The grandchildren of Olympic legend Jesse Owens planted two oak saplings in a Zurich park ahead of the Wanda Diamond League Final on Tuesday, honouring both their grandfather’s legacy and the next generation of world-changing athletes.
The trees were planted as part of the 2025 Jesse Owens Rising Star Award, which is presented by the Owens family and the Jesse Owens Foundation each year at the final of the Wanda Diamond League, athletics’ premier one-day series.
It is awarded to one male and one female winner aged 23 or under, the same age Owens was when he won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, a sporting achievement which went unmatched for half a century and served as a powerful rebuke to the racist ideology of Nazi Germany.
Each winner also has an oak tree planted in their honour, in reference to Owens’ success at the Berlin Olympics.
Alongside their gold medals, each Olympic champion at the 1936 Games received an oak sapling from the German organising committee.
Owens received four saplings, one of which he planted in the grounds of the James Rhodes Ford High School, where his sporting career had begun.
A descendant of that oak tree was also planted outside the Jesse Owens Museum in Oakville, Alabama.
This year’s trees were planted in the Zurich Airport park, in collaboration with The Circle.
“We are here because we want to honour Jesse Owens and his legacy, as well as the passing of the baton to younger athletes,” said Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny.
Owens’ granddaughter Gina Hemphill-Strachan said there was a “real symbolism” to the planting of the trees.
“The oak trees commemorate Grandad’s legacy and his defiance and perseverance against many things,” said Owens’ granddaughter Gina Hemphill-Strachan.
“The trees stand as a testament to the impact sport brings to cultural communities and the environment. They are a living monument.”
The two trees planted in Zurich are Quercus robur – the same species Owens received in 1936 – and were transported from Berlin ahead of the Wanda Diamond League Final.
They were planted in a spot selected by the park’s head forester Urs Kempf, who said they could live “up to 800 years”.
This year’s Jesse Owens Rising Star Awards will be presented at the Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday, the second day of the Wanda Diamond League Final.
