9 Chapter 8 Golden Moments

Chapter 8 Golden Moments Jesse's success at the Olympic Games continued. His next event was the long jump, held on August 4. His toughest rival was a jumper named Luz Long. Luz was German but did not share the views of Hitler and the Nazis. He respected Jesse as a fellow competitor. To reach the event finals, each athlete had to make a jump of at least 23 feet, 5. inches. Jesse had jumped that far in high school, so it should have been no problem. But Jesse made a foul on his first

qualifying jump by stepping too far past the takeoff board. If Jesse fouled again, he would be out of the finals. Luz came over to Jesse and suggested that Jesse move his takeoff point back just to be safe. Jesse did, and on his next jump, he easily qualified for the final. After that jump, Jesse shook Luz's hand in thanks. The long-jump final came down to just Jesse and Luz. Jump after jump, they topped each other.

Finally, Jesse jumped 26 feet. "I decided I wasn't going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever," he said later. Luz could not match that distance, and Jesse earned his second gold medal. Luz hugged Jesse after they got their medals and escorted him around the stadium, arm in arm, as the German fans cheered. Jesse said he would always remember Luz Long's great sportsmanship.

On August 5, Jesse competed for his third gold medal, this time in the 200-meter dash. By now, German fans understood they were watching a true champion. As the runners prepared for the event, the fans chanted Jesse's last name in their German accent: "Oh-vens! Oh-vens! Oh-vens!" With a time of 20.7 seconds, Jesse set a world record and won his third gold medal. After the medal

ceremony, he happily signed autographs for his German fans. American team leaders wanted Jesse to run again, this time in the 4 × 100-meter relay. In this race, four runners pass a baton from hand to hand as each finishes a 100-meter section. But four runners had already been assigned to this race. By swapping in Jesse and silver-medalist Ralph Metcalfe, the

US committee hoped, it said, to secure another gold medal. To make room for Jesse and Metcalfe, the coaches removed two other runners, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller. This move was very surprising. Owens and Metcalfe did not become part of the relay team until the last minute. Many people, including Glickman and Stoller, thought there