His Rival Helped Him Win Olympic Gold

His Rival Helped Him Win He was about to be knocked out of the Olympics. Then his biggest rival walked over to help him. This really happened. Berlin, 1936. Jesse Owens was the fastest man in the world, competing in the long jump. In qualifying, he fouled his first jump. Then his second. One more mistake, and he was out. Then Luz Long, the German champion, came over. He was Jesse's biggest rival. Luz told him: take off well before the board. You will still qualify easily. Jesse did exactly that. He qualified. In the final, Jesse won the gold medal. And the first person to congratulate him was Luz. They walked around the stadium arm in arm, in front of the whole world. Jesse later said that all his medals could not match the friendship he made with Luz that day. That's Luz Long and Jesse Owens. Rivals who became friends. Comment FRIENDS.