My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary

In this article, you will be reading My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary. It is taken from the autobiography of Jesse Owens’, a well-known writer. In the story, he narrated his experience of true friendship in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. The writer met a German rival who became his good friend because of the broad-mindedness of the latter. The story speaks of true friendship and true sportsmanship. The writer won four gold medals. However, he admitted that life long friendship was his greatest Olympic prize.

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary in English

The article explains My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary. It has a character named Adolf Hitler. He was the Chancellor of Germany and was preparing for the event with his performers. He intended to win the greatest number of medals in the events to show the superiority of the Aryan race. However, an American Negro named Jesse Owens was determined to prove the theory of Hitler to be wrong. Setting this goal in the mind, he trained himself regressively for six years. Also, he disciplined himself for succeeding in life.

Furthermore, a year before the huge event, he set a world record of 26 feet 8-1/4 inches in running board jump organized at his university. Thus, he was expected to win the Olympic very easily. However, a furious athlete always commit mistakes. Hence, Jesse fouled in the first two trial leaps. The reason being his taking off from several inches beyond the line. Then he thought bitterly as if he had come 3000 miles to get fouled and make a fool of himself.

The writer was very frustrated and kicked the ground in disgust. All of a sudden, there was a friendly hand on his shoulder. The man was no other than his German rival. His name was Luz Long. He had qualified for the finals in his first attempt. A man with blue eyes met him friendly. He offered a firm handshake to Jesse. Then he encouraged Jesse not to lose hope and advised him to leap from a few inches back of the board. His advice helped Jesse in qualifying for the finals.

At the night, Jesse met Luz to thank him for his suggestion. Moreover, they entered into a conversation about each other, sports events and the situation of the world. Jesse felt good to hear that his friend does not have a mentality of being superior or to prove the superiority of Aryan race. They became nice friends. Liz long was broad-minded. He wanted Jesse to do his best even if that meant his winning in the event.

The next day, Luz broke his record which was an inspiration for Jesse to perform the best. Furthermore, Luz was the first to congratulate him when he landed from his performance. Liz offered him a firm handshake even after knowing that Hitler was noticing the two. Thus, Liz displayed true sportsmanship by his action. Jesse won four gold medals in the event. However, the true friendship with Luz worth him more than the medals. He calls it as his Greatest Olympic Prize. Their friendship ended only after the death of Luz in the Second World War.

Jesse adds to his note that Luz was a true example of sportsman spirit. For him taking part and performing at one’s best is more important than winning or losing.

Conclusion of My Greatest Olympic Prize

The story gives a powerful message about how to be a true friend and a true sportsman. Also, it gives a lesson that we should be broadminded and give away the feelings of hatred or prejudices.