Luz Long

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Olympic medalist
Center
Naoto Tajima, Jesse Owens, Luz Long
Medal record
Pierre de Coubertin medal Posthumous
Men's Athletics
Silver 1936 Berlin Long jump

Dr. Carl Ludwig "Lu(t)z" Long (27 April 1913 in Leipzig – 13 July 1943 in San Pietro Clarenza) was a German Olympic athlete, notable for winning Silver at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for giving advice to his competitor, Jesse Owens, who went on to win the gold medal for the broad jump (now referred to as the long jump) as a result of Long's advice.[1] For his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal. Long died in a British-controlled military hospital following the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943.

Contents

[edit] 1936 Olympic Games

The 19 year old, 1.84m tall blond Long had finished third in the 1934 European Championships in Athletics with 7.25m. The long jump on August 4 was Long's first event against Owens, and Long met his expectations by 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.

According to Owens, Long went to him and told him to try and jump from a spot several inches behind the line. Since Owens routinely made distances far greater than the minimum of 7.15m required to advance, Long surmised that Owens would be able to safely advance to the next round without risking another foul while trying to push for a greater distance.

On his final jump, Owens was very calm and jumped with about half a foot of clearance, clearing his third attempt. Owens went on to win the gold medal in the long jump with 8.06m while 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.

Two days later, Long finished 10th in the triple jump. He went on finish third in the 1938 European Championships in Athletics with 7.56m.

Long, who had joined the Leipziger Sport Club[2] in 1926, studied law at the University of Leipzig. Dr.[3] Carl-Ludwig Long worked as a lawyer in Hamburg[4] before the war broke out. Roads near sports facilities in his home town Leipzig[5], and in the Munich Olympia Park[6] of 1972 are named after him. His medal, photos, and documents were donated[7] to the Sportmuseum Leipzig.[8]

He appeared as himself in Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia - Fest der Völker.[9]

[edit] Quotations

  • "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 karat friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment." —Jesse Owens on being advised and congratulated by Luz Long at the 1936 Summer Olympics.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Owens pierced a myth" on ESPN.com
  2. ^ Leipzig Tourist service [1]
  3. ^ Luz-Long-Ufer - Dr. Luz Long (1913-1944). Mehrmaliger Deutscher Meister und Europarekordinhber bei den Olympischen Spielen 1936 in Berlin. Im zweiten Weltkrieg in Italien gefallen.[2]
  4. ^ 27. April 1913: Geburtstag Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long - Für den Leipziger Sportclub holte er in den Zwanziger- und Dreißigerjahren alle wichtigen Leichtathletiktitel. In Leipzig ist heute eine Straße nach ihm benannt. Als deutsche Hoffnung ging Carl Ludwig - genannt Luz - Long 1936 bei den Olympischen Spielen in Berlin an den Start. Hitler setzte auf den großen, blonden, blauäugigen Weitspringer. Und wirklich: Luz Long sprang Europarekord und holte die Silbermedaille - hinter Jesse Owens. Der schwarze US-Amerikaner gewann vier Goldmedaillen. Die beiden Sportler freundeten sich an, sehr zum Missfallen des NS-Regimes. Nach den Spielen wurde Luz Long Jurist und ließ sich in Hamburg nieder. Später wurde er eingezogen und fiel im Juli 1943 - mit nur 30 Jahren - auf Sizilien. - by Ariane Hoffmann, at wdr.de
  5. ^ Long, Carl-Ludwig (1913-1943), Jurist und Sportler (Weitspringen), seit 2001 Luz-Long-Weg [3]
  6. ^ Luz-Long-Ufer - Dr. Luz Long (1913-1944). Mehrmaliger Deutscher Meister und Europarekordinhber bei den Olympischen Spielen 1936 in Berlin. Im zweiten Weltkrieg in Italien gefallen.[4]
  7. ^ Konvolut Urkunden, Fotografien, Zeitungsausschnitte, von Carl-Ludwig (Luz) Long, LSC, Leichtathletik, Silbermedaillengewinner Weitsprung Olympische Spiele Berlin 1936, (übergeben von Kai-H. Long) [5]
  8. ^ Sportmuseum
  9. ^ Luz Long http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0519083/

[edit] External links