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

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.

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 →

Jesse Owens and Luz Long

edit
 
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

edit

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

edit

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

edit

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

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

Results

edit

Qualifying

edit
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

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Semifinal Final
1 2 3 Result 4 5 6 Result
  Jesse Owens   United States 7.74 7.87 OR 7.75 7.87 X 7.94 OR 8.06 OR 8.06
  Luz Long   Germany 7.54 7.74 7.84 7.84 7.73 7.87 =OR X 7.87
  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

edit
  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.