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.
Thrombocytopenia, the medical term for a low blood platelet count, occurs when blood platelets die faster than theyâre reproduced. According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy count ranges between 150,000 and 450,000 platelets for every microliter of circulating blood. A low platelet count occurs for several reasons.