A world famous legend recalling how German Luz Long crossed racial barriers to help American rival Jesse Owens qualify for the long jump final at the 1936 Olympics has been downplayed by Long’s son, Kai.
Kai Long said his father, whose actions helped Owens win the gold, prompting a furious Adolf Hitler to leave the stadium early, had simply acted within the old tradition of amateur sportsmanship.
“It was not a question of race, of being black and white,” said Kai Long, who attended the world athletics to watch the long jump final.
PHOTO: EPA
The 1936 Games, which the US came close to boycotting because of concerns over anti-Semitism, were marked by the performances of Owens. The son of a US slave, the “Black Pearl” won four gold medals from the 100m and 200m, the men’s relay and the long jump.
Luz Long was one of several athletes held up as a symbol of Hitler’s supposedly superior Aryan race but his actions appeared to demonstrate his dismissal of that notion, giving Owens advice that led to the American’s victory and the German settling for silver.
Owens said Luz Long went to him and advised that he jump from a spot several inches behind the line — advice that allowed the him to advance safely to the next round without risking another foul.
Owens won the gold, thus ridiculing Hitler’s claims of Aryan superiority, and went on to build a friendship with Luz Long, who died during World War II.
PURE SPORTSMEN
His son Kai insisted his father, who died of battle wounds in 1943 in Sicily, was not making a political statement to Hitler that black and white people were equals.
“It was the normal attitude of pure amateur sportsmen in those days,” he said. “It was absolutely normal to help each other so what he did was not deemed then to be extraordinary.”
Kai Long, who met Owens five times, did not deny that from that gesture something amazing had been born.
“This flame became bright, then brighter and even more bright and is still burning today,” Kai said.
If proof were needed that flame is still alive, the grandaughters of both Long and Owens, Julie Long and Marlene Dortch respectively, presented the medals for the long jump on Saturday.
Dortch, who said she never talked about the episode with her grandfather, drew on the example of Rosa Parks, “the mother of the modern day civil rights movement,” who refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.
“I would draw a comparison with Rosa Parks who did not deliberately sit down on the bus as a protest against racial discrimination but because she was tired and thought she deserved to have a seat,” Dortch said.
“I believe it is the same with Jesse Owens and Luz Long, who may not have intended to make a statement. However, I think it was very courageous of them to talk with each other and for Luz Long to help him,” she said. “It may not have been planned but you cannot deny it was inspirational.”
Long never had a chance to speak to his father about the moment because he was born in 1941.
‘HITLER WHO?’
Meanwhile, Dortch was surprised to be informed that she, her family and that of Long’s would be sitting where Hitler and his acolytes, such as propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, had sat during those Games.
“I didn’t realize that,” Dortch said. “Well, it feels great to think that I will be sitting with my husband where Hitler once sat.”
“I think it is wonderful that Luz Long’s and Jesse Owens’ family will be sitting side by side and celebrating a great moment in sport’s history,” she said. “And regarding the other guy. Hitler who?”
TITLE CAMPAIGN: The victory sent the Monkeys to the Taiwan Series for the third time in the past four seasons as they seek their first championship since 2019 The stage is set for the Taiwan Series after the Rakuten Monkeys on Monday beat the Uni-President Lions 4-3 in Game 5 of the CPBL Challenger Series in Kaohsiung. The Monkeys, who entered the top of the ninth scoreless, tied the game with a three-run blast by Lin Chih-ping and scored the winning run in the 10th on an RBI single by Lin Li, a three-time batting champion in the CPBL. Both players entered the game as pinch hitters. “The coach told me to stay prepared as a pinch hitter in the later part of the game. My teammates had
Taiwanese badminton ace Chou Tien-chen was crowned the men’s singles champion at the Arctic Open on Sunday, after defeating Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-11, 13-21, 21-19. The 35-year-old Chou, who is ranked world No. 5, and the 24-year-old Vitidsarn, ranked world No. 3, battled it out for one hour and 17 minutes in a grueling three-game match at Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland. In the first game, Chou took an early 9-7 lead and maintained his momentum, widening the gap, before defeating Vitidsarn 21-11. At the start of the second game, the two players were neck-and-neck. When Vitidsarn pulled ahead
The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday night called for the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to address issues in Taiwanese soccer after national manager Huang Che-ming on Tuesday resigned following Taiwan’s elimination in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Taiwan on Tuesday were thrashed 6-1 by Thailand in their Group D tie at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Taiwan finished with no points, after losing all four of their matches, eliminating them from qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Huang made his surprise resignation at a post-match news conference, following three losses since he took over the team from English coach Gary White in August. Huang
HIT AND RUN: Toronto manager John Schneider got his wish that his team ‘find some slug in the air out here,’ as the Blue Jays combined to total 611m of homers Tired in Toronto, the Blue Jays slugged in Seattle. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer on Wednesday woke up the Jays, as Toronto hit five home runs to rebound from an early deficit, routing the Mariners 13-4 and closing to 2-1 in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Toronto had 18 hits — all within the first three pitches of each at-bat. “If they give us a first pitch, the pitch that we’re looking for, we’re going to attack and we’re going to be aggressive,” Guerrero said. Seattle starter George Kirby gave up eight of the hits. “I wasn’t really executing when they got