Shortly after he carried off three Olympic titles and ran on the victorious U. S, sprint relay team at Berlin, Owens was suspended by the A. A. U. for dodging post-Olympic exhibitions in Sweden. That was September, 1936.
"This is a greater surprise than the original ban," Owens grinned, "Td just about given up hope."
Since his suspension, the former Ohio State star in turn has competed against a race horse in Havana, stumped for Republicans during the last Presidential campaign, played saxophone in his own orchestra, and toured with his basketball team.
"That's a tough life, especially playing in the band," Jesse said. "Naturally I'm anxious to get back into amateur track. I love competition."
Can he still run?
After a long layoff, Owens stepped into a track at Drake University in Des Monies, La., last Dec. 30 and "ran 50 yards in 54 seconds."
"I had official timers, too. That 54 was only two-tenths slower than my record and I had to slow up some to keep from banging into a wall I think I could tie my old mark with a little training. "Since I left my band two months ago, I've been keeping regular hours and seem to be in good shape already."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.