The Unexpected Olympic Friendship That Defied Hitler’s Propaganda
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 22 December 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Jesse Owens arrived in Berlin for the 1936 Olympics as one of the fastest men in the world. The long jump competition placed him beside Luz Long, a German athlete competing under the watchful eyes of the Nazi regime and in a stadium built to showcase its ideals.
During the event, Long noticed Owens struggling with his approach and quietly offered advice that helped him stay in the competition. The two men spoke easily, competed fiercely, and walked off the field together in front of a crowd that had not expected to see them side by side. Elliott Drago of the Jack Miller Center shares the story of how a single Olympic event created a bond that outlived the medals.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:13.8 | And we continue with our American stories. |
| 0:18.3 | The story of United States Olympic legend Jesse Owens and Nazi long jumper |
| 0:23.3 | lose Long's friendship demonstrates how sports can unite people, even in the toughest of |
| 0:30.9 | circumstances. You to tell a story is the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer and historian, |
| 0:38.7 | Elliot Drago. The Jack Miller Center, editorial officer and historian, Elliot Drago. |
| 0:43.7 | The Jack Miller Center, by the way, is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles and history. |
| 0:49.6 | To learn more, visit jackmiller center.org. |
| 0:55.4 | Let's take a listen. Let's take a listen. Jesse Owens stood and gazed across Berlin's Olympic Stadium in August 1936, the first week of the 11th |
| 1:10.2 | Olympiad. |
| 1:16.4 | The immense structure and architectural marvel shook whenever the crowd of 100,000 Germans and attendants roared, and their cheers and booze began to unnerve Owens, who was arguably |
| 1:22.2 | one of the most disciplined athletes in history. |
| 1:25.2 | This entire spectacle was almost too much for him. He was more than just |
| 1:29.2 | mad. He was, in his words, hate mad. Owens steeled himself for his second long jump attempt. |
| 1:36.6 | His first attempt left him both winded and disheartened, as not only did he fail to hit his |
| 1:41.4 | mark, he also received a foul from the German official. |
| 1:45.0 | True to form, Owens refused to make excuses and later admitted that the foul on his first long jump attempt was fair. |
| 1:52.0 | I will be more careful with my second jump, he thought. There's no sense of being fouled twice. |
| 1:58.0 | He began his second attempt, running, leaping, but before he even landed, |
| 2:02.9 | he heard the German official shout foul. Even though he played it safe, perhaps too safe, Owens |
| 2:09.7 | could not get over the injustice of that second foul. Was the official fair? Yeah, Owens later wrote, |
... |
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