We can all agree that if Pre were coached by Gjert Ingebrigtsen he'd have been the first man under 13 minutes.
We can all agree that if Pre were coached by Gjert Ingebrigtsen he'd have been the first man under 13 minutes.
OozmaKappa wrote:
The dirty little secret is that if he had lived nobody would remember him. He wasnt going to do anything, his legacy is a legend of what could have been but was realistically never going to be.
Disagree. At some point, I think he would have gone into politics--perhaps after Nike. He was very popular in Oregon. Could have ended up as Governor.
douglas burke wrote:
Yes he would have, He loved running, if he were alive today, he would be like Bill Rodgers running weekly road races, Pre would be 70 years old and setting lots of age records.
Setting age group records? No elite American distance runner on the track has done that. After running in the Olympics, running in the masters division in some road race would be embarrassing and wouldn't have motivated him to train more than 5 minutes.
Kobbs Hessler wrote:
He would have been only 33 so perhaps a successful marathoner by that point. Carlos Lopes was 37 when he won the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles. Or would Pre have burned himself out by then, or been on the decline for other reasons?
Ivo Van Damme would likely have moved up to marathon by 84 had he lived, and would have edged out a Pre if he had lived for gold. Then again, it's all impondrables. If Jim Ryun hadn't tripped in 72 and become disillusioned and retired, he would have likely gone on till 84 and bowed out with Olympic marathon gold, edging out Ivo Vand Damme if he had lived and Pre if he had lived, with Carlos Lopez just out of the medals after all those blood transfusions.
Old Farp wrote:
Kobbs Hessler wrote:
He would have been only 33 so perhaps a successful marathoner by that point. Carlos Lopes was 37 when he won the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles. Or would Pre have burned himself out by then, or been on the decline for other reasons?
Ivo Van Damme would likely have moved up to marathon by 84 had he lived, and would have edged out a Pre if he had lived for gold. Then again, it's all impondrables. If Jim Ryun hadn't tripped in 72 and become disillusioned and retired, he would have likely gone on till 84 and bowed out with Olympic marathon gold, edging out Ivo Vand Damme if he had lived and Pre if he had lived, with Carlos Lopez just out of the medals after all those blood transfusions.
If Alberto Juantorena hadn't trashed his ankle, he would have been the marathon winner in 1984.
SDSU Aztec wrote:
Old Farp wrote:
Ivo Van Damme would likely have moved up to marathon by 84 had he lived, and would have edged out a Pre if he had lived for gold. Then again, it's all impondrables. If Jim Ryun hadn't tripped in 72 and become disillusioned and retired, he would have likely gone on till 84 and bowed out with Olympic marathon gold, edging out Ivo Vand Damme if he had lived and Pre if he had lived, with Carlos Lopez just out of the medals after all those blood transfusions.
If Alberto Juantorena hadn't trashed his ankle, he would have been the marathon winner in 1984.
Lol. Totally. From 400/800m golds in '76 to marathon gold in '84. The LA Olympics definitely marked the end of several spectacular careers - Juantorena, Allan Wells, Pietro Mennea, David Moorcroft, etc. Btw, I always wondered why there were never any Coe/Ovett clashes with Juantorena. Their careers overlapped for a number of years. Excluding the '76 Montreal final vs a young Ovett, did they ever race??
Pre did not have a marathoner's physique or a marathoner's mindset.
He was built more like a miler than a marathoner and he did not like to run long distances.
Pre would have taken Gold or Silver in 76 and retired
"Only" 33? You have to remember, those were the days when athletes like Pre were considered amateurs. Any kind of payment for running they got had to be under the table. Shoe contracts were in their infancy. After college, Pre had to make ends meet pouring beer. Athletes in general retired young. Viren was the only guy in the Montreal 5k final that was also in the Munich final. Everyone else from the Munich final was gone, including Pre. So no, he probably would have made it to Montreal but that would have been the end of the line for him.
