Athletes in Action

39 THt lL\L '-l\IJLE (1) Tm pictures clw en to illustrate thi chapter are of ] . . Lowe the greate t half-miler Great Britain has produced. They do not depict that easy striding action wher with he strode through the middle section of his two magnificent Olympic races, but portray admirably the electrifying burst of sp ed \vith which he swept past his oppcnents, or raced for the tape when the winning-post was in sight. In competition Lowe always went for his man with an eagle swoop, he gave no warning f his intention and thus established a lead of half a d zen yards, without giving the man he challenged a chance to respond. In Fig. I on the opposite page Lowe portrays the perfect forward b dy-lean and the dir et forward and backward arm-swing of the forceful type associated with the merican style of print-action. Th traight ning of the back 1 g, in a powerful drive, is admirable; the pick-up of the leading knee is not so pronounc d as it w uld be in the case of a roo yds. runner ; but it i sufficient for the purpose of the half-miler. It will be noticed that the head is correctly disposed in relation to the spinal c lumn and that the action of the arms and legs i perfectly c -ordinated, while the lower part of th leading 1 g is kept back in the proper manner a th knee 1 ad the forward strid -acti n. oain, the yes ar directed to a spot n the track 10 to 12 yds. ahead f the runner. This corr et etting f th head insure the correct angle f the body-carriage, and although the body-carriag v ill have been more upright in the striding section of th race, than it is in the sprint period here portrayed it must be remembered that the eyes do not alter the range of their forward outlook when th pace i piled on, since the body angl will adju t it 1f automatically to th peed of the runner.