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Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump

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Men's long jump
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Jesse Owens
VenueOlympiastadion: Berlin, Germany
DateAugust 4
Competitors43 from 27 nations
Winning distance8.06 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jesse Owens
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Luz Long
 Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Naoto Tajima
 Japan
← 1932
1948 →

The men's long jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on August 4, 1936. Forty-three athletes from 27 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 19cm by American Jesse Owens.[2] It was the United States' fourth consecutive and ninth overall gold medal in the event; it was also Owens's second of four gold medals in the 1936 Games. Luz Long won Germany's first medal in the event with silver; Naoto Tajima put Japan on the podium for the second Games in a row with bronze.

Jesse Owens and Luz Long

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Jesse Owens and Luz Long walk arm-in-arm after their competition

The competition between Owens and Long resulted in a story of friendship, possibly embellished into mythology. Both men were accomplished long jumpers going into the Games, with Owens holding the world record and Long holding the European record. Owens, however, fouled in his first two jumps in the qualifying round; he needed a successful jump, of at least 7.15 metres, to advance to the semifinal round.

In the 1964 documentary Jesse Owens Returns to Berlin, Owens relates a story that Long came over to offer advice before Owens's third jump. According to the story, Long said that Owens should jump from a few inches before the takeoff board. This would reduce the measured distance but avoid the risk of another fault; the theory was that Owens would still clear the required distance even with the handicap of jumping early. However, this conversation may be apocryphal; Grantland Rice was watching Owens the entirety of the qualifying round and did not see him speak to Long. Tom Ecker relates that he asked Owens about the story in 1965 and Owens admitted that it was not true, but just a good story.[3]

In any case, Owens successfully made his third jump at 7.64 metres, advancing to the semifinal round. He and Long each beat the old Olympic record of 7.765 metres multiple times in the semifinal and final rounds. Owens finished with a best jump of 8.06 metres to Long's 7.87 metres. Now, if not before, the two met and became friends: Long was the first to congratulate Owens, embracing the African-American in front of Adolf Hitler. Owens was later the best man at the wedding of Long's son.[4][1]

Background

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This was the 10th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only returning jumper from the 1932 Games was sixth-place finisher Naoto Tajima of Japan. Jesse Owens was the world record holder and heavy favorite.[1]

Afghanistan, the Republic of China, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, and Yugoslavia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States appeared for the 10th time, the only nation to have long jumpers at each of the Games thus far.

Competition format

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The 1936 competition used a three-round format, quite different from previous iterations. For the qualifying round, each jumper had three attempts to reach the required distance of 7.15 metres. Every jumper who achieved that result in qualifying advanced to the semifinal round. There, each jumper had three jumps. The six men with the best jumps in the semifinal advanced to the final, where they received an additional three jumps; any of the six jumps from the semifinal or final would count for the final score, but not the qualifying round jumps.[1][5]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

World record  Jesse Owens (USA) 8.13 Ann Arbor, United States 25 May 1935
Olympic record  Robert LeGendre (USA) 7.765(*) Paris, France 7 July 1924

