Jesse Owens friend Luz Long’s silver medal up for auction

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

One of the most consequential Olympic medals ever awarded is on the auction block. It’s the silver medal captured in 1936 by Germany’s Luz Long, the long jumper who walked arm in arm through the stadium with Jesse Owens to celebrate their triumphs while Adolf Hitler watched from the stands. Long’s family has decided to auction the medal and other collectibles from the German jumper’s career. Long was killed in World War II in 1943. The auction house selling the medal has labeled Long’s collection “The Beacon of Hope.” The auction house has set the value of the medal at somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million.