Athletes in Action

0 THE HALF-:\IILE-SlJl\L\ L\RY D . G. A. LowE, Cambridge University and Great Britain, who is the subject of our pictures, portrayed the very poetry of motion in his running days, and was certainly among the most painstaking and greatest-hearted of our British athletes . His triumphs have been many; outstanding among his laurels must be reckoned his two victories at 8oo metres in the Olympic Games and his v;orld's record of 6oo yds. in 1 min. ro~ secs . His sprint-action, whereby he "jumped" his opponents in a race or sprinted fo r the tape down the home stretch, is quite exceptional for the half-miler type of runner. The full length of leg-drive, with adequate pick-up of the knee of the leading leg, full sprinter's fonYard body-lean and forceful piston action of the arms are all points well ·worthy of note in Fig. r . The excellent "hang" of the rear leg, shown in Fig. 2, is something very different from the "dragging" back-leg displayed by so many mediocre runners, while the assistance which the arms can give to the propulsion of the body is equally \vell shown in Fig. 3· The gathering together of the body at the completion of a st ride, in preparation for the next stride forward, is the main feature of Fig. 4, while the compactness of the runner's position, as seen in Fig. 5, guarantees that the next stride will be at least as long and as strong as the one that is shown in our illustrations . + '-.0