(*) Robert LeGendre set the Olympic record in the 1924 pentathlon contest

Jesse Owens broke the Olympic record with his second jump in the final round, at 7.87 metres. Luz Long matched that with his fifth, penultimate jump (after also breaking the older record at 7.84 metres on his third), but Owens finished with 7.94 metres and 8.06 metres in his fifth and sixth jumps. However, all of these jumps were wind-aided.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Tuesday, 4 August 1936 10:30
16:30
17:45
Qualifying
Semifinal
Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Athlete Nation Distance Notes
Jesse Owens  United States 7.64 Q
Luz Long  Germany >=7.15 Q
Naoto Tajima  Japan >=7.15 Q
Wilhelm Leichum  Germany >=7.15 Q
Arturo Maffei  Italy >=7.15 Q
Bob Clark  United States >=7.15 Q
John Brooks  United States >=7.15 Q
Robert Paul  France >=7.15 Q
Artur Bäumle  Germany >=7.15 Q
Åke Stenqvist  Sweden >=7.15 Q
Otto Berg  Norway >=7.15 Q
Gianni Caldana  Italy 7.26 Q
Josef Vosolsobě  Czechoslovakia >=7.15 Q
Sam Richardson  Canada >=7.15 Q
Márcio de Oliveira  Brazil >=7.15 Q
Kenshi Togami  Japan >=7.15 Q
Claude Heim  France 7.10
André Prébolin  France 7.07
Willy Rasmussen  Denmark 6.92
Bondoc Ionescu-Crum  Romania <7.15
Carlos de la Guerra  Peru <7.15
Edward Boyce  Great Britain <7.15
Émile Binet  Belgium <7.15
François Mersch  Luxembourg <7.15
George Traynor  Great Britain <7.15
Grigorios Lambrakis  Greece <7.15
Chang Chia-gwe  Republic of China <7.15
Henrik Koltai  Hungary <7.15
Ivo Buratović  Yugoslavia <7.15
Jiří Hoffmann  Czechoslovakia <7.15
Max Berendson  Peru <7.15
Marten Klasema  Netherlands <7.15
Martti Tolamo  Finland <7.15
Masao Harada  Japan <7.15
Mohammad Khan  Afghanistan <7.15
Niño Ramírez  Philippines <7.15
Onni Rajasaari  Finland <7.15
Pascual Gutiérrez  Mexico <7.15
Rudolf Polame  Czechoslovakia <7.15
Ruudi Toomsalu  Estonia 7.00
Hoh Chunde  Republic of China <7.15
Situ Guong  Republic of China <7.15
Jean Studer  Switzerland No mark
Ingvard Andersen  Denmark DNS
Walter Mäder  Switzerland DNS
Ignacio Sánchez  Spain DNS
Pedro del Vecchio  Colombia DNS

Semifinal and Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Semifinal Final
1 2 3 Result 4 5 6 Result
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jesse Owens  United States 7.74 7.87 OR 7.75 7.87 X 7.94 OR 8.06 OR 8.06
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Luz Long  Germany 7.54 7.74 7.84 7.84 7.73 7.87 =OR X 7.87
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Naoto Tajima  Japan 7.65 X 7.74 7.74 7.52 7.60 X 7.74
4 Wilhelm Leichum  Germany X X 7.52 7.52 7.38 7.25 7.73 7.73
Arturo Maffei  Italy 7.50 7.47 7.73 7.73 7.22 7.42 7.39 7.73
6 Bob Clark  United States X 7.60 7.54 7.60 7.60 7.67 7.57 7.67
7 John Brooks  United States 7.34 7.41 7.19 7.41 Did not advance
8 Robert Paul  France 7.34 6.93 7.08 7.34 Did not advance
9 Arthur Bäumle  Germany 7.32 7.21 7.13 7.32 Did not advance
10 Åke Stenqvist  Sweden 7.30 7.13 6.68 7.30 Did not advance
10 Otto Berg  Norway 7.30 X 6.95 7.30 Did not advance
12 Gianni Caldana  Italy 7.26 7.16 7.26 7.26 Did not advance
13 Josef Vosolsobě  Czechoslovakia X 7.03 7.18 7.18 Did not advance
14 Sam Richardson  Canada 7.13 X X 7.13 Did not advance
15 Márcio de Oliveira  Brazil X 6.81 7.05 7.05 Did not advance
16 Kenshi Togami  Japan 6.18 X X 6.18 Did not advance

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Long Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Long Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  3. ^ Goldman, Tom (14 August 2009). "Was Jesse Owens' 1936 Long-Jump Story A Myth?". NPR.org. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  4. ^ A. Augello, "Uccidi Gli Italiani", Milano, Mursia, p.174
  5. ^ Official Report, pp. 668–69.