Sports

Olympics: Jesse Owens and Luz Long and a message of hope

Published

2 months ago

July 16, 2024

Hitler was present at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium as Owens and Long contested one of the Games’ greatest long jump finals.

After a see-sawing battle, Long matched Owens’ leading distance of 7.87m with his penultimate attempt, to the delight of the home fans.

But Owens dug out his best when he needed it most, responding with 7.94m, to move clear of Long once again.

Long produced a foul on his final attempt, but his performance was good enough for silver and a first Olympic long jump medal for Germany.

Owens, with his title already assured, created further history with a final leap of 8.06m – setting an Olympic record that would stand for 24 years.

Long, putting aside his own disappointment, instinctively leapt into the sandpit to congratulate him.

Locked in that moment, alone in their embrace as an appreciative capacity crowd of more than 100,000 people watched on, Owens confided to his rival: “You forced me to give my best.”

Between them, Owens and Long had surpassed the previous Olympic record five times.

“It’s almost like a fairytale – to jump so long in this weather,” said Long in an interview with his hometown newspaper, Neue Leipziger Zeitung.

“I can’t help it. I run to him. I’m the first to congratulate him, to hug him.”

Long’s impulsive reaction caught the attention of the German authorities.

Soon after the Olympic Games, his mother, Johanna, made a note in her diary about a warning from Rudolf Hess, then deputy Fuhrer of the Nazi Party.

Long, she wrote, had “received an order from the highest authority” that he should never again embrace a black person.

He had been noted as “not racially conscious” by the Nazi regime.

The embrace clearly angered the Nazis, who often used powerful imagery to further its own ideology and feared how Owens and Long’s friendship might undermine its propaganda.

In that respect, they were right.

Almost 90 years later, Owens and Long’s friendship is one of the most enduring Olympic stories.

“The gesture of kindness and fairness touched the hearts of many people,” says Kellner-Long.

“Together, Luz and Jesse enjoyed a special friendship that day, demonstrating to the world that in sports and in life, friendship and respect are the most important things, regardless of background or skin colour.”

Stuart Rankin, Owens’ only grandson, is equally struck by its significance.

“I often say that of all my grandfather’s accomplishments at the 1936 Olympics, the unlikely friendship that he struck with Luz Long is the thing of which I am most proud and most impressed by,” he says.

“For them to have forged that friendship, under those conditions, in those circumstances, in that stadium, in the face of Hitler, was just phenomenal.”

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Sports

Solheim Cup 2024: US lead Europe 6-2 after sensational opening day in Virginia

Published

6 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Peter Scrivener

Europe came into the contest looking to become the first side to lift the Solheim Cup for a fourth successive time.

But their underdog status was underlined on a day in which the US side, stronger on paper in terms of world ranking positions, asserted their superiority as they chase a first win since 2017.

The whole US mantra this week has been “unfinished business” after Europe fought back from 4-0 down to draw 14-14 in Spain last year and retain the trophy.

And Lewis sent Korda and Corpuz out first in the morning as a statement of intent, given they won both their foursomes matches in Spain. Once again they delivered a red point, finishing strongly to beat England’s Charley Hull and Germany’s Esther Henseleit 3&2 in a see-saw match.

Korda then returned with Khang, dancing on to the first tee for the afternoon fourballs in front of former US president Barack Obama, who is a member at the exclusive course about an hour west of Washington DC.

They waltzed to a 6&4 victory over England’s Georgia Hall and Ireland’s Leona Maguire, winning five of the first seven holes to set the platform for a comfortable point. Big-hitting Korda was particularly dominant on the par-five holes, winning all eight across her two rounds.

Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang were also big winners, 5&4 over Hull and Linn Grant. The match had been finely poised when Lee birdied the ninth to put the Americans one clear and they won four of the next five to clinch another point.

Rookie pairing Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel then rounded off a sensational day for the US with a 3&2 victory over Maja Stark and Emily Pedersen.

Stark and Pedersen had picked up Europe’s solitary point in the morning with a nervy victory that went down to the 18th hole, despite them being four up after five holes.

And the afternoon point came from veteran Anna Nordqvist, playing in her ninth Solheim Cup, alongside her good friend and fellow Swede Madelene Sagstrom.

They won six successive holes from the eighth as they demolished the retiring Lexi Thompson and Alison Lee 6&5.

“I don’t feel like we’re playing poorly,” insisted captain Pettersen.

“The Americans played great and I feel like they had all the putts rolling their way and I don’t feel like we’ve had any momentum.

“Everything’s possible though. Last year was a good example of it. There are so many points left to play for and we come back ready to fight again.”