The Summer Olympic Games: Heroes, Hope, and Hostility

Stir your memories of Olympics past with these Post articles that highlight the hope, hard work, and often controversy that surround an athlete’s participation in the Olympic Games.

Scandal and the Olympics

By Roger Kahn

Originally published October 10, 1964

Much like today, the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 were mired in controversy, with questions of national unity and political allegiances overshadowing the athletics.

Jesse Owens Remembers the 1936 Berlin Games

By Jesse Owens

Originally published January 1, 1976

Forty years after his historic showing in Germany, the track star reflects on the 1936 Olympic Games, his gold-medal effort, and an unlikely friendship that formed along the way.

California Gold Prospects: Olympic Hopefuls in 1983

By S. Lamar Wade

Originally published July 1, 1983

A year before the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the Post highlighted a group of American Olympic hopefuls, some of whom went on to earn worldwide fame.