(From Left to Right) Naoto Tajima [Bronze] Jesse Owens [Gold] Luz Long [Silver]
"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can 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."
—Jesse Owens
His Long Jump competition was the most hostly contested of all of his eventual medals. In the middle of the final round German athlete Luz Long (himself a competitor in the same event) gave Owens a series of instructions on how to improve his Long Jump distance result. Owen's followed those instructions and went on to win a gold in the competition (with Long winning silver). As a result of Long's advice, he and Owens went on to forge a life long friendship.
Luz Long could very well have been a poster boy for the Aryan nation and their athletes. Tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, Long was the epitome of a strapping Aryan youth and was expected to easily handle the "inferior" african-american athlete. By advising Owens in the midst of their competition, Long prioritized the ideals of sportsmanship over racist ideologies.
The ability to analyze history from the comfort of a textbook or computer allows for us today to take on extreme viewpoints on history's most polarizing figures. We sometimes fail to realize that there are various grey areas within what we immediately label as "good" or "evil" "right" or "wrong" While we in no way condone the actions of the Nazi Empire and their hellacious treatment of Jews and other persecuted minorities, as impartial advocates for the truth there must be some room dedicated to those who reside within an 'evil' empire who are in fact decent people.
For respecting Owen's as an athlete and a competitor, Luz Long was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal by International Olympic Committee (IOC) posthumously, to celebrate and honor his demonstration of the Olympic spirit and sportsmanship.
Luz Long and Jesse Owens, relaxing on the Olympiastadia Pitch