Evening star., 1925-02-06

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be the normal condition of every o.
self-indulgence were too costly.
Americans and others who have
seen Nurmi in action have comment
ed on his lack of muscular develop
ment in the arms and shoulders.
They say he has neglected all-around
development. This, however, is far
from the case.
The Nurmis do not run to bulging
muscles. No athlete has used his
legs more than Paavo Nurmi, but
when one compares those limbs with
the underpinning of many American
stars the Nurmi legs seem mere pipe
stems. The thighs are especially
smal1-scarcely greater in circumfer-
ence than the calves Paavo is not
a meaty individual, and the slender
arms simply conform to the general
plan on which he is built The arms,
like the legs, are slim, but the
muscles which lack bulk do not lack
strength and elasticity. They are the
muscles of the greyhound that he is.
The training scheme of paavo fol-
lowed prior to the Finnish national
championships of 1919 was one that
took care of his all-around develop
ment. All Finland is on skis or
skates during the Winter months, and
Paavo found in those sports-at least
in skiing-the opportunity to keep
himself constantly fit. He lik ed
skating the better of the two, but
experience showed him that skiing
was the better exercise for a runner.
Skaters Slow Runners, He Says.
In skiing" says Paavo, the same
muscles that are used in running are
employed, and in much TIE same man
ner. The ski harness by means of
which the skis are attached to the
ShnaG MI of q
muscles of the foot and ankle,
whereas no such play is possible when
steel skates are attached to the shoes.
In skating you employ a gliding mo-
ton, accelerating your speed by ap-
plying pressure from the inside of
the foot, while In skiing the pressure
is applied from the toe, just as in
running. 1 found some of the best
skaters were our slowest runners,
while our best skiers were almost
invariably speedy trackmen. Conse
quently l selected skiing as the best
Winter sport to follow"
Skiing, however, was not Paavo's
only exercise during the snowy sea-
son. His brother Martti had devel
oped considerable skill in boxing and
wrestling, and Paavo, not to be out
done by the youngster, took up those
sports also and became SO proficient
in them that he was urged to seek
national championships in the ring
and on the mat. There was plenty
his-there is still-as several ambi-
tious boxers and wrestlers in Abo
and Helsingfors will testify.
But chasing over the roads and
fields during the Spring and early
Summer proved his best conditioner.
He was hard at it for half hour and
often a full hour each day. How
L. 4
in those months he does not know,
nor the number of pairs of running
shoes he wore to shreds. 1t seemed
TO him he always was in need of
new pair and that sports goods mer-
chants got all his spare cash.
Had Ambitious Program.
When the national championships
came, however, Paavo was ready for
them. His was an ambitious pro-
gram. He had in mind the duplica-
tion of Hannes kohlemainens achieve
ment of 1912 in winning the 5000
meter, 10,000-meter and the cross
country runs in the Stockholm Olym-
pio games, and the Finnish national
championships were to determine
whether he was ready to attempt
such a taxing feat.
Paavo entered for those three races
in the Finnish championships-th
5,000-meter run the morning of the
first day, the 10,000-meter the after
noon of the same day and the cross
country run the day following. His
friends marveled at his self-imposed
task. hohlemainen was in America
at the time, but there were many
capable athletes entered in the cham
pionships, and, with one or two ex-
CeptiOnS, each was concentrating on
one event.
There was big contingent from
Abo on hand. Selsingfors might
doubt Paavo's ability for so difficult
r. program, but not the folk of Abo.
Hadn't Paavo run the 1900 meters in
minutes and seconds when he
was but a 10year-old? Hadn't he
set a new Junior record for the 5000
meters when he was scarcely II
Hadn't he set other records in win
ming senior races when only a year
older? Pooh! What were three races
in two days to Paavo Nurmi?
And how that Abo contingent did
crow when the three races were done.
No new records came, as many pre-
dicted, but each was completed in
close to record time, and without ex-
Geption it was the blond, curly
headed chap in the faded uniform of
the Abo Urheiluliitto, who split the
tape at the finish mark.
The Antwerp Olympic games were
then only one year away and Paavo
Nurmi, with II months to prepare.
believed he could face the greatest
runners of the outside world and
still duplicate the three-ply victory
scored by Kolehmainen in the last
previous Olympics.
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TOmOrrow-Setting the Pace with
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