Critics meet Olympians: Jonathan Jones meets hurdler Andy Turner – in pictures

'What I am thinking as Turner crouches on the blocks, face severe and sinews throbbing, is that athletes are heroes of being human. They show us the extremes of physical achievement we are, or should be, capable of.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

'Everything about Turner’s life appears to be about challenge and discipline: as he observes, you can’t exactly go home after training and booze it up in the pub.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Olympic 110-metre hurdler Andy Turner, bronze medallist at last year's World Championships, training at the Lee Valley Athletic Centre. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

'Turner runs at the training hurdles – lighter than race hurdles but amazingly high. It seems incredible anyone can jump them with such a short run in between and still maintain their speed.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

'The sculptor Polykleitos devised the “Canon” of the perfect athletic body, the ideal measurements of the ideal human. I seem to be seeing that ideal come alive.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

'When Turner started out, he did part-time factory jobs. The Lottery, sponsorship and prize money now make it possible for hurdling to be his full-time job.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Andy Turner trains with his coach. 'He has been dedicated to athleticism since school – his dad was an 800-metre runner – and at 31, has the flab-free, slender but powerful physique of a man who has been training his body all his life. The London Olympics will be his crowning moment.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian