In the 1930's, American track star Jesse Owens used to race against horses and dogs to earn a living.
Jesse Owens Raced Horses for Money After Olympic Glory
Jesse Owens returned from the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a national hero, having demolished Hitler's Aryan supremacy narrative with four gold medals. But within months, the ticker-tape parades ended, commercial offers dried up, and Owens faced a harsh reality: Olympic glory didn't pay the bills.
By December 1936—just four months after his historic triumph—Owens was racing a thoroughbred horse at Tropical Park in Florida. He ran 100 yards in 9.9 seconds, finishing 20 yards ahead of the horse (which had a 40-yard head start). He earned $2,000 for the spectacle.
The Economics of Humiliation
The Amateur Athletic Union had permanently banned Owens from amateur competition after he skipped some post-Olympic exhibition meets. With no professional track circuit and few opportunities for Black athletes in 1930s America, Owens did what he had to do. He raced horses across the country—Cuba, Idaho, North Dakota, anywhere that would pay. He also competed against dogs, motorcycles, and cars.
The trick with horses, Owens later revealed, was choosing high-strung Thoroughbreds. The starter's pistol would spook them, giving him a crucial advantage off the line. Over 100 yards, Owens could usually win before the horse hit full stride.
"You Can't Eat Four Gold Medals"
When critics called the exhibitions degrading, Owens had a simple response: "People say it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals."
Between races, he worked as a gas station attendant and playground janitor. He challenged local sprinters at county fairs, giving them 10-20 yard head starts before beating them handily. Anything to make money.
A Decade of Survival
The animal races continued through the mid-1940s. In 1945, he won against a horse in Winnipeg but lost to one in Bismarck, North Dakota. In 1946, he toured with the Portland Rosebuds baseball team, racing horses between doubleheader games to entertain crowds at Negro League ballparks.
By the late 1940s, Owens finally found steadier work as a public speaker and corporate spokesman. He became a powerful voice on race relations and athletic achievement, though he remained financially unstable for years. The man who had proven racial equality on the world's biggest stage spent a decade proving he could outrun farm animals just to survive.
It wasn't until decades later that Olympic athletes could capitalize on their fame without losing amateur status. Owens's post-Olympic struggles highlight how much has changed—and how recently.