Soon after the Olympics, for lack of work, Jesse Owens began to race against horses. American Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage had his sticky fingers in Owens' December 1936 race against the horse Julio McCaw, as he was originally supposed to race against Conrado Rodriques, a sprinter from Cuba, until Brundage threatened him into retreating, writes The Guardian. In just a few months, an Olympic athlete had been forced into becoming novelty roadside entertainment to make ends meet.
When his businesses or jobs failed over the next 16 years, Owens just got back on the road, continuing to race horses, trains, and even strongman Joe Louis, whom he let win their race. It was quite the juxtaposition — equally marketed as an Olympic athlete while being required to perform like a sideshow entertainer. "It took some real mental gymnastics for Jesse to rationalise this awful truth," said his daughter, Marlene Rankin. "It seems ridiculous now when you consider the multi-million deals that await any athlete who wins the Olympic 100m gold. But America was very different in 1936."
Owens spoke of how his time on the road affected his family, saying: "I saw it happening and I struggled to change it, to break the bonds that held me away from home week after week, month after month, and reunite with the four human beings that mattered most to me. Like a man caught in quicksand, the harder I struggled the deeper I sank."
His daughters accepted their father's absence then, only seeing later that he had little choice despite his anger. Rankin said, "On the one hand Jesse was being touted as this legend who had beaten Hitler. Yet he was continually reminded he was not so special. He was still black."
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