In perfect asymmetry (Andre DeGrasse)

by Rachel Brady, The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/small-light-and-unconventional-how-does-de-grasse-do-it/article31450048/?click=sf_globe

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In perfect asymmetry
It’s hard to explain, but experts would love to try. Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse, at 5-foot-9 and 154 pounds and with a running style that has his right arm flying behind him, doesn’t fit the conventional mold of a world class sprinter, reports Rachel Brady. So why’s he so fast?

The 5-foot-9, 154-pound sprinter is shorter and less muscular than most of his opponents. He doesn’t start races out of the blocks particularly well, and as he flies down the track, his right arm swings backward in a quirky sort of way. To boot, the 21-year-old youngster took up sprinting less than four years ago. Yet De Grasse, who ran the 100-metre dash in 9.91 seconds to capture an Olympic bronze medal on Sunday, is defying many conventional beliefs about how a world-class sprinter should look and move.

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The youngster from Markham, Ont., repeatedly pumps his outstretched right arm behind him when hitting his top speed during a race; meanwhile his left arm is bent and pumping in a more typical way.

The asymmetry is in sharp contrast to most of his opponents, who typically pump bent arms at both sides. De Grasse told a reporter from the International Association of Athletics Federations website last year that he attributes that extended right arm swing to an imbalance in his hips caused by a minor basketball injury in his childhood.

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