Germany has a Heavy World Champion! Did you know?

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 11 Aug 2004, 12:49

Loynesy wrote:1 of Max Schmeling: An Autobiography [Hardcover] by Lippe, George B.Von Der

Bennie - not really a link but I have just bought it on Amazon. Apparently Max wrote it and the guy mentioned above translated it. Its quite an old book but as it is a bit obscure and about an absolute ring legend it may be worth a story in Boxing News (I'll happily do a review of say 500 words)

If it's not a latest publication, Loynesy, BN probably wouldn't be interested. But I'll ask them.

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 11 Aug 2004, 12:57

on a similar vein, i watched a program on the telly about the history of the olympics and it had an example of another very brave german sportsman defying hitler. his name was (or still is) luz long.
when jesse owens was going for his fourth gold medal in the long jump he barely made it through the qualifying stages. but in the final he produced a big jump to overtake the german leading the competition luz long.
when owen landed in the pit you could hear a pin drop, every eye in the stadium was on him, the watching hitler was furious.as owens sat there a lonley figure in the pit, one figure came out of the stunned onlookers and offered jesse his hand, helping owens to his feet he warmly congratulated him, put his arm around his shoulders and then walked with jesse back up the track laughing and joking with the american.
the man was luz long, who had just seen his golden dreams go up in smoke.
the word bravery is often used in sport. but never has a sportsman taken such a risk, with a show of open disobedience in full view of hitler and the nazi hierachy.
the program showed athletes who competed in berlin 36 saying that luz long`s actions that day was the bravest act they`d ever seen, including acts on the battlefield.
it never said what happened to him.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 11 Aug 2004, 13:19

Long in fact also helped Owens make it to the finals - in the qualifying round Jesse thought the refs were deliberately trying to eliminate him by calling phantom fouls (it may or may not have been true, but in any event he was on the verge of fouling out.) Long suggested to him to start his approach a full 6 inches further back than normal, i.e. to eliminate any chance of fouling by taking off just in *front* of the takeoff board, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 11 Aug 2004, 13:57

A couple of links on Owens which describe the '36 Olympic long jump competition:

http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/history/1936.html

Neither article says what happened to Long after the '36 games, although it is mentioned that he and Owens became great friends. Hopefully he survived the war.

I also found a German article that mentions that the Berlin Olympic stadium was recently completely renovated and that in a moving re-opening ceremony, the granddaughters of both Owens and Long lit the flame together:

http://www.sw-online.de/wm?catId=79054& ... 2&offset=6

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 11 Aug 2004, 13:58

do you know what happened to this bloke eric?
did he survive the war or in fact did he even live to see the start of the war?
the ss and the gestapo were`nt known for their live and let live, easy come easy go attitude.
brave fella.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 11 Aug 2004, 14:13

headhunter wrote:do you know what happened to this bloke eric?
did he survive the war or in fact did he even live to see the start of the war?
the ss and the gestapo were`nt known for their live and let live, easy come easy go attitude.
brave fella.

Aw, fornicate - just found another German-magazine article that mentions that Long died in the war in 1943:

http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/ ... orie/55541

Die Nachricht, dass sein Freund 1943 als Soldat gefallen war, erreichte Owens erst nach Kriegsende. Drei Jahrzehnte nach den Spielen traf er Longs Sohn an der Weitsprunganlage im Olympiastadion. "Dein Vater", sagte Owens nach dem Bericht eines Zeugen und legte seinen Arm um die Schulter von Karl Long, "war der fairste Sportler und beste Kamerad, den ich je kennengelernt habe. Nie werde ich jene Minuten vor meinem letzten Sprung in der Qualifikation vergessen. Es war Luz Long, der mir den Mut zurückgab. Er redete beruhigend auf mich ein, nahm mich beiseite und maß genau den Anlauf mit mir ab. Ich machte alles genau, wie er sagte. Dann sah ich Luz Long schon lachen. Da wusste ich, dass ich es geschafft habe."

Translation:

The news that his friend had died in battle in 1943 didn't reach Owens until after the war's end. Three decades after the [1936] games he met Long's son at the long jump pit in the [Berlin] Olympic stadium. According to an eyewitness, Owens put his arm around the shoulder of Karl Long and told him, "your father was the fairest sportsman and best friend I ever knew. I'll never forget my final jump in the qualifying round. It was Luz Long that gave me back my courage. He talked to me and calmed me down, took me aside and precisely measured the approach with me. I did everything just like he said. Then [immediately after the jump] I saw Luz Long, already laughing. That's when I knew that I'd made it."

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 11 Aug 2004, 18:34

nice detective work eric. thanks.
i`m sorry to hear that luz long didnt make it through the war.
a true sportsman and a very brave man.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 11 Aug 2004, 18:53

Yeah, too many good people died in that bloody war...

Loynesy · Post by **Loynesy** » 11 Aug 2004, 19:17

Eric - there is a passage about the long-jumper in the recent book about Louis and Owens - In Black & White by Donald McRae (superb book).

. A few years later, Owens was in Germany. Signing autographs, a 13 year old boy asked him to sign a scrapbook containing photos of Luz. Through the interpreter, Owens asked him why he had these photos. I quote:

"My father sir" the kid said,

"your father? Where is he? Where is Lutz?"

"my dead father sir"

"what happened? we were friends you know, me and your father?"

"yes" the boy nodded, "he died in the war"

"we should talk son" Jesse said as he led Karl Long down the tunnel, "you and me should get to know each other"

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 11 Aug 2004, 19:25

Thanks for the book tip and the excerpt, Loynesy - very moving stuff.

(Aside: note that the German Z is hard, so "Luz" to an english speaker would sound like "Lutz." That probably explains the 2 different spellings in the book excerpt.)