"My Greatest Olympic Prize" by Jesse Owens.

The core message of Jesse Owens's essay, "My Greatest Olympic Prize," is that human connection and genuine sportsmanship are more valuable than athletic achievement or political ideology. It is an autobiographical account focusing specifically on the long jump event at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Details of the Long Jump Trials

The event took place on August 4, 1936, just one day after Owens won his first gold medal in the 100-meter dash.

 The Qualifying Hurdle: To advance to the long jump final, competitors were required to jump a minimum distance of 7.15 meters (about 23 feet, 5 inches) within three attempts. Owens was the world record holder, having jumped an astonishing 8.13\text{ m} (26 feet, 8 inches) the previous year, so qualification was normally a formality.

 The First Foul: Owens, distracted by the tense, politically charged atmosphere and perhaps still fatigued from his previous event, had a chaotic start. In his essay, he explains that he was "angry" and "hate-mad" at Adolf Hitler's public promotion of Aryan supremacy.

 According to one account, Owens was practicing his run-up and jump and failed to realize that the officials had already begun the competition, leading his warm-up hop to be counted as his first official foul.

 The Second Foul: Upset and flustered, Owens committed a proper second foul on his next attempt by stepping over the wooden take-off board. This left him with only one attempt remaining to secure the qualifying distance. If he fouled again, the world's most dominant athlete would be disqualified from the event.

  Luz Long's Intervention: At this point, the German long jumper Luz Long, the European record holder and the "Aryan ideal" athlete being championed by Hitler, came forward.

 Instead of hoping for his rival's elimination, Long, with remarkable grace, offered Owens advice: to mark a spot a foot or a few centimeters behind the take-off board and jump from there. This sacrificed a bit of distance but guaranteed a legal jump.

  Successful Qualification and Final: Owens followed the advice, drew a line a foot back, and easily qualified with a jump of 7.64 m. In the final round later that day, Long broke the Olympic record, but Owens responded by setting a new one with a leap of 8.06 m to win the gold. Long won the silver medal, and in a famous act of defiance to the Nazi ideology, he was the first to sincerely congratulate Owens on the field.

Owens stated that the "24-karat friendship" he gained from Long's display of goodwill was his most cherished trophy from the Berlin Games, emphasizing that the human spirit of camaraderie should always override political and competitive rivalry.

The story of the two rivals' friendship is captured in this video: Jesse Owens's Inspiring

 History. 

Watch: 

https://youtu.be/PRkeahelZHM?si=h4OovACyrOsFn5U_

Simplified Notes 

"My Greatest Olympic Prize" is an autobiographical essay by Jesse Owens detailing a moment of profound sportsmanship and friendship at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The essay begins by establishing the intense political atmosphere of the Games, as Adolf Hitler was using the event to showcase the supposed superiority of the Aryan race. Owens, an African-American athlete, was determined to disprove this hateful theory. This pressure, combined with his own eagerness, led to a psychological block during the long jump qualifying trials. Owens fouled on his first two attempts, leaving him with only one chance to qualify for the final.

At this low point, his chief rival, the German long jumper Luz Long, approached him. Long was the embodiment of the Aryan ideal and Hitler’s favorite to win. Despite this, Long, an advocate of true sportsmanship, was dismayed to see a great competitor fail. He offered Owens simple, friendly advice: draw a line a few inches behind the board and jump from there to guarantee a legal jump, even if it meant giving up a little distance.

Owens followed the advice and easily qualified for the final. That evening, the two rivals met and spoke for two hours, realizing they had formed a genuine and lasting friendship.

In the final, Owens broke the Olympic record, winning the gold medal, while Long took the silver. The moment Owens considers his "greatest Olympic prize" occurred immediately afterward: Long was the first person to congratulate him with a sincere smile, walking arm-in-arm with Owens across the field in full view of a furious Hitler. Owens viewed the true friendship he gained that day as a treasure that far surpassed the value of any gold medal, embodying the true spirit of the Olympic Games.