Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 – 14 July 1943) was a German

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er, notable for winning the silver medal in the event at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

in Berlin and for his association with

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

, who went on to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

for the long jump. Luz Long won the German long jump championship six times in 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. Long was killed while serving in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Long studied law at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where in 1936 he joined the ''Leipziger Sport Club''.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. After graduating, he practiced as a lawyer in Hamburg while continuing his interest in sport.

1936 Olympic Games

The 21-year-old, 1.84-metre-tall (6'½") Long had finished third in the

1934 European Championships in Athletics The 1st European Athletics Championships were held in Turin, Italy, at the Stadio Benito Mussolini between 7 and 9 September 1934. A contemporaneous report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Results Medalists and complete results were ...

with 7.25 metres (23'9½"). By the summer of 1936, Long held the European record in the long jump and was eager to compete for the first time against Jesse Owens, the American world-record holder. The

on 4 August was Long's first event against

Owens Owens may refer to: Places in the United States *Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota *Owens, Missouri *Owens, Ohio *Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owens Br ...

, and Long met his expectations by setting an

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

during the preliminary round. In contrast, Owens fouled on his first two jumps. Knowing that he needed to reach at least 7.15 metres (about 23 feet 5½ inches) on his third jump in order to advance to the finals in the afternoon, Owens sat on the field, dejected. Speaking to Long's son in 1964, Owens said that Long went to him during the Olympics and told him to try to jump from a spot several inches behind the take-off board. Since Owens routinely made distances far greater than the minimum of 7.15 metres (23'5½") required to advance, Long surmised that Owens would be able to advance safely to the next round without risking a foul trying to push for a greater distance. Owens later admitted that this was not true, as he and Long never met until after the competition was over. On his third qualifying jump, Owens was calm and jumped with at least four inches (10 centimeters) to spare, easily qualifying for the finals. In the finals competition later that day, the jumpers exceeded the old Olympic record five times. Owens went on to win the

in the long jump with 8.06 metres (26'5¼") while besting Long's own record of 7.87 metres (25'9¾"). Long won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

for second place and was the first to congratulate Owens: they posed together for photos and walked arm-in-arm to the dressing room. Owens said, "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

... I would melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four

karat The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardn ...

friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment". Long's competition with Owens is recorded in

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

's documentary '' Olympia – Fest der Völker''. Two days later, Long finished 10th in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. He went on to finish third in the

1938 European Championships in Athletics The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vien ...

long jump with 7.56 metres (24'9½").

World War II

Luz Long served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

during World War II, having the rank of ''

Obergefreiter Obergefreiter (''abbr.'' OGefr.) is an enlisted rank of the German and Swiss militaries which dates from the 19th century. In today's Bundeswehr, every ''Gefreiter'' is normally promoted ''Obergefreiter'' after six months. The NATO-Code is OR-3 ...

''. During the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

in Italy, Long was injured on July 10, 1943, in the battle for the

Biscari Acate ( Sicilian: ''Acati'' or ''Vischiri'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the south of Sicily, Italy, part of the province of Ragusa. It is located in the Dirillo River valley, from Ragusa. Until 1938 it was called Biscari, and its histo ...

Santo Pietro Santo Pietro is a small village (''frazione'') of the Comune of Caltagirone, Sicily, Italy, with a population of c. 90 people. History The settlement was founded as ''Mussolinia di Sicilia'', one of several settlements across Italy founded by t ...

airfield, and died 4 days later in a British military hospital. He was buried in the war cemetery of

Motta Sant'Anastasia Motta Sant'Anastasia () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about west of Catania. Geography Motta Sant'Anastasia borders the following ...

, in Sicily. Long and Owens corresponded after 1936. In his last letter, Long wrote to Owens and asked him to contact his son Karl after the war and tell him about his father and "what times were like when we not separated by war. I am saying—tell him how things can be between men on this earth". After the war, Owens travelled to Germany to meet Karl Long. Long is seen with Owens in the documentary ''Jesse Owens Returns To Berlin'' where he is in conversation with Owens in the

Berlin Olympic Stadium The Olympiastadion (; en, Olympic Stadium) is a sports stadium at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was originally built by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100 ...

Memorials

Roads near sports facilities in Long's home town of Leipzig, and in the Munich Olympia Park of 1972 are named after him. His medal, photos, and documents were donated to the Sportmuseum Leipzig.

In popular culture

In the film ''

The Jesse Owens Story ''The Jesse Owens Story'' is a 1984 American two-part, four-hour Television film, made-for-television biographical film about the black athlete Jesse Owens. Dorian Harewood plays the Olympic gold-winning athlete. The drama won a 1985 Primetime Em ...

'' (1984), he is portrayed by

Kai Wulff Kai Wulff (born December 18, 1949 in Germany) is an American actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Colonel Yuri Voskov in ''Firefox'' and 'The German' in ''Three Amigos''. He appeared in the films '' Twilight Zone: ...

. In the film ''

Race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

'', he is played by

David Kross David Kross (born 4 July 1990) is a German actor. He began his career at a young age with a small role in the 2002 film ''Hilfe, ich bin ein Junge'' and worked sporadically, mainly focusing on his school work. In 2008, he won the starring role o ...

References

External links

Photo of Long and Owens
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Luz 1913 births 1943 deaths German male long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics German military personnel killed in World War II Olympic athletes of Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes from Leipzig Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Leipzig University alumni German Army soldiers of World War II