Why? The Science of Athletics

j, I' j I s6 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS scientific explanations of both physiological and psycho– logical phenomena, and to interpret the implication of things that happen in his pleasurable pursuit of athletics. What has been said applies to all forms of athletics ; but where racing, in particular, is concerned, a very high order of mentality is called for if continued success is to be assured. Men of the type instanced above have planned not only their races but their training with the same meticulous care and forethought that they have brought to their careers when running days were over. To take Douglas Lowe as an outstanding example. All the world knows how cleverly he won his two epic Boo metres Olympic titles, and one feels sure that every phase of the manner in which those two races were to be run was fully planned well in advance. Lowe, I think, had a peculiar genius for summing up both the possibilities and the potentialities of his opponents, and one can well believe, in the case of his second Olympic Championship in 1928, that he had studied and summed up all the previous performances of the Americ_an, Lloyd Hahn, who was gener~lly regarded as the most dangerous challenger for the title Lowe had won in I 924. Further than that, I am convinced that, before the games began, Lowe had a good working knowledge of the form of Bylehn, Sweden; Englehardt, Germany; Edwards, Canada, and his old rival, the Frenchman, Sera Martin, who also reached the final. I have reason to believe, moreover, that in the period which elapsed between the decision of the eliminating heats on Sunday, July 29th, and the running of the final on Tuesday, July 31st, Lowe considered every phase of each heat in order that he might assess in his own mind the way the men would run and what would be the best strategy for him to adopt in the final. In the foregoing connection I well remember certain happenings at the World's Student Championships at Darmstadt in 1930. Lowe was there as President of the Universities Athletic Union and British delegate to