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Satish2001
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Speed
It was summer of 1936 and Olympics were being held in Germany.
Adolf Hitler viewed it as a golden opportunity to showcase his
country and to prove to the rest of the world that his Aryan race was
superior.
Twenty-two-year-old American athlete, Jesse Owens, didn’t care
much for Hitler’s theory. He trained himself and practised hard for
six years to win a medal at the Olympics and break Hitler’s myth of
Aryan superiority.
A year earlier, on May 25, 1935, Owens recorded one of the mindboggling performances in track and field history. He broke three
world records and tied another at the Big Ten Track and Field
Championships in Michigan-in just 45 minutes.
In the trials of long jump event, Jesse fouled on his first two
attempts. Top German athlete, Luz Long, who had qualified for the
finals came up to him and introduced himself. Although Luz Long had
been schooled in the Nazi Movement, he did not believe in the
theory of Aryan supremacy. He advised Owens to play it safe and
jump a few inches before the usual take-off spot. He took his advice
and qualified for the finals.
That night Jesse walked over to Luz Long’s room in the Olympic
village to thank him. Jesse was aware of the fact that if it hadn’t been
for Luz Long, he wouldn’t have qualified for the finals.
When they finally got up to leave , both of them knew that the real
friendship had been formed. Jesse could guess that Luz wanted him
to do his best-even if that meant his winning.
In the finals, Luz broke his own past record. In doing so, he pushed
Jesse on to a peak performance. Jesse won the gold medal and
Olympic record of 26 feet 5-5/16 inches. Luz Long was the first
person, who congratulated Jesse. Despite the fact that Hitler glared
at them from the stands not a hundred yards away, Luz shook Jesse’s
hand hard “with a smile on his face.’’
At that moment, Jesse felt that if he could melt down all the gold
medals and cups he had, they couldn’t be a plating on the 24-carat
friendship he had with Luz. Jesse realized then that luz was the
epitome of what Pierre de Coubertine, founder of the modern
Olympic Games, must have had in mind when he said,”The important
thing in Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential
thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.’’