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Question
As it turned out, Luz broke his own past record. In doing so, he pushed me on to a peak performance. I remember that at the instant I landed from my final jump—the one which set the Olympic record of 26 feet 5-5/16 inches—he was at my side, congratulating me. Despite the fact that Hitler glared at us from the stands not a hundred yards away, Luz shook my hand hard—and it wasn’t a fake “smile with a broken heart” sort of grip, either.
You can melt down all the gold medals and cups I have, and they couldn’t be a plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. I realized then, too, that Luz was the epitome of what Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, must have had in mind when he said, “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What, according to Coubertin, is the true spirit of the Olympics? Explain the reference to Coubertin.
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Solution
Coubertin had declared that taking part in Olympics was more important than winning. Coubertin had declared that taking part in Olympics was more important than winning. Luz Long, being a true sportsman and an amazing human being, helped his fellow sportsman to qualify in his jump that made him win. This shows Long believed in participating rather than winning. His rival’s winning did not make him jealous. On the contrary, he congratulated him with all his heart. This clearly exemplifies that Long believed in Coubertin’s words and passed the thought to Owens.
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Then, trying to hide my nervousness, I added, “How are you?”
“I’m fine. The question is: How are you?“
“What do you mean?” 1 asked “Something must be eating you,” he said—proud the way foreigners are when they’ve mastered a bit of American slang. “You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed.”
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