Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

128 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS straight up to the front and to take the hurdle literally in the stride as is done in low hurdling; of course, if the athlete is strong and long enough to do so, and still retains sufficient strength and body control to snap the leading leg down on the far side of the hurdle and the back leg up and over quickly, so much the better; but there are very few who can accomplish this feat without loss of style, and to these a little lateral movement of the leading leg is permissible (see fig. 40). Perfect style is shown in fig. 39· For the purpose of description, let us again assume that the left leg is the one which passes first over the obstacle. As the spot frot:n which the athlete takes off is reached, in seven strides from the scratch line, the right leg is straightened out so that the final flick comes from the very toes themselves (sketch 1, p. 129); simultaneously the left leg is thrown straight up to the front, the whole leg being turned over just a little so that the outside ankle-bone is undermost and the leg bent very slightly at the knee ; instantly the leg is snapped down on the other side of the hurdle., the whole object of the hurdler being to get to ground again with as little loss of time as possible. (Note : the athlete takes off about six feet from the hurdle, and lands some six feet on the other side of it.) The fence must be "flown" with as little to spare bet~een the top rail and the seat of the "silks" as may be consistent with safety (sketches 2 and 3). As the middle of the thigh of the left leg is centralised over the hurdle, the body should be pressed down over this leading leg to aid in forcing the foot rapidly to ground; at the same fraction of a second as the body is depressed the abdominal muscles are contracted, and the right leg is drawn strongly up into the