Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Birth name | Carl Ludwig Long | |||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire | 27 April 1913|||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 14 July 1943 Acate, Sicily, Italy | (aged 30)|||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Military career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | Nazi Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Service/ | German Army | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1941–1943 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Battles/wars | World War II | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 [1] – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic long jumper, notable for achieving the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for his friendship with Jesse Owens, who went on to win the gold medal for the long jump. [2] 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 during World War II. [3]
Long studied law at the University of Leipzig, where in 1936 he joined the Leipziger Sport Club. [4] [5] [6] After graduating, he practiced as a lawyer in Hamburg while continuing his interest in sport. [7]
The 21-year-old, 1.84-metre-tall (6'½") Long had finished third in the 1934 European Championships in Athletics 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 long jump on 4 August 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 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.
In the 1964 documentary Jesse Owens Returns to Berlin, Owens relates a story that Long came over to offer advice before Owens's third jump. According to the story, Long said that Owens should jump from a few inches before the takeoff board. This would reduce the measured distance but avoid the risk of another fault; the theory was that Owens would still clear the required distance even with the handicap of jumping early. However, this conversation is apocryphal; Grantland Rice was watching Owens the entirety of the qualifying round and did not see him speak to Long. Tom Ecker relates that he asked Owens about the story in 1965 and Owens admitted that it was not true, but just a good story. [8] On his third qualifying jump, Owens was calm and jumped with at least four inches (10 centimeters) to spare, easily qualifying for the finals. [9] In the finals competition later that day, the jumpers exceeded the old Olympic record five times. [10]
Owens went on to become Olympic champion in the long jump with 8.06 metres (26'5¼") while besting Long's own record of 7.87 metres (25'9¾"). Long achieved the silver medal 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... I would 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 Luz Long at that moment". [2] Long's competition with Owens is recorded in Leni Riefenstahl's documentary Olympia – Fest der Völker. [11]
Two days later, Long finished 10th in the triple jump. He went on to finish third in the 1938 European Championships in Athletics long jump with 7.56 metres (24'9½").
Luz Long served in the Wehrmacht during World War II, having the rank of Obergefreiter. During the Allied invasion of Sicily in Italy, Long was wounded on 10 July 1943, in the battle for the Biscari- Santo Pietro airfield, and died four days later in a British military hospital. [12] [13] He was buried in the war cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia [14] in Sicily.
Long and Owens corresponded after 1936. In his last letter, Long wrote to Owens and asked him to contact his son Kai-Heinrich 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". [15] After the war, Owens travelled to Germany to meet Kai-Heinrich 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. [16] [17]
Roads near sports facilities in Long's home town of Leipzig, [18] and in the Munich Olympia Park [5] of 1972, are named after him. His medal, photos, and documents were donated [19] to the Sportmuseum Leipzig. [20]
In the film The Jesse Owens Story (1984), he is portrayed by Kai Wulff.
In the film Race (2016), he is played by David Kross.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Birth name | Carl Ludwig Long | |||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire | 27 April 1913|||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 14 July 1943 Acate, Sicily, Italy | (aged 30)|||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Military career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | Nazi Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Service/ | German Army | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1941–1943 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Battles/wars | World War II | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 [1] – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic long jumper, notable for achieving the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for his friendship with Jesse Owens, who went on to win the gold medal for the long jump. [2] 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 during World War II. [3]
Long studied law at the University of Leipzig, where in 1936 he joined the Leipziger Sport Club. [4] [5] [6] After graduating, he practiced as a lawyer in Hamburg while continuing his interest in sport. [7]
The 21-year-old, 1.84-metre-tall (6'½") Long had finished third in the 1934 European Championships in Athletics 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 long jump on 4 August 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 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.
In the 1964 documentary Jesse Owens Returns to Berlin, Owens relates a story that Long came over to offer advice before Owens's third jump. According to the story, Long said that Owens should jump from a few inches before the takeoff board. This would reduce the measured distance but avoid the risk of another fault; the theory was that Owens would still clear the required distance even with the handicap of jumping early. However, this conversation is apocryphal; Grantland Rice was watching Owens the entirety of the qualifying round and did not see him speak to Long. Tom Ecker relates that he asked Owens about the story in 1965 and Owens admitted that it was not true, but just a good story. [8] On his third qualifying jump, Owens was calm and jumped with at least four inches (10 centimeters) to spare, easily qualifying for the finals. [9] In the finals competition later that day, the jumpers exceeded the old Olympic record five times. [10]
Owens went on to become Olympic champion in the long jump with 8.06 metres (26'5¼") while besting Long's own record of 7.87 metres (25'9¾"). Long achieved the silver medal 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... I would 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 Luz Long at that moment". [2] Long's competition with Owens is recorded in Leni Riefenstahl's documentary Olympia – Fest der Völker. [11]
Two days later, Long finished 10th in the triple jump. He went on to finish third in the 1938 European Championships in Athletics long jump with 7.56 metres (24'9½").
Luz Long served in the Wehrmacht during World War II, having the rank of Obergefreiter. During the Allied invasion of Sicily in Italy, Long was wounded on 10 July 1943, in the battle for the Biscari- Santo Pietro airfield, and died four days later in a British military hospital. [12] [13] He was buried in the war cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia [14] in Sicily.
Long and Owens corresponded after 1936. In his last letter, Long wrote to Owens and asked him to contact his son Kai-Heinrich 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". [15] After the war, Owens travelled to Germany to meet Kai-Heinrich 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. [16] [17]
Roads near sports facilities in Long's home town of Leipzig, [18] and in the Munich Olympia Park [5] of 1972, are named after him. His medal, photos, and documents were donated [19] to the Sportmuseum Leipzig. [20]
In the film The Jesse Owens Story (1984), he is portrayed by Kai Wulff.
In the film Race (2016), he is played by David Kross.