Jesse Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in the town of Oakville, Alabama, but he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was nine. He was actually named James Cleveland Owens and nicknamed J.C. — but in Ohio, one of his teachers couldn't understand his thick Southern accent. She thought he called himself Jesse. It stuck.
His athletic career began at East Technical High School. He won three track and field events while competing in the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships. He went on to race for Ohio State University and was later nicknamed "The Buckeye Bullet," as Ohio is known as the Buckeye State. While at university, he matched one world record in the 100-yard dash and broke three others: the long jump, the 220-yard dash, and the 220-yard low hurdles. Owens was used to winning. He competed in 42 different collegiate events in 1935 and won all of them.
Owens was a star track performer in college, but he also faced major challenges. His school did not offer scholarships for track and field, as the sport was not as well respected back then, so Owens had to work a series of jobs throughout college to pay for his tuition.

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