Seriously, everyone knows how good Rono was, but he did come after pre and ran with slightly better equipment.
Pre was unbeaten at Hayward Field from 2K up over his entire career, and he raced some solid foes.
Henry was obviously phenomenal, but could he have done it?
Rono would destroy Pre, no contest. In 1978, only three years after Pre died, he ran 7:32, 8:05, 13:08, 27:22. Pre's bests, only 3 years earlier, in other words not enough time to really give Rono any credit for advancement in the sport, were 7:42, never ran it, 13:21, and 27:43. It really wouldn't be close at all, no amount of "guts" or homefield advantage would help Pre in this one.
Rono would crush him.. Cross, 1500, 10K or anything in between.
Pre had better coaching, better facilities, and a community that totally supported and idolized him.
And Henry would still have crushed Pre in any event, at Hayward Field or anywhere else.
Rono would have played with Pre like a cat does to a mouse. He would have humiliated Pre in front of the koolaid drinking Duck fans.
did Pre break any world records?
Cougars VS. Ducks wrote:
Seriously, everyone knows how good Rono was, but he did come after pre and ran with slightly better equipment.
Pre was unbeaten at Hayward Field from 2K up over his entire career, and he raced some solid foes.
Henry was obviously phenomenal, but could he have done it?
Why would anyone even pose this query. Rono would have wiped the track with Pre.
hold on...we don't know how much more Pre would have improved in three years from the time of his death. His last race, the 13:23 was basically his 1st serious race of the 1975 season. It is reasonable to assume that he would have run around 13:15 later that summer. But, who the hell knows. It wasn't to be.
Steve Ovett would have smoked both Steve Prefontaine and Rono at Hayward field. In his prime (1978) Ovett destroyed Rono to run the WR for 2 miles. No question Rono would have beaten Pre, Ovett would have beaten both of them at Hayward Field. I watched Pre run against Frank Shorter at Hayward Field and he had a little trouble with Frank. So I think that quite a few of the top runners from 1975-1980 would have nailed Steve P.
Prefontaine was a great runner but Ian Stewart, Brendan Foster, Lasse Viren, Harold Norpoth, Gammoudi, and others had his number. Lord knows what would have happened if Yifter the shifter had'nt screwed up his starting time in Munich. He may have won the 5000.
In their primes... would Pre have beaten Salazar at Hayward?
Tardis Runner wrote:
Steve Ovett would have smoked both Steve Prefontaine and Rono at Hayward field. In his prime (1978) Ovett destroyed Rono to run the WR for 2 miles.
You're joking? Ovett beat Rono once, in mid-Septemeber, months after Rono's 4th WR. Even so, Rono was game all the way until the final 100m of that 2-mile.
Yifter wasn't a factor at 5000 until 1977. He wouldn't have won anything at Munich.
You are correct on all counts, but we must concede that Pre died at the tender age of 24. Had he lived, he almost certainly would have raised his stature significantly relative to the runners you've mentioned. He may not have been better than them, but his times would certainly have improved.
Yeah, I mean GOSH, he had a difficult time beating the FRANK SHORTER, oylmpic champ. I mean, anyone could beat shorter, except at his event, no oue could?.. so your statement doesnt really make sense
I give them both some wins had they raced multiple times. Considering the random drops in Pre's 5000 times over his career, I believe that if Pre had raced Rono in 1978, he would have had a solid chance of beating Rono (not talking Rono's world record runs here, just a random race). Also, Pre's 10,000 time came from the 1 or 2 races he ever ran for the distance with practically no competition and his pr in bad weather conditions. At the 10,000 given the odds pre would have picked up the event post Montreal, I give the race to Pre at Hayward Field. The 5000 is a crapshoot, but remember that Pre was very consistent with his 5000 times even though Rono had better speed.
100Mthrou100Miles wrote:
I give them both some wins had they raced multiple times. Considering the random drops in Pre's 5000 times over his career, I believe that if Pre had raced Rono in 1978, he would have had a solid chance of beating Rono (not talking Rono's world record runs here, just a random race). Also, Pre's 10,000 time came from the 1 or 2 races he ever ran for the distance with practically no competition and his pr in bad weather conditions. At the 10,000 given the odds pre would have picked up the event post Montreal, I give the race to Pre at Hayward Field. The 5000 is a crapshoot, but remember that Pre was very consistent with his 5000 times even though Rono had better speed.
You live in a fantasy world.
not so fast.... wrote:
hold on...we don't know how much more Pre would have improved in three years from the time of his death. His last race, the 13:23 was basically his 1st serious race of the 1975 season. It is reasonable to assume that he would have run around 13:15 later that summer. But, who the hell knows. It wasn't to be.
That would have put Pre right near the WR. He wasn't going to get anywhere near the WR.
ok, let's say he would have run 13:18...totally believable....then with another 2 years to improve? plus Pre was a 3:54 miler...but it is still impossible to say. Pre got outkicked in some big meets; but he never let people pull away from him during the race.