Word: gg
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...years ago when Lennart Strand was 22, he did not realize that he was a runner of promise. Just out of the Swedish Army, he heard that famed Gunder Hägg lived in the same block and volunteered to work out with him. He entered a few races, proved to be a first-rate pacesetter and gradually became known in Sweden as "Hägg's rabbit." One day, the rabbit turned on the dog; Strand was in front of Hägg at the finish line. Paavo Nurmi exclaimed: "The most outstanding runner I have ever seen...
Fortnight ago Hägg's rabbit arrived in Manhattan, a lanky fellow with lean, muscular legs, a squirrel's face and an antelope's lope. Like most Swedish trackmen he was in sad need of a haircut. He knew a little English but said he had already learned the "Indian language" (uh-uh; uh-huh; huh). He knew all about U.S. jazz (he plays the piano, violin and banjo by ear). In Manhattan, Strand listened to Swingdom's blind piano player Art Tatum, his favorite, then went off reluctantly to California. But the Swedish speedster...
...Strand was yards in front, unhurried, and two-tenths of a second off Les MacMitchell's meet record of 3:51.4. He might not run the four-minute mile at the San Antonio A.A.U. championships this month, but U.S. tracksters already regarded him with brooding respect. Hägg's rabbit would be hard to beat...
...went to Sweden last summer, blandly asked if he could enter a private, cutthroat mile race featuring Sweden's top swifties. Grumpy Gunder Hägg objected, then consented if Hansenne lagged behind the field, kept out of the way. The man Hansenne beat that day was the right one: Hägg...
Closest to the mythical four-minute-mile: lean-legged Gunder Hägg's 4:01.4 record (under fire while Sweden decided the controversial issue of Hagg's amateur status...