Would Pre be a legend if he didn't die?

I grew up in L.A. Pre, Roman Gabriel, Jerry West, Kobe, Magic, Koufax, Rosy Grier, John Elway, Daryl Strawberry, Rafer Johnson, Worthy, Bob Seagren, Jeter, Elgin, Demus, O.J., Marques Johnson, Shohei Ohtani, Allyson, Keyshawn, plus millions more L.A. legends

My post here is really apropos of nothing, just an observational aside. I think sometimes Pre's 4th in 72 is really undervalued, at least that's what it seems like to me. Yup, he was 4th, no medal, but it's not like he just followed the leaders around and got towed to 4th. He was not yet 22, the youngest of the top guys by at least 2 years and the least experienced internationally, yet he made that race, absolutely going for it 100%. Blood-bagged Viren was most likely out of reach for him but had he run a touch more conservatively Gammoudi and Stewart were 100% within his grasp imho. I remember watching that race as a kid; that was a really big deal back then and to all the kids I ran with Pre was a god. Now the general public wouldn't give a rat's ass even if he won gold; totally different era.

Shorter once held ARs at 10,000 meters, twice in Munich.

What made him a legend was his style of racing. He would take it out from the gun.

kind of like Mike Tyson and his style. Didn't beat any greats really but would go in there and as soon as the bell would ring he wanted to rip your head off.

People in general feed off that type of energy and excitement.

This exactly.

Yes dying young and prematurely naturally elevates the mystique around an athlete, and Pre would likely not have the same level mystique he does now had he lived on to a normal age.

But unsurprisingly, LetsRun posters are missing the point of why Pre has any mystique in the first place. It's not really because of his on-paper running accomplishments, it's because of his racing style / quotes / stuff like that. That's what got him on the cover of SI. That's the difference between him and Frank Shorter, and why Galen Rupp is a poor comparison

No. He's the James Dean of American track & field. I frankly can't think of another American athletics star who died accidentally in the prime of his career.

They are both great in their own way. I would also place Bill Rodgers' marathon career as being on a par with Shorter's because Rodgers won a lot of major marathons and had some faster times than Shorter over the marathon. Sure Rodgers had no Olympic medals and, like Virgin and Paige, he may have been robbed of Olympic gold in 1980, but his body of work compares well with Shorter's especially when you consider the World Cross Country bronze medal ahead of legends such as Walker etc.

I think getting a 10,000 bronze is realistic but even that is a bit of

It's reasonable to think Prefontaine could have gotten bronze in the Montreal 10,000 but even that is a bit of a reach. That 27:43 of his was faster than anyone but Viren's PB (I think, won't swear to it.) But I think that was his only 10,000 (again, I think) so he had almost no experience in dealing with tactics. And there were heats that year. Can he run a good 10,000 and come back three days later with a better one?

Let's say the silent part out loud:

Boomers hold onto Prefontaine because he represented hope.

But...he died with a higher than legal BAC. He died driving drunk. I don't care how good he was. Should we still revere the late Félix Hernandez? Probably not.

Phil Knight gifted Prefontaine the very MG that would be the car in which he died because of drunk driving.

Frank Shorter was just good. He didn't need a Phil Knight to perpetuate a name and a brand.

In fact, the only reason people care about Prefontaine is because of Oregon and Nike

It's like Michelle Kwan and I love Kwan... but when it came to the Olympics... especially 1998, whoops.

Pre is only famous because of his possibility shortened by a careless accident.

This is in the same nation that believes Darryl Strawberry deserves a pardon because he found God.

It's ridiculous

Correction: Jose Fernandez, not Felix Hernandez

Pre never beat Foster and would not have done it in ‘76.

Shorter was 9 seconds behind at 3k, 5 seconds behind at 5k, and 2 seconds behind at 5k. All of those times happened 2-3 years after Pre had already ran faster than them. Pre would have been around 13:05 to 13:10 by 1977. Shorter had nowhere close to Pre's snap.

"the only reason people care about Zamperini is because he was a POW...." - real gen x

Don't compare Pre to Zamperini.

Zamperini was a hero in so many ways beyond just athletics.

This makes you look bad.

Shorter July 5, 1976. i have a copy...autographed.

Timing of death is everything. A young (20s), successful person will have a well attended funeral and be remembered because of his early death. However, if he died of old age in his 80s, perhaps no one would really know and he may also have no attendees to his funeral. Your lifestyle and timing basically dictates your notoriety how many "friends" you have at a given interval.

We do not know what Pre might have done had he lived. Heck when he died he had no idea how to run yet. If you doubt that watch his Olympic 5000, he looked as bad as Gerry Lindren. But Pre could have learned how to start slow and build. He could have learned to recover. His lifestyle was far from perfect, he had a lot of growing up to do yet.

Right, and Pre was definitely very good compared to his competition! Whether he would have gotten better or worse is not something anyone can determine. Paavo Nurmi ran a 4:09 mile; high school kids probably laugh at him now. When Nurmi ran, it was a world record, and he did it in much tougher conditions. Let Pre be Pre!!! And always respect the Pioneers of sport and life.