Nurmi was inspired to become a runner by the incredible performance of Finnish runner, Hannes Kolehmainen, at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Kolehmainen brought his small country to international attention by winning three gold medals in long-distance events. Nurmi was 15 years old at the time. He soon bought his first real pair of running shoes and started training.
Disciplined Training
Nurmi was one of the first athletes ever to take a systematic approach to training. Although this approach is common today, in Nurmi's time no one had yet thought to train with a stopwatch to measure pace and time, or to cross-train by combining running, walking, and calisthenics. His major innovation in training was to run most of the race at an even pace. Because he ran with a watch, Nurmi, unlike other athletes, knew what his pace was while he was running and could plan his winning strategy. Before this, runners had run fairly slow laps around the track, conserving their strength until the last lap when they sprinted to the finish. The Sports Museum Foundation of Finland quoted him as saying, "When you race against time, you don't have to sprint. Others can't hold the pace if it is steady and slow to the finish."
Nurmi's discipline took precedence over everything else in his life.
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