THE SIDELINES : Bush Hails ‘Hero’ Jesse Owens

The late Jesse Owens, whose performance at the 1936 Olympics put the lie to Adolf Hitler’s boasts of racial superiority, picked up a fifth gold medal today for “humanitarian contributions in the race of life.”

President Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal to his widow, Ruth Owens, in a ceremony at the White House also attended by three daughters and teammates of the track legend.

This Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of Owens’ death at age 66.

Bush called Owens, who was black, an “Olympic hero and an American hero every day of his life . . . born with the gift of burning speed.”

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Owens captured four gold medals--in the broad jump, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter relay.

“The Berlin Games were to be the showcase of Hitler’s theories on the superiority of the master race until this 23-year-old kid” showed up, Bush said. “It was an unrivaled athletic triumph. But more than that, it really was a triumph for all humanity.”