Olympic Wednesday takes on one of the more upsetting Summer Games as we look at 1936 Berlin. We don’t need to rehash here; it’s been done (“… many protests against the Olympics being held in Berlin in 1936. The Americans came the closest to boycotting in protest although the British and French both considered …”). Overall, almost 4,500 athletes from 49 nations competed in 149 events across 28 different disciplines.

With 101 overall medals (38G, 31S, 32B), the host nation topped the table, with the United States (24G, 21S, 12B) and Italy (9G, 13S, 5B) coming in second and third, respectively. There’s something to be observed in that order of merit, for sure. Overall, 12 nations earned double-digit medal counts, demonstrating a widespread focus on the Olympics as a chance to proclaim some sort of athletic prowess before WWII.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Jesse Owens, United States

This award serves dual purpose: American track & field star Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals, the most of any athlete at these Games, and of course, he was a symbolic rebuke to the political garbage in Germany at the time. A couple of German men won 3 golds each and other medals as well to surpass Owens’ medal count, but again, he topped everyone in gold medals (100m, 200m, long jump, 4x100m relay). Impressive.

No one would match Owens’ feat until 1984, of course, in terms of the specific golds in the specific events.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Rie Mastenbroek, The Netherlands

At just 17 years of age, Dutch swimmer Rie Mastenbroek won 3 gold medals (100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay) and 1 silver medal (100m backstroke) to be the top female athlete of the Olympiad. As a result, she earned the nicknamed the “Empress of Berlin.” Only 1 other female athlete even won 2 medals at these Games, so Mastenbroek really didn’t have a lot of competition for these honors.

Most Outstanding Male Team: American Diving

Certainly one of the most impressive performances in Olympic history, the United States men won 5 of a possible 6 medals in the diving events: 2 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze. Marshall Wayne won gold in the platform event and silver in the springboard event to spearhead the group’s collective effort.

Most Outstanding Female Team: American Diving

The American women matched their male counterparts, winning the same combination of medals in the 2 diving events: 2 golds, 2 silvers, 1 bronze. Dorothy Poynton-Hill won gold in the platform and bronze in the springboard to lead the U.S. women to this special designation.