Luz Long

Carl Ludwig "Lu(t)z" Long (27 April 1913 [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lo/luz-long-1.html] 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.cite web | last = Schwartz | first = Larry | title= ESPN.com: Owens pierced a myth|url=http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html|date=2007|accessdate=2008-08-14] For his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal.

1936 Olympic Games

The 23 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 to finish third in the 1938 European Championships in Athletics with 7.56m.

Personal life

Long, who had joined the "Leipziger Sport Club" [Leipzig Tourist service [http://www.lts-leipzig.de/cgi-bin/download.pl?id=1861&navid=1694&lang=de&styp=2] ] in 1926, studied law at the University of Leipzig. [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. [http://www.olympiadorf.de/odbg.php?subpage=straopar] ] Carl-Ludwig Long worked as a lawyer in Hamburg [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 [http://origin.wdr.de/radio/wdr2/westzeit/detail.phtml?id=174946 wdr.de] ] before the war broke out.

During World War II, Long was an "Obergefreiter" and was wounded during the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943. He died in a British-controlled military hospital on July 13. He was buried in the war cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia, in Sicily.

Memory

Long appeared as himself in Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia - Fest der Völker". [Luz Long http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0519083/]

Roads near sports facilities in his home town Leipzig [Long, Carl-Ludwig (1913-1943), Jurist und Sportler (Weitspringen), seit 2001 Luz-Long-Weg [http://www.leipzig-lexikon.de/reg/lm.htm] ] , and in the Munich Olympia Park [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. [http://www.olympiadorf.de/odbg.php?subpage=straopar] ] of 1972 are named after him. His medal, photos, and documents were donated [Konvolut Urkunden, Fotografien, Zeitungsausschnitte, von Carl-Ludwig (Luz) Long, LSC, Leichtathletik, Silbermedaillengewinner Weitsprung Olympische Spiele Berlin 1936, (übergeben von Kai-H. Long) [http://www.sportmuseum-leipzig.de/Ablage-Zeitung/2-2001/seite-6_A.htm] ] to the Sportmuseum Leipzig. [ [http://www.sportmuseum-leipzig.de/index.htm Sportmuseum ] ]

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.xx]

References

External links

* [http://www.olympic.org/MultiMediaGallery/Default.aspx?itemID=9eb4ca02-5a5d-4694-835b-ad91fde71111&relatedList=9eb4ca02-5a5d-4694-835b-ad91fde71111 Photo of Long and Owens]