kindly.” It was tradition for the leader of the host country to shake the winner’s hand but Hitler, as we all learn in our history lessons, refused. “Do you really think I’d be willing to be photographed shaking hands with a Negro?” he said. Owens’ next event was the broad jump. He almost didn’t make it through the first round but before his last attempt, his main rival, German Lutz Long, gave him some advice about his take off and this resulted in a jump that took him successfully through to the next round. After that, the two rivals battled – Owens with his unique style of landing and then doing a little jump forward onto his hands rather than falling backwards as is more common for jumpers. Owens eventually won the event, setting a new world record and the two rivals, Owens and Lutz, after the awards ceremony, walked arm in arm around the stadium (no doubt at the disgust of Hitler). Owens also won the 200m, setting another new world record! He had definitely proved his astonishing talent. However, the end of the Games was tinged with some sadness as two of the original US relay team were told that they weren’t allowed to run and Owens and Metcalfe took their places. They won the race, but it transpired that the two who were due to run, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoler, were replaced under the orders of Hitler, because they were Jewish. This was upsetting for the whole team, particularly the two men who had trained long and hard to represent their country and were denied the opportunity at the last moment. Still, Jesse Owens felt triumphant and whilst he’d been competing successfully, stories of offers from promoters in the States seemed to suggest that he would be worth a lot of money on his return. At the close of the Games, Avery Bundage was keen for team to tour to make some money and they visited various places, staying in very basic accommodation and getting little food or sleep. Owens was tired and missed his wife and made the decision to leave the tour in London and travel back to the States. This did not please Bundage and he warned Owens not to leave. Usually an amicable, compliant man, Owens chose to go against Bundages’ wishes and headed home. Soon after his return, Owens discovered that Bundage hadn’t been misleading
him when he made his threat. Owens had been stripped of his Amateur Athletics standing and was suspended from competition. Another kick in the teeth was his reception in America. For a few moments only, he was viewed as a hero, enjoying some brief notoriety and waving to fans from a car as he was driven through the streets. The truth soon established itself however: there were no lucrative contracts for him – none of the promotional offers that he had been promised whilst he was in Germany ever materialized. In fact, on his first night back in America he was denied several hotel rooms due to the colour of his skin until eventually one hotel allowed him to stay as long as he used the service entrance. Owens had a family to support. He had a variety of jobs, including owning a dry cleaners. At a very low
Barefoot Running Magazine
point, Owens agreed to race horses, drawing in the crowds and earning a bit of money from that. It must have been quite humiliating for him but his daughter, Beverley Owens Prather, said this: “A lot of people said he wasn’t dignifying himself. But when you have a family to feed and you have no job then you do what you have to do to feed your family as long as it’s honest”. This was the position of the man who had proudly won four gold medals for his country. How was he repaid? Shockingly, he was eventually sued by the government for bad taxes and he declared bankruptcy. In the mid 1950s, things finally took a turn for the better. In the midst of the Cold War, Jesse Owens was approached to become a Good Will Ambassador for the United States, given the task of endorsing and promoting his country. He agreed,
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