Kobbs Hessler wrote:
Lol. Totally. From 400/800m golds in '76 to marathon gold in '84. The LA Olympics definitely marked the end of several spectacular careers - Juantorena, Allan Wells, Pietro Mennea, David Moorcroft, etc. Btw, I always wondered why there were never any Coe/Ovett clashes with Juantorena. Their careers overlapped for a number of years. Excluding the '76 Montreal final vs a young Ovett, did they ever race??
I don't think they did. Alberto got injured just as Coe's career was really taking off. I remember watching an interview with Coe after he had set the British record or something in 78 and how much he was looking forward to taking on Juantorena. But he was never a force again, although he did carry on until 84, I think he was injured more often than not, and the times when he did string a few races together, were the times when Coe and Ovett were both injured or struggling (82 and 83).
Is odd to think that Coe's career overlapped significently with both Alberto Juantorena and Said Aouita, and yet as fate would have it, he never raced either once.
Les wrote: Viren was the only guy in the Montreal 5k final that was also in the Munich final. Everyone else from the Munich final was gone, including Pre.
No, Ian Stewart was 3rd in ‘72 and 7th in ‘76.
Carlos Lopes competed in the 5k heats in Munich and of course won the marathon in L.A., but he’s an exception to the normal rules.
Miruts Yifter took 10k bronze in ‘72 and was entered in the 5k but arrived late for the race; Ethiopia boycotted in ‘76, and Yifter eventually won the double in 1980.
I generally agree with the gist of your post, though: careers were shorter then, early-thirties was considered much older for a runner, and chances are Pre would have hung them up before 1984.
Les wrote: So no, he probably would have made it to Montreal but that would have been the end of the line for him.
Actually, no, I can’t generally agree with the gist of your post if this is the gist. I absolutely believe that Pre would have continued competing at a high level beyond 1976/age 25. 1984/age 33? Way less likely.
Kobbs Hessler wrote:
He would have been only 33 so perhaps a successful marathoner by that point. Carlos Lopes was 37 when he won the Olympic marathon in Los Angeles. Or would Pre have burned himself out by then, or been on the decline for other reasons?
Wasn't Yifter like 36-37 running 13:16 in 1980- which was maybe 3 seconds off his all time PR. I absolutely think Pre could have gone through 1980 at least, age 29 and improved 10 seconds to 13:11. Would not have been able to beat Rono though -13:08 at age 26. Not sure he would have moved up to marathon after that, maybe the 10k. I think Pre beat Yifter in 1971.
Moorcroft was 29 years old when he set the World record of 13:00.41 in 1982,
Pre ran ~13:22 +/- one second in '72, '73, '74 and '75, why do you think he could have improved 10 seconds when he was stagnating?
Will you Please wrote:
The continuing and overwhelming obsession with Pre on here is disturbing and repulsive and is actually one of the reasons I sometimes hesitate to come to these boards. Nothing new is EVER said on this topic. He was a nonmedalist in an Olympic Games where Americans won the 800 and the marathon. You seem to ignore the fact that there have been several more successful AND more interesting American distance runners in the last half-century. What's with you people?
He was actually the most interesting - all the others we’ve had in our sport have mild quirks. Our modern day distance runners have no personality. You watched Pre to race and not time trial like people do these days. The older generation clings on to him as they are sick of hearing our elites complain about not having sponsorships, having a bad race because they “didn’t taper for it”, not having rabbits, ideal conditions, various excuses…
Yeah, I know that's the oft-repeated myth. Yawn. Seriously, yawn. And I don't hear that many elites mouthing those complaints you list.
His legs would have fallen off long before 84, from chasing money on the road racing circuit.
Pre had not improved his 5K much from 72 Olympics until his passing, but he set the 2K, 2 mile, 3K & 10K American records. He was improving & likely the 10K is where he had the most upside. Rather then stagnating He was improving & could’ve won gold in Montreal or surely medaled. After Munich, he could have continued as long as wanted including up to 84. He would have been a factor in the 10K or marathon there.
Many think he did not have the temperament for a marathoner, but the same could have been said about Rod Dixon, Lopes, Salazar & other track athletes who became marathoners. Pre’s attitude matched up well with marathon racing.
He was a great runner but not outstanding
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