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?
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?
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?
Pre was a decent runner, but if he hadn't died, he wouldn't be the figure he is now.
Like James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, etc. - Dying freezes you in time at a point when your popularity and ability is peak. Elvis was a legend - even dying at42, we already saw a fat past-his-prime Elvis with a waning career, infidelity, and addicted to drugs, alcohol, and sex.
Back to Pre, if could make the Team, you'd absolutely think he'd want to be at the 1984 Games - with a horde of top talent boycotting, a lot of Americans had their best shot at medals.
Lopes was a compete freak of nature, and likely doped to the gills. Back in the 80s, distance runners generally speaking didn't "age" as well as they do today. Hell, Jim Ryan was done at 25. If Pre got some kind of medal in '76 he may have stuck with it a bit more. But the 1980 boycott would have been a huge blow. Who knows if competing on American soil in '84 would have enticed him out of retirement, and if he'd still have been any good. He'd have needed 2:11 at the '84 trials. Seems a stretch.
No. Pre would have retired after Montreal and walked in to a job at Nike.
I don't think Pre would have been a marathoner as he did not enjoy running more than 10 miles. By the time he died, his 5k times were not improving. I think 1976 would have been his last Olympics and I don't think he would have medaled. I do wonder what Gerry Lindgren might have accomplished in the marathon, given his habit of mega mileage coupled with his 5k and 10k speed early in his career.
Probably Pre would have been injured by then but who knows? Garry Bjorklund, who was Pre’s age and one of his sort of rivals in college, if anyone was, ran 27:46 in 1984.
Some stats on Pre’s 5k PBs:
-When he ran 13:22.8 on 7/9/72, it made him the #3 performer all-time
-When he ran his 13:21.87 lifetime best on 6/26/74, it made him the #11 performer all-time - he remained at that spot until his death
-By January 1st of 1984, Pre (R.I.P.) had slid to the #81 performer all-time
Sure, Pre may have improved his PB if he hadn’t died, but I think the above stats reflect how rapidly the sport was developing from 1972 to 1984. By the end of 1975, two different Norwegians named Knut had run faster 5ks than Pre (one of them, Knut Kvalheim, beating Pre head-to-head in Pre’s PB race).
Having said that, I’ve always liked to imagine Pre winning the 10k bronze in Montreal by living with Carlos Lopes’ increasing pace longer than Brendan Foster could handle. In the 5k, I think he would have had no chance to medal in that sprint finish.
Kind of fun, if not a bit morbid, to imagine/superimpose him in races that happened after his death. Placing 3rd behind Ovett and Rono in their 1978 2-mile clash - finishing the better part of a mile behind Salazar at the 1981 NYC Marathon and retiring on the spot, etc. etc.
Woulda Coulda Shoulda…We will never know. That is like saying do you think Len Bias would have been a feat NBA player and one of the best of all time. We will never know the answers…
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?
He'd have won in 84 and 88 as well. Today's marathoners could stand to train a little more like pre.
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.
Just another clown wrote:
Probably Pre would have been injured by then but who knows? Garry Bjorklund, who was Pre’s age and one of his sort of rivals in college, if anyone was, ran 27:46 in 1984.
Shorter was his contemporary, as well, and Shorter was certainly done by '84. Same for Rodgers. Viren was well-cooked by '80.
John Wesley Harding wrote:
Some stats on Pre’s 5k PBs:
-When he ran 13:22.8 on 7/9/72, it made him the #3 performer all-time
-When he ran his 13:21.87 lifetime best on 6/26/74, it made him the #11 performer all-time - he remained at that spot until his death
-By January 1st of 1984, Pre (R.I.P.) had slid to the #81 performer all-time
Sure, Pre may have improved his PB if he hadn’t died, but I think the above stats reflect how rapidly the sport was developing from 1972 to 1984. By the end of 1975, two different Norwegians named Knut had run faster 5ks than Pre (one of them, Knut Kvalheim, beating Pre head-to-head in Pre’s PB race).
Having said that, I’ve always liked to imagine Pre winning the 10k bronze in Montreal by living with Carlos Lopes’ increasing pace longer than Brendan Foster could handle. In the 5k, I think he would have had no chance to medal in that sprint finish.
Kind of fun, if not a bit morbid, to imagine/superimpose him in races that happened after his death. Placing 3rd behind Ovett and Rono in their 1978 2-mile clash - finishing the better part of a mile behind Salazar at the 1981 NYC Marathon and retiring on the spot, etc. etc.
This is the kind of response I was looking for. Good stats and worthy speculation. Yeah, it is likely Pre would not have remained world class much beyond 1976. But who knows. I love the visual of him taking a strong third in 8:16 at the '78 Ovett-Rono two mile clash in London.
tacomafan wrote:
No. Pre would have retired after Montreal and walked in to a job at Nike.
How loaded would Pre be today had he lived and gone in with Nike?
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.
If Pre never existed and Cole Hocker died tomorrow then we'd have posters of Hocker instead.
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?
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?
Well you sound like a mentally stable person.
Pre lacked the patience to run a marathon. He pretty much said so himself. Plus he physically peaked young and his body probably would have betrayed him before 84 with injuries and all.
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?
Agreed. Pre is extremely overrated and theres loads of other guys who get nowhere near as much recognition for doing just as much if not more.
OozmaKappa wrote:
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?
Agreed. Pre is extremely overrated and theres loads of other guys who get nowhere near as much recognition for doing just as much if not more.
Yes Bob Schul would agree
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