--- description: In 1955, LIFE photographed Olympian Jesse Owens—subject of the new biopic "Race"—on a trip as a goodwill ambassador to India. title: See Photos of Jesse Owens' Post-Olympic Life image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76bceb46cda99be0/69887ad33c163919a045bbd6/160127-jesse-owens-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Photos of Jesse Owens' Post-Olympic Life  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 19, 2016 1:00 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. Champion's form, with the body low and arms swinging is shown by Owens for Indian sprinters. Caption from LIFE. Champion's form, with the body low and arms swinging is shown by Owens for Indian sprinters.James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 19, 2016 1:00 PM CUT The movie [_Race_](http://time.com/4210347/race-jesse-owens-biopic/ "undefined"), opening Feb. 19, tells the story of Jesse Owens’ triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games—a victory that might never have happened had the track star not decided that his competing would be a statement against Hitler’s racist regime. But the movie only takes audiences through Owens’ return to the States, leaving his post-Olympic life on the table, another story for another day. That story is a difficult one. As the movie makes painfully clear, Owens’ athletic feats did not exempt him from the struggles wrought by institutionalized racism in his home country—and those struggles could not be erased by any number of gold medals. As he would later [say](http://www.biography.com/news/jesse-owens-biography-olympic-triumphs-olympic-sized-struggles-20892201 "undefined"), “After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my hand, or have me up to their suite. But no one was going to offer me a job.” He attempted to capitalize on commercial offers following his victory, but those quickly dried up. He bought a Negro League baseball team, but the league disbanded after a few short months. He worked as a gas station attendant, ran a dry cleaning business and even raced against horses—an endeavor he recognized might be perceived as degrading, but as he [explained](http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html "undefined"), “You can’t eat four gold medals.” In 1955, nearly two decades after the Olympics, the U.S. State Department dispatched Owens, then 42, on a goodwill tour of India. LIFE photographer James Burke documented the trip, during which the Olympian coached Indian athletes and gave speeches to schoolchildren. The magazine called him “a practically perfect envoy in a country which has violently exaggerated ideas about the treatment of Negroes in the U.S,” hinting at the political motives that may have been at play in the decision to send him overseas, and noted that Owens “generally charmed everybody in sight.” Even so, the trip did not erase financial problems at home. Owens’ life would be cut short by lung cancer in 1980\. His legacy, however, would persist. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Caption from LIFE. Champion's form, with the body low and arms swinging is shown by Owens for Indian sprinters. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jesse Owens coaches Indian athletes during his goodwill tour in 1955. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Athletes huddle around Owens in India, 1955. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Owens helps Indian athletes with their starting positions, 1955. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Owens demonstrates good form, 1955. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Owens employs a method to help Indian runners learn good form, 1955. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Attentive athletes look on as Owens coaches them during his 1955 trip to India. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Owens addresses schoolchildren as goodwill ambassador to India, 1955. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Arithmetic lesson by Owens interrupts the routine of a class of 6-year-olds at a Delhi school. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Appreciative audience of Delhi University students listens to Owens talk on sportsmanship. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. One end of cloth clenched between his teeth, Jesse Owens learns the trick of turban-wrapping in manner of the Sikhs as he visits New Delhi. James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4196391/jesse-owens-race-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4196391/jesse-owens-race-olympics/"},"headline":"See Photos of Jesse Owens' Post-Olympic Life","datePublished":"2016-02-19T13:00:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:32.138Z","description":"In 1955, LIFE photographed the track star on his trip as a goodwill ambassador to India","url":"https://time.com/4196391/jesse-owens-race-olympics/","keywords":["Sports topic","India","photography","LIFE Magazine","1955"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76bceb46cda99be0/69887ad33c163919a045bbd6/160127-jesse-owens-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76bceb46cda99be0/69887ad33c163919a045bbd6/160127-jesse-owens-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jesse Owens","caption":"Track star Jesse Owens in India, 1955","creditText":"James Burke—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4196391/jesse-owens-race-olympics/","name":"See Photos of Jesse Owens' Post-Olympic Life"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Race_Who_Is_Jesse","description":"Race_Who_Is_Jesse","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9iewpv36/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-09T14:34:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9iewpv36.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4196391/jesse-owens-race-olympics/","duration":"PT2M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4196391/jesse-owens-race-olympics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```