Yeah, after making the main running trail in Eugene after him as well as a major international meet, making movies about him and putting an image of him on the new tower, honoring him with a plaque on a trail near Coos Bay is a bridge too far.
It was the Nike corporation that did all that stuff, not the WA.
If Prefontaine were really all that great, it would have happened spontaneously without corporate PR help. Fact is he just wasn't that good. National level star for a year or two, not a big deal globally.
It was the Nike corporation that did all that stuff, not the WA.
If Prefontaine were really all that great, it would have happened spontaneously without corporate PR help. Fact is he just wasn't that good. National level star for a year or two, not a big deal globally.
It’s fine you don’t consider Pre to be worthy of being a legend but your reasoning is false. He was the best American distance runner for 71-74, held all the distance ARs and was extremely charismatic.
That is pretty straight forward. Pre never medaled because he was too obstinate or immature to win a medal.
He only had one shot which was at Munich. It was a very slow pace and he started to push from about a mile out. He went for the win during the last lap, got dropped and then passed by Stewart during the last 50m. Stewart said that he didn’t think he would have gotten the Bronze if Pre hadn’t gone after Viren and Gammoudi.
With your high level of maturity and racing savvy, what would your strategy have been had you been Pre? Would you have wimped out and conceded the Gold and Silver?
Go back and watch all Olympic 800m, 1500m & 5000m finals. The majority of bronze medalists were in 4th to 6th place with 300m to go. You basically referred to most bronze medalists, 800m to 5000m as wimps.
New shoes will make short work of that. Right now he's #7 on their 5,000m list. He'll be off it in 3 years.
That has nothing to do with my point. He could be #150 on the list and my point would still stand. Times are ephemeral but legends not so much.
But really, times aren't "ephemeral." He won't be considered a legend for too much longer. Sorry, when he's about to be #15 on UO's 5,000 list with a bunch of millenials ahead of him he'll soon be forgotten. Don't blame me. You can thank Nike. I'll always consider Pre a legend, but just last year there were 13 Americans that ran faster than him.
He only had one shot which was at Munich. It was a very slow pace and he started to push from about a mile out. He went for the win during the last lap, got dropped and then passed by Stewart during the last 50m. Stewart said that he didn’t think he would have gotten the Bronze if Pre hadn’t gone after Viren and Gammoudi.
With your high level of maturity and racing savvy, what would your strategy have been had you been Pre? Would you have wimped out and conceded the Gold and Silver?
Go back and watch all Olympic 800m, 1500m & 5000m finals. The majority of bronze medalists were in 4th to 6th place with 300m to go. You basically referred to most bronze medalists, 800m to 5000m as wimps.
The wimp part was an exaggeration but Pre was there to win and that warrior attitude was part of his legend.
Go back and watch all Olympic 800m, 1500m & 5000m finals. The majority of bronze medalists were in 4th to 6th place with 300m to go. You basically referred to most bronze medalists, 800m to 5000m as wimps.
The wimp part was an exaggeration but Pre was there to win and that warrior attitude was part of his legend.
Here are comments from Ian Stewart years after the race:
“I should have been all over Viren, which normally I would have been. It’s probably the worst championship race I ever ran. I was pissed off with myself then and I am pissed off now. I knew I was in fantastic shape, perhaps the best I’d ever been in. And I screwed it up on the day; there’s nothing I can do about it.”
That has nothing to do with my point. He could be #150 on the list and my point would still stand. Times are ephemeral but legends not so much.
But really, times aren't "ephemeral." He won't be considered a legend for too much longer. Sorry, when he's about to be #15 on UO's 5,000 list with a bunch of millenials ahead of him he'll soon be forgotten. Don't blame me. You can thank Nike. I'll always consider Pre a legend, but just last year there were 13 Americans that ran faster than him.
Emil Zatopek is a legend and women will eventually run faster (probably in the next decade) than he did. You are incorrect.
It was the Nike corporation that did all that stuff, not the WA.
If Prefontaine were really all that great, it would have happened spontaneously without corporate PR help. Fact is he just wasn't that good. National level star for a year or two, not a big deal globally.
It’s fine you don’t consider Pre to be worthy of being a legend but your reasoning is false. He was the best American distance runner for 71-74, held all the distance ARs and was extremely charismatic.
He wasn’t popular in the state of Washington?
i.e. national level star like I said.
I don't know that any US elite who didn't make it as a world elite qualifies as a legend. If not winning medals or setting records, at least regularly beat the world's best, e.g. Bill Rodgers. Did Pre do that? He was close but no cigar
That is pretty straight forward. Pre never medaled because he was too obstinate or immature to win a medal.
He only had one shot which was at Munich. It was a very slow pace and he started to push from about a mile out. He went for the win during the last lap, got dropped and then passed by Stewart during the last 50m. Stewart said that he didn’t think he would have gotten the Bronze if Pre hadn’t gone after Viren and Gammoudi.
With your high level of maturity and racing savvy, what would your strategy have been had you been Pre? Would you have wimped out and conceded the Gold and Silver?
It was a very slow pace...No 10 seconds from the world record is not a very slow pace.
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