My Greatest Olympic Prize Question and Answer — Jesse Owens

My Greatest Olympic Prize is Jesse Owens' autobiographical essay about the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Owens was struggling in the long jump qualifications when German athlete Luz Long approached him and advised him to start his jump several inches behind the takeoff board to avoid fouling. Owens took the advice, qualified, and then beat Long in the final. Long was the first to congratulate Owens — in full view of Hitler and the Nazi crowd. Owens says his greatest prize from the Olympics was not his four gold medals but his friendship with Luz Long.

Owens calls his friendship with Luz Long his greatest prize because it transcended everything that was supposed to divide them: race, nationality, politics, and the context of Nazi Germany, which was built on racial hierarchy. Long was a German athlete in Hitler's Germany, expected to embody Aryan supremacy. Owens was Black and was supposed to fail or be humiliated. Instead, Long helped his rival qualify, competed honestly, and congratulated him warmly. This act of human decency in the middle of the most politicised Olympics in history was, for Owens, worth more than any medal.

Owens had twice fouled in the long jump qualifications — his foot went over the board both times. He was at risk of elimination. Long noticed this and approached him with a practical suggestion: mark a line several inches before the actual takeoff board and use that as his jump point. This would give him a safety margin and prevent fouling. The advice was simple but crucial — and it worked. Owens qualified, made it to the final, and beat Long to win the gold medal. The irony is that Long helped his own rival and most serious competition.

The main themes are: the power of human decency to transcend political ideology — Long acted with sportsmanship in the heart of Nazi Germany; true friendship is forged in adversity; competition and friendship can coexist — Long competed against Owens as hard as he could but treated him with complete respect; and the greatest prizes in life are human rather than material — medals are tangible but friendship and respect are more valuable. The essay is also about racial equality and the falsity of racial ideology.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics were deeply political. Hitler intended them to demonstrate the superiority of the Aryan race and the power of Nazi Germany. Jesse Owens — a Black American — was widely expected to fail or to be humiliated in this environment. Instead, Owens won four gold medals, breaking world records. His victories were an implicit refutation of Nazi racial ideology. Long's friendship and sportsmanship added another dimension: a German athlete, competing for Nazi Germany, showing genuine respect and kindness to a Black man, in direct contradiction of everything the Nazi regime stood for.

The German crowd was cheering for their own athletes, particularly Luz Long. But Owens reports that when Long publicly and warmly congratulated him after Owens won, many in the crowd applauded both of them. This was a remarkable moment — ordinary German spectators responding to genuine sportsmanship even in the politicised context of the Nazi Olympics. Owens and Long walked arm in arm past Hitler's box to the cheers of the crowd. The moment was a human triumph over the politics that surrounded it.

Luz Long's action demonstrates that sport at its best can transcend politics — that the values of fair competition, mutual respect, and sportsmanship can assert themselves even in the most politically charged environments. Long was competing for a regime built on racial hatred; his rival was a Black man who embodied everything that regime was trying to deny. Yet Long helped him and congratulated him. The essay suggests that authentic human connection is more powerful than political ideology — and that sport can be a space where that human connection asserts itself.

Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: in the 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump, and 4×100 metres relay. He set three world records and tied a fourth. His performance was extraordinary and historic — not just athletically but symbolically. He was the most successful athlete of the Games, held in a country whose government considered him racially inferior. His achievement was a direct refutation of Nazi racial ideology and remains one of the greatest individual performances in Olympic history.

Luz Long continued his friendship with Jesse Owens through correspondence after the Olympics. He was later conscripted into the German military and died in 1943 during World War II, fighting in Sicily. Before his death, Long wrote a letter to Owens — which Owens read after the war — asking him to find his son after the war and to tell him about their friendship. Owens fulfilled this request and later met Long's son. The friendship endured across war, death, and all the politics that had surrounded their meeting.

The essay teaches that true prizes in life are human rather than material — the greatest things we can win are friendships, respect, and acts of decency. Owens' four gold medals were extraordinary achievements, but they were objects. His friendship with Luz Long was a living, human thing that lasted for the rest of their lives. The essay also teaches that human goodness can assert itself even in the worst political environments: Long's act of sportsmanship was a small but real act of resistance against the values his government represented.