i believe this is correct...
Pre held 7 distance records at one time, yeah that sucks, overrated. OH and what records still stand from those times? Not a whole lot because we (as humans) are always getting faster, so back then HE WAS GOOD, if not GREAT, so yes he was a good runner, the best in the US... sort of like hall, webb and ritz today. so shut up about him not being the best, he was at one point
i do love the arguments for PowerPoints, i'll start mine tonight
You are underestimating The Great One. He would have found a way for the US to avoid the boycott of 1980. Then it was just a small matter of dropping Yifter the Shifter around the 7k mark...
GlobalView wrote:
I agree with this assessment. So, if we can play the "I wonder..." game, I speculate he would've been outkicked in the 5000 by Viren in Montreal. Not even the moved-up milers who were gathering around him could match his final move in the last 100m. 55 for the last lap in a quickish race (for that era) would've been tough for Prefontaine to live with.
Then he may have moved up to 10k, with the boycott dashing hopes there. By '84 you could argue he would've been a marathoner. Would've been fun to see him run against Salazar, Treacy and Lopes.
It's hard to see how Prefontaine would have done better than fifth place in the 5,000 in Montreal. Silver medalist Dick Quax had a faster PR for the distance as well as a faster finish. Likewise, bronze medalist Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand had a 13:13 PR going into Montreal and showed that he had excellent finishing speed. Rod Dixon had beaten Prefontaine by four seconds in a two mile in 1974 in what was Prefontaine's greatest ever performance in Europe.
8:14.32 Rod Dixon NZL
8:16.55 Emiel Puttemans BEL
8:18.29 Steve Prefontaine USA
Prefontaine might well have finished third in the Montreal 10k behind Viren and Carlos Lopes and ahead of Brendan Foster, but only because Foster was ill.
Living in the Past wrote:
It's hard to see how Prefontaine would have done better than fifth place in the 5,000 in Montreal. Silver medalist Dick Quax had a faster PR for the distance as well as a faster finish. Likewise, bronze medalist Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand had a 13:13 PR going into Montreal and showed that he had excellent finishing speed. Rod Dixon had beaten Prefontaine by four seconds in a two mile in 1974 in what was Prefontaine's greatest ever performance in Europe.
8:14.32 Rod Dixon NZL
8:16.55 Emiel Puttemans BEL
8:18.29 Steve Prefontaine USA
Prefontaine might well have finished third in the Montreal 10k behind Viren and Carlos Lopes and ahead of Brendan Foster, but only because Foster was ill.
This is an accurate assessment.
[quote]Living in the Past wrote:
It's hard to see how Prefontaine would have done better than fifth place in the 5,000 in Montreal.
You are correct. He would have been shut out in the 5k in Montreal, worse than he was in Munich IF the race would have unfolded the way it did in '76, just with him in it, not affecting the pace. If he could have run the 1st 2 miles in 8:30 or something, then who knows. His best event would have been the 10k, down the line. Those 5k placers in Montreal were all faster finishers than Pre. The fact that Viren took their best shots and held on for the win is astounding.
Teg doesn't run the 10k
No major medals to his name, ran tactically inept races and the guy is classed as a legend?
So what if you run 4995 meters of a 5000 race in the lead, it's about who comes home first that counts.
Maybe that suggestion isn't so far-fetched. Prefontaine was an active campaigner for athletes' rights, so is it possible he could've gone jogging with Jimmy Carter and exerted some influence (assuming Prefontaine would've been against the boycott).
The 7k move by Yifter would've been easy to deal with after that. From there, Pre could've moved into politics and saved the day in the Middle East, Ireland, Kosovo, Africa...
stevepre.com
Year-by-Year
Year Age Affiliation 880 1500 Mile 3000 2Mile 3Mile 5000 10000
1966 15 Marshfield HS
5:01+
10:08.6
1967 16
Marshfield HS
2:03.6
4:32.0
9:42.1
13:57.0
1968
17
Marshfield HS
1:56.2
4:12.6
9:01.3
1969
18
Marshfield HS
1:54.3
4:06.0
8:41.5
13:43.0
13:52.8
1970
19
U. of Oregon
3:44.9
3:57.4
8:40.0
13:12.8
13:39.6
1971
20
U. of Oregon
3:40.5
3:57.4
8:33.2
12:58.6
13:30.4
1972
21
U. of Oregon
3:39.4
3:56.7
7:44.2
8:19.4
12:54.2
13:22.8
1973
22
U. of Oregon
3:38.1
3:54.6
8:24.6
12:53.4
13:22.4
1974
23
Oregon Track Club
3:58.3
7:42.6
8:18.4
12:51.4
13:21.9
27:43.6
1975
24
Oregon Track Club
7:58.2
8:36.4
12:58.8
13:23.8
28:09.4
-30-
Nice to see brillant minds think alike...
GlobalView wrote:
Maybe that suggestion isn't so far-fetched. Prefontaine was an active campaigner for athletes' rights, so is it possible he could've gone jogging with Jimmy Carter and exerted some influence (assuming Prefontaine would've been against the boycott).
The 7k move by Yifter would've been easy to deal with after that. From there, Pre could've moved into politics and saved the day in the Middle East, Ireland, Kosovo, Africa...
Pre at world xc would of been something to see.