Palmer of the Australian Air Force. Palmer won the thrilling race. Gibb placed third.
Thanks to a keen-eyed promoter, both local boy Gibb and Palmer were worked into Owens' program at Osborne Stadium.
On Monday August 21, Owens raced Sandy Gibb and his older brothers Andy and Tom, also runners, in handicapped race. Sandy was given a three yard lead while his brothers got six. Sandy won.
The following night, Sandy Gibb and Ken Palmer were reunited in a 100-yard race with Owens. As expected, the Olympian won in a time of 10.2 seconds with Gibb coming in a close second.
July 12, 1945, Winnipeg Tribune
Owens returned to Winnipeg the following summer. This time it was for a three-game series between the Detroit Giants and Philadelphia Hilldales of the same United States (Negro) Baseball League.
Despite the promoter's attempt to bill them as two top teams, most reviews agreed that the quality of play was substandard. it didn't matter, though, as it was Owens who most came to see.
July 13, 1945, Winnipeg Tribune (source)
Owens' show was similar to that of his 1944 visit, with the exception of the the marquee race. He DID race a local track star, but this one had four legs. Early Beck was a retired racehorse from Southwood Stables.
Free Press sports columnist Maurice Smith wrote that it was "with regret" that he learned that this visit would involve racing a horse. Tribune sports writer Tony Allen summed up the majority sentiment in a July 13, 1945 column: "...it's always a treat to see Owens run, with or without suitable opposition." (For the record, horse beat man two of the three nights.)
Smith interviewed Owens during both of his visits. He wrote in his Free Press column of July 13, 1945: "Jesse is the type of chap that if you have been fortunate enough to meet and talk with him you immediately regard him as a friend. There is no side with him. He is plain Jesse Owens. Not Jesse Owens, Olympic champion."
Jesse Owens died in 1980 of lung cancer. In January 2013, Ohio State University opened a new exhibit to celebrate the centenary of his birth.
Related:
Jesse Owens Olympic.org
Jesse Owens. A Lasting Legacy Ohio State University
Osborne Stadium Reconstructing Winnipeg (Video)
For more of my blog posts celebrating the history of Manitoba's Black community.
2 comments:
Fascinating!
My Dad was there to see his hero Jesse Owen's when he raced the horse. He talked very fondly of him as my Dad was a track star himself. John Allan R.I.P.
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