Berlin Olympics in 1936. All eyes were on the long jump as two legends of the sport contested for the prestigious Olympics gold medal. Those two persons were Luz Long, a German and Jesse Owens, a black American. Long was 27 and Owens was 23. Long, who jumped past 26 feet in the trail jump, was the trump card of Adolf Hitler.
But, Jesse Owens was no lesser. He had made a world record-setting jump of 26 and a quarter feet. Nevertheless, Owens felt his self-confidence failing as he saw Long’s scintillating performance in the preliminary rounds. Hence, he could not shine in the three jumps of the qualifying round.
Disheartened, Jesse sat in the ground with an antipathy towards the whole world. All of a sudden, he felt a soft hand touch on his shoulder. It was Luz Long who touched him. Owens wondered why his opponent had come to see him.
But, soon he found that Long’s countenance was amiable. Long sat near Owens and said: “I noticed your jump. You are jumping from the other side of the line. That was why your jump ended up as a foul. What you need to do is this: draw a line behind the takeoff board and leap from there. Then your jump will not become foul.”
Owens did not find a reason to disbelieve Long’s words. He jumped the rest of his trial jumps as Long had advised. As a result, Jesse Owens won four Olympic gold medals in 1936 setting new world records! History says that Luz Long was in the forefront of those who came to congratulate Jesse Owens without fearing even Adolf Hitler, who advocated the Aryan supremacy.
Perhaps, the young generation might find it difficult to understand this shining example of friendship that rose beyond rivalry. Because, today there are many arenas of competition than before. The nature of competition has also changed. Often competitions turn unhealthy and bitter. While a group of people try to defeat their opponents by thrashing them, tarnishing their name and conspiring against them, another group of people try to win by illicit means. In both case, the sole goal is to win.
General notion is that one can win only if one defeats the other. Majority of people do not understand that by paving the way for another’s victory, as Luz Long did, one can taste victory. Long had no inhibitions in pointing out Jesse’s fault and helping him to jump to victory. He was also ready to rejoice in Owens’ victory. How many of us can do that? Since we are too keen about our own victory, we are perturbed by others’ victory. We become jealous of them. This is a world in which everyone has an opportunity to win. While we try to emerge victorious, let us also help others to win.
Never thwart the dream of others to taste victory. Instead, share in the joy of others when they win.
Dr Antoney P Joseph
Managing Director
