He lived in Maribor and it was there that he founded a family and concluded his gymnastics career and his work. Personified Idea of Olympianism Stukelj, only two years younger than the beginning of the modern Olympic Games and a triumphant embodiment of the ancient Greek identity of the spirit and the body, was not only a synonym for apparatus gymnastics but also for Slovene sport and human values. Leon Stukelj personified the idea of Olympianism in the noblest sense of the word, for he preserved the genuine image of gymnastics by nobly intertwining the spirit and the body. He remains a model for the young and the entire sport as a man of incredible will, persistence, patience and endurance, and a man of witty and intelligent character. Along with the American athlete Jessie Owens, his picture is exhibited in the New York Hall of Fame.
History does repeat itself.
While at the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, Stukelj met the American athletics legend, Jessie Owens. From that time, Stukelj kept a picture of them standing next to each other. This medal also marked the culmination of Stukelj's sports career, an achievement that has not been repeated by any other Slovene sportsman or sportswoman. Once again, even today, they stand together. Leon Stukelj attended the Olympic Games in 1996 in Atlanta, with the whole world celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Olympic Games of the modern era.