World sporting legends and icons of the fight against racism, Jesse Owens and Cassius Clay, meet at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
- Postcard from the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy, with autographs from Cassius Clay, Jesse Owens and other international athletes who participated in the 1960 Olympics.
- It belonged to a French journalist who died in 2011.
- 13.3 cm x 8.5 cm.
- Average condition, right edge a little damaged.
- Unique piece.
"Muhammad Ali and Jesse Owens knew each other. They weren't close friends, but they respected each other a lot because of their successes. Jesse Owens was closer to Joe Louis because they were the same age," says Marlene Owens Rankin, Jesse Owens' daughter, with whom we spoke about this very rare document, since the two legendary athletes had few opportunities to meet.
In 1960, Cassius Clay (1942 - 2016) won the gold medal in wrestling at the Olympics and, with his talent and charisma, became a worldwide celebrity at just 18 years old, beginning an incredible career as a champion. In the same year, Jesse Owens (1913 - 1980), who was 47 years old, had retired from athletics, publicly represented large American companies and developed a social program for children and teenagers. The two liked each other, especially because they had a lot in common: they were both famous athletes, black and victims of racism in their own country.
Throughout his life, in his biography or in interviews, Jesse Owens recounted his humiliating return to the United States in 1936, despite the four gold medals he had won in front of Hitler at the Berlin Olympics:
“Joe Louis and I were the first black athletes allowed to represent America,” Owens said, “but neither of us were allowed to sign endorsement deals because the Southerners would not have bought such advertised products. That was the social stigma we were subjected to.
When I returned from the Olympics to my American homeland, after all the stories about Hitler, how he had despised me, I still had to sit in the back. I couldn't live where I wanted... I wasn't actually invited to shake Hitler's hand, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake the hand of the American president either.
In 1960, it was young Cassius Clay's turn to return to the United States after the Olympics and, despite his recent fame due to a gold medal, face racism, just like Jesse Owens twenty-five years earlier. It was at this time that he decided to become a Muslim, change his name to Muhammad Ali, meet pastor Martin Luther King and begin to actively participate in the fight for black rights.
We have no record of other documents signed by Cassius Clay and Jesse Owens at this special moment in the career of the future Mohamed Ali. This is therefore most likely a unique piece of history.
