As Dillard told it: “Jesse looked down from an open car and said, ‘Hi, boys.’ I ran home. When Dillard failed to make the high school team as a sprinter, Owens urged him to become a hurdler. After high school came 32 months in the Army during World War II. When the war had ended, Dillard ran in an Army track meet and won four events. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., a fascinated spectator, called him “the best goddamn athlete I’ve ever seen.”After the Army, Dillard entered Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

Source: New York Times November 17, 2019 18:00 UTC