Olympic silver awarded to German who came second to Jesse Owens in 1936 set to sell for £900,000

The medal that exposed the void of the Nazis’ racial superiority will fetch up to £900,000 this week when it goes under the hammer this week.

Adolf Hitler hoped to promote his ideas of Aryan supremacy when he hosted the 1936 Berlin Olympics and built a 100,000-seat stadium for the showcase.

But when German long jump champion Carl Ludwig ‘Luz’ Long took on Jesse Owens, the African-American world record holder, it was the latter to win gold.

Then, as Hitler watched, Luz congratulated and hugged his rival before leading him through the stadium and posing for a picture with him.

Owens, who nearly failed to make the final after two faulty jumps, would later appreciate Long’s advice to help him qualify for the final round.

Now the German’s family is putting its silver medal up for auction, with the heirloom set to bring up to $1 million (£900,000) under the hammer.

Austin Widger of SCP Auctions, who handles the sale, said: “Luz Long’s silver medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics is very historic in what it represents.

When Long gave Jesse Owens advice on how to qualify for the long jump final, he pretty much eliminated every chance he’d had to win the gold medal.

“At that time, he showed how sport transcends discrimination and nationalist divides, and has the power to unite people from the most diverse backgrounds.

“Luz Long became the bravest sportsman in Olympic history by going against everything the Third Reich stood for and helping an African American win gold in the long jump.”

Speaking of Luz, Owens later said the outcome must have driven Hitler “crazy.”

He said, “It took him a lot of courage to befriend me.

“You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be the pinnacle of the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at the time.

“Hitler must have gone mad when he hugged us.”

He was right.

Albert Speer, Hitler’s closest ally and favorite architect, later wrote that the dictator was “extremely annoyed” by the success of black Americans at the 1936 Olympics.

And Owens was the highest achiever at the Games, winning four gold medals.

Long and Owens kept in touch for years after the Olympics, exchanging letters until the German’s death in 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

In his last letter, Luz wrote – in anticipation of his death –: ‘Go to Germany when this war is over, one day find my Karl and tell him about his father.

“Tell him, Jesse, what it was like when we weren’t separated by war. I say – tell him what it can be like between people on this earth.’

Owens did so in 1964, he visited Berlin and told Karl about the advice Luz had given before qualifying, suggesting that he jump from further back to avoid another mistake.

“He helped me measure one foot behind the starting board,” Owens said.

“And then I came down and hit between these two points. And that’s why I qualified.’

It’s possible that Owens embellished a bit for his friend’s son — a contemporary account makes no mention of the two talking before the match ended.

And in a 1965 interview, Owens said, “People like to hear those stories, so tell them.”

In any case, the mark they left on sports history is real.

The two families even met at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin.

Luz’s daughter-in-law, Ragna Long, and his granddaughter, Julia Kellner Long, made the decision to sell the heirloom after Karl – Julia’s father – passed away at the age of 80.

“They’ve handed over the silver medal, and several dozen other Long family heirlooms, to this special auction that showcases Luz’s collection,” said Mr. Widger.

Owens, a smoker, died of lung cancer in 1980. He was 66.

Long, who was just 30 when he was murdered, is buried in Sicily.