This Day In Black Sports History: Jesse Owens breaks first world record

March 9, 1935 -Jesse Owens of Ohio State University arrived on the national stage in this track meet by breaking a sprint record that had stood for seven years. From this moment on, the 21-year-old Owens dominated track and field, his career reaching its zenith when he won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Owens raced to a spectacular world record in the finals of the 60-yard dash in the twenty-fifth annual Western Conference indoor track and field meet. His time was 6.1 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than the world mark set by Loren Murchison in 1928.

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