The race took exactly 10.3 seconds. To Owens it must have seemed a lifetime. With almost monotonous regularity he pumped his arms back and forth and sent his sleek thigh muscles into bicycle-like motion. With his characteristic upright stance he moved machine-like to the fore of the six runners. Five meters to go and his coloured team companion was catching up fast. Owens lashed his six spikes into the ground and sent it spurting up behind him. The fantastic power in his ankles showed visibly as he bent his right foot and flew his left through the air to land a yard and a half in front of him. The finishing tape grew closer. Owens flexed his stomach muscles and pushed his chest out still further in order to gain that extra tenth of a second he needed. The tape snapped as he ripped against it and with decreasing momentum he slowed down to a stop.
Above the roars of the crowd, the American National Anthem broke through. Owens had struck GOLD!
John Flanagan. 5Q