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 Luz Long.
In plain words
A friend he made at a race meant more to him than any medal.
Where these words come from
- 50% sureLots of sources credit Jesse Owens with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
- From an ESPN SportsCentury profile by Larry Schwartz (2005) recounting Owens's own words about German rival Luz Long; a secondary retelling, held at likely.
- as retold in ESPN SportsCentury profile, 2005
- 1936 · Berlin Olympics · remembering his friendship with German long-jump rival Luz Long
