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Carl Ludwig Long, better known as “Luz†Long, was a German athlete born on April 27, 1913 in Leipzig. He began studying law at the university of that same city, where he began practicing athletics.
Luz Long, with blonde hair, blue eyes, an athletic body and a height of 1.84 m, perfectly represented the Aryan supremacist image. Which, added to his aspirations for a medal, made him a standard of German values, one of Adolf Hitler's “pretty boys†with whom to show the world that supposed Aryan supremacy.
Luz Long
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, qualification for the final in the long jump could not have started in a better way for Luz Long and for German supremacist ideals. Luz managed to break the Olympic record with his jump, while the American Jesse Owens (born Sept. 13, 1912) had already committed two nulls, meaning a null plus disqualification. This is where the beautiful story of friendship that faced an entire regime began.
J. Owens
Thus, Luz advised Jesse not to risk so much in the hunt, since his jumps were much higher than the 7.15 required to advance to the final. Jesse listened to his partner, and passed without problems to the final, which was held the next day.
L. Long & J. Owens
In the grand final, Luz made his personal best with 7.87 meters, but Jesse once again surpassed him with a jump of 8.06 meters, thus obtaining the gold and the Olympic record. Luz Long, once again showing Olympic values, was the first to come to congratulate Owens, embracing each other in a hug, and doing the lap of honor together. Something that undoubtedly did not please Hitler or his compatriots since Hitler jumped up and left the stadium.
Adolf Hitler and his entourage during the 1936 Olympic Games
Jesse Owens represented a liberal state, Luz Long a totalitarian state; His embrace, in full competition, represented humanity.
Luz continued competing for a few more years, later dedicating himself to the profession he had studied, a lawyer, which he practiced until the WW2 broke out. As a general rule, professional athletes and sportsmen were not obliged to enlist, but surely in retaliation for what happened in Berlin, he was sent to the Sicilian front, where he was wounded in combat and died in 1943 in a British hospital.
“We corresponded regularly until Hitler invaded Poland. Then the letters stopped. After Luz died in the war, I began to correspond with her son and thus our friendship was preserved,†Jesse recalled of Long's abrupt end. In his last letter Luz asked Owens to contact his son Karl: “I want you to tell him how things were in other times, when war did not separate us; I mean, let him know how different things can be between men,†he concluded.
After the end of the war and fulfilling Luz's wishes, Jesse Owens traveled to Germany to meet his family and talk to his son about his father. Jesse even became the best man at Luz Long's son's wedding.
Posthumously, the International Olympic Committee awarded Carl Ludwig Long the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for his Olympic spirit and sportsmanship, making him the first person to be awarded this title.
Owens died of lung cancer in March 1980, at the age of 66. But the friendship between the two families still continues.
Luz Long, with blonde hair, blue eyes, an athletic body and a height of 1.84 m, perfectly represented the Aryan supremacist image. Which, added to his aspirations for a medal, made him a standard of German values, one of Adolf Hitler's “pretty boys†with whom to show the world that supposed Aryan supremacy.
Luz Long
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, qualification for the final in the long jump could not have started in a better way for Luz Long and for German supremacist ideals. Luz managed to break the Olympic record with his jump, while the American Jesse Owens (born Sept. 13, 1912) had already committed two nulls, meaning a null plus disqualification. This is where the beautiful story of friendship that faced an entire regime began.
J. Owens
Thus, Luz advised Jesse not to risk so much in the hunt, since his jumps were much higher than the 7.15 required to advance to the final. Jesse listened to his partner, and passed without problems to the final, which was held the next day.
L. Long & J. Owens
In the grand final, Luz made his personal best with 7.87 meters, but Jesse once again surpassed him with a jump of 8.06 meters, thus obtaining the gold and the Olympic record. Luz Long, once again showing Olympic values, was the first to come to congratulate Owens, embracing each other in a hug, and doing the lap of honor together. Something that undoubtedly did not please Hitler or his compatriots since Hitler jumped up and left the stadium.
Adolf Hitler and his entourage during the 1936 Olympic Games
Jesse Owens represented a liberal state, Luz Long a totalitarian state; His embrace, in full competition, represented humanity.
Luz continued competing for a few more years, later dedicating himself to the profession he had studied, a lawyer, which he practiced until the WW2 broke out. As a general rule, professional athletes and sportsmen were not obliged to enlist, but surely in retaliation for what happened in Berlin, he was sent to the Sicilian front, where he was wounded in combat and died in 1943 in a British hospital.
“We corresponded regularly until Hitler invaded Poland. Then the letters stopped. After Luz died in the war, I began to correspond with her son and thus our friendship was preserved,†Jesse recalled of Long's abrupt end. In his last letter Luz asked Owens to contact his son Karl: “I want you to tell him how things were in other times, when war did not separate us; I mean, let him know how different things can be between men,†he concluded.
After the end of the war and fulfilling Luz's wishes, Jesse Owens traveled to Germany to meet his family and talk to his son about his father. Jesse even became the best man at Luz Long's son's wedding.
Posthumously, the International Olympic Committee awarded Carl Ludwig Long the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for his Olympic spirit and sportsmanship, making him the first person to be awarded this title.
Owens died of lung cancer in March 1980, at the age of 66. But the friendship between the two families still continues.
