MGKTTKHBG wrote:
Steve Prefontaine took up running in 1964 when he saw Jordan Hasay win the 1500 meters in the Olympic Trials on TV. He said at the time and I quote: "If that little tyke can do that with that huge braid and her tongue sticking out, then some day I can grow a killer 'stache and run 13:22 in front of an adoring crowd at Hayward."
True story.
I think all the greats were first inspired by Hasay... except for Dave Wottle, and that is only because he was too busy running 26 second 200's (all day, e'ryday) and perfecting his hat placement to be bothered to pay attention to anything else.