Owens, though, made the best of the situation, focusing on his studies and training with the OSU track team under coach Larry Snyder. Snyder, who thought Owens' race starts were too slow, made the athlete repeatedly practice starts that had him crouching tightly at the starting line. He also altered Owens' long-jump style, teaching him to move his legs in mid-air.
In general, a low platelet count occurs because: 1  The body's bone marrow doesn't make enough platelets. 2  The bone marrow makes enough platelets, but the body destroys them or uses them up. 3  The spleen holds on to too many platelets.
Causes of Low Blood Platelet Count. Some of the reasons for a drop in blood platelets are: 1  The bone marrow does not produce enough platelets. 2  A condition where the body uses and destroys platelets even when the marrow produces enough. 3  A problematic spleen could also deplete the platelets from your blood.