Paying our respects to the Olympic and athletics legend during a visit to Cleveland this week.

The statue, erected in 1982, sits at the southwest corner of Fort Huntington Park at the intersection of W. 3rd Street and W. Lakeside Avenue. The grandson of a slave, Owens was born in Alabama and raised in Cleveland, moving there when he was nine as part of The Great Migration, to escape the racial segregation of the south. Owens also received four saplings at the 1936 Olympic Games, one for each of his four gold medals. One of the trees is still alive and well, looming large at East Technical High School, his alma mater, where he set his first world record in the 100 yard dash while still a student.

Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 07-May-2026.