Jesse Owens and Lutz Long
The long jump event of 1936 Berlin
Olympics on August 4 was German star athlete Lutz Long's first
event against Jesse Owens of USA.
Long qualified easily, setting an Olympic record during the
preliminary round. In contrast, Owens fouled on his first two
jumps. Knowing that he needed to clear the third jump in order to
advance for the finals in the afternoon, Owens sat on the field,
dejected.
It took a lot of
courage for
him to befriend
me in front
of Hitler
According to Owens, Long came to him and suggested he jump from a
spot several inches behind the line. Since Owens
routinely jumped much further than the required 7.15m, he
would safely advance to the next round without risking another
foul.
On his final jump, Owens was very calm and jumped with about half a
foot of clearance. He went on to win the gold medal with 8.06m,
besting Long's own record of 7.87m. Long was the first to
congratulate Owens, they posed together for photos and walked
arm-in-arm to the dressing room.
Jesse Owens was later quoted, "It took a lot of courage for him to
befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals
and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four
carat friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment."
Lutz Long was posthumously awarded the "Pierre de Coubertin" medal
or True Spirit of Sportsmanship medal.