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.The German, who hadalready qualified for the finals, walked over and asked in hisbest English, What has taken your goat, Jazze Owenz? Owenshad to smile at that.The tension broken, Long suggested to Owens that in histhird attempt he take his very last step several inches beforethe end of the takeoff board, thus making sure that he didnot overstep the board and become disqualified.Owensthanked him for the advice, and with the old confidencereturning, raced down the runway for his jump.Even thoughhe leaped before the end of the takeoff board, where theofficials begin their measurements, he landed more than26 feet away, a new Olympic record.Again, Owens ran overto thank the German.All afternoon, Owens and Long were locked in head-to-head competition for the long-jump gold medal.The Olympicrecord broke with each leap.Yet through it all they cheeredeach other on.The crowd had never seen anything like it.Longstood a few inches taller than Owens.He was the perfectpicture of the Aryan superman blond, blue eyed, with aperfectly proportioned physique.He was not caught up inHitler s mania for white supremacy, however.Like Owens, heunderstood that one competes primarily against oneself, andhe seemed genuinely grateful to have at last met a man whocould drive him on to a better performance.Lutz Long jumped with a simple, fluid style, his arms thrownhigh above his head.Owens ran through the jump, hitchkicking in midair as Coach Snyder had taught him, to capitalizeon his superior speed.With each jump, the crowd erupted inapplause.No doubt the Germans wanted their countryman towin, but Owens had already become a crowd favorite, andCH.BAA.JOw.C05.Final.q 30/11/04 14:55 Page 4444JESSE OWENSWearing the victor s laurels, Owens salutes the American flagduring an Olympic medal ceremony.Despite their head-to-head competition, Owens became fast friends with Germanrunner Lutz Long (right).for once it was easy to join in the friendly spirit of competitionthat the two long jumpers shared.In the final round, Long matched Owens s record.The twosmiled and shook hands.Then Owens went to the board andjumped even further.More applause.Eventually, Long faltered,overrunning the board.A groan went up around the stadium.CH.BAA.JOw.C05.Final.q 30/11/04 14:55 Page 4545The Dream Come TrueWith the gold medal awaiting him, Owens gathered himselffor one more jump.With confidence and concentration, hesailed to a new Olympic record of 26 feet, 5 5/16 inches.LutzLong was the first to congratulate Owens, giving him a heartybear hug in full view of Adolf Hitler.That evening at the Olympic Village, Owens and Long wereinseparable.Though Owens could not speak German andLong knew only a little English, they talked for hours.It turnedout that Long had come from a poor family, too.Like Owens,he had a wife and child at home.They spoke about their lovefor their sport, which offered challenges nothing else couldmatch, and fretted together over racial prejudice in Germanyand the United States.By the time the Olympic Games ended,the two had become firm friends.As their relationship wasportrayed in newspapers worldwide, they came to representthe way supposed rivals can overcome their differences.Beyond all of Hitler s flag-waving and speeches, the image ofJesse Owens and Lutz Long shaking hands became the over-riding symbol of the 1936 Olympics.Owens awoke the next day to more rain.He breezedthrough his semifinal heat in the 200 meters, then spent theafternoon watching Americans Ken Carpenter and EarleMeadows win gold medals in the discus and pole vault, respec-tively.Then, just before sunset, in the 200-meter finals, Owensagain proved himself the world s fastest human.On top of allhis tutoring by Coaches Riley and Snyder, he had developed atrick or two of his own over the years.One of these accountedin part for his quick takeoffs at the starting gun.Out of thecorner of his eye he watched the starter, knowing that therewas usually some telltale sign just as the trigger was pulled, andthat sign gave Owens a slight jump on his competitors.Thistechnique worked well in Berlin, where the starter habituallybobbed his knees just before pulling the trigger.Owens knew he would need all his skill to win the 200-meterrace.After he had set a new Olympic record of 21.1 secondsCH.BAA.JOw.C05.Final.q 30/11/04 14:55 Page 4646JESSE OWENSin his preliminary heat, teammate Mack Robinson equaledthat mark later in the morning.Yet Robinson could not keepup with Owens in the final.Owens held a slight lead comingout of the turn, and when he reached the tape Robinson trailedhim by nearly five yards.Owens s time of 20.7 seconds set anew world record for a 200-meter race around a curve.Thecrowd had barely finished shouting its approval when the skiesopened again.Owens received his third gold medal duringa downpour
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