Olympic+Stadium+Berlin+1936

==This is the story of two inspirational athletes who bridged the divide between different nations and races through sport and determination and courage ==

Jesse Owen competed in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and overcame all the odds ..... poverty, illness, racial discrimination ....


==Jesse Owens was born September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama. In high school, he won three track and field events at the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships. Two years later, while competing for Ohio State University, he equaled one world record and broke three others. In 1936 Owens won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin. He died from cancer on March 31, ==

==Olympic athlete. The son of a sharecropper and the grandson of slaves, James Cleveland Owens was born on September 12, 1913 in Danville, Alabama. == ==A frail child, Owens was often sick from his battles with chronic bronchial congestion and pneumonia. Still, he was expected to work, and at the young age of seven he was picking up to 100 pounds of cotton a day to help his family put food on the table. ==

==In the 1936 Olympic Games which took place in Berlin, Owens was easily the most dominant athlete to compete. He captured four gold medals (the 100-meter, the long jump, the 200-meter, and the 400-meter relay race) and broke two Olympic records along the way. After Owens won the 100-meter event, a furious Hitler stormed out of the stadium, though some reports later indicated that Hitler congratulated the athlete on his success. ==

Luz Long, 1913-1943
==Carl Ludwig Luz Long was a German sprinter and long-jumper who finished second to Jesse Owens in the [|Berlin Olympic Games of 1936]. ==

Long was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1913.
==By the time the great black American sprinter Jesse Owens arrived in Berlin in the summer of 1936, little worried him ... except Long who was German and the reigning European long-jump champion. == ==But as Adolf Hitler and 100,000 spectators watched, Long went right up and shook the black American's hand. He thus befriended the great American athlete and did not shy from reaching out even though his own government was promoting a white Aryan race policy. == ==Long helped Owens at the long-jump trials, when Owens was so spooked by European rules that he almost failed to qualify, even while Long posted an Olympic record, (soon to be smashed by Owens in the final). In the finals, Long finished second to Owens, and took home Olympic silver. When they stood on the podium to receive their medals, Long, standing behind Owens, made the de rigeur Nazi salute. == ==Owens was delighted as he knew that Long was the German opposition and was not expecting such a charming friend. One night, Long found Owens in the Olympic Village and they had a long private talk, resulting in a long friendship. ==

Luz continued to compete in track meets achieving his personal best of 7.90 meters in the long jump in 1937.
==Luz finished law school at the University of Leipzig and briefly practiced in Hamburg. But inevitably, when the war turned against Germany, all healthy men were drafted and he became a Nazi soldier. ==

[[image:http://www.duhaime.org/Portals/duhaime/images/Owens_and_Long2.jpg width="118" height="150" caption="Jesse Owens and Luz Long"]]
> ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> == > ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> == > ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> == ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Luz Long was injured on July 10, 1943 when the Allies invaded Sicily. In a British field hospital, he died on July 13, 1943. He was only 30 and was buried in the war cemetery of Motta Sant'Anastasia, in Sicily. == ==<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In 1951, Jesse Owens kept his promise and found Long's son in war-torn German. He later said that what he valued the most from Olympic experience had been his friendship with Luz Long. ==