Why does Bob Kennedy get nowhere near the love that Prefontaine does?

Here was Bob Kennedy's Olympic moment, was awesome to witness.. .tried to channel Pre

He didn't die during a car accident in the middle of his prime and he wasn't nearly as quotable

EPO early adopter.

Exactly this. Dead + bold personality gives pre the extra attention.

People seem to love arrogant personalities. Bob was too nice.

He’s my favorite distance-running commentator too.

What makes you think Bob was clean?

That pretty much nails it but to go just a bit further, a lot of the mystique around Prefontaine has to do with the idea that he had not yet reached his prime when he died. So people can wonder what might have been and maybe project a future where he did even greater things than he had up to his death, gold medal in Montreal, world records,? We all know how Kennedy's career turned out. Also, as someone else said, he did not produce anything close to the number of memorable quotes as Prefontaine did.

right time right place Bowerman

right author Kenny Moore

right Knight Nike

Pre was a drunk and habitual reckless driver. In his day Pre was respected for his running. Since his death Nike has pushed a false narrative far beyond reality. The biggest case of beating a dead horse imaginable. We're all lucky he didn't take out a kid and her dog with him.

Pre is not the Saint that Nike wants you to believe in. Hes also better than letsrun lovers believe he is.

He was boring. His Kenyan training group was very suspect.

Agreed. I think Pre is also appreciated for his advocacy for athletes’ rights. I found this old NY Times article that’s a good quick read:

nytimes.com

Prefontaine Is Boiling Over Amateur Rules (Published 1975)

Amateur distance runner Steve Prefontaine scores AAU rules that he holds put Amer athletes at financial disadvantage, int; is uncertain whether he will continue in amateur competition; illus (M)

Open link

At least Kennedy was honored with sweet Nike spikes in his name. I loved those!

A number of factors. Track success is one but not one that would keep a memory fresh for almost 50 years. Oregon was very provincial at the time and he was a local kid who made good and did what he said he would do. Oregonians were(are) very proud of him. His career coincided with the birth of Nike and Phil Knight influence on the sport. He died in a James Dean manner. The Tom Jordan bio which does perpetuate that individualistic spirit. 2 movies, etc.

Bon Kennedy and Todd Williams go 1-2 in the 1995 Prefontaine Classic 2 mile.

... and thanks to shoes he'll be pretty much unknown in a few years. Aside from Lagat, Kennedy is best US 5000m runner ever.

Apparently you've never heard of Bob Schul.

Had a friend that trained with Bob a few times back in the day. One particular story was that when Bob had a bad workout he would head straight to McDonald's for a big mac and fries to remind himself that this is what he could be doing everyday if he wasn't running.

I don't know him but sounds like he was a pretty cool guy. Saw him win NCAA at Annapolis.....easily one of the smoothest American runners I've ever seen.

Which is why we think he was clean even though he go out to Kenya to train.