
"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler ... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Lutz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again. He was killed in World War II."
sobre as felicitações dadas pelo atleta alemão Lutz Long, vencedor da medalha de prata na prova do salto em comprimento, que segundo alguns relatos terá dado conselhos a Owens que o ajudaram a vencer a medalha de ouro nessa mesma prova.
Fonte: Schwartz, Larry. Owens pierced a myth na ESPN SportsCentury, 2005