When did Steve Prefontaine ACTUALLY say "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift"?

While taking a selfie in a race.

Uncle Bee wrote:

So the fact there were no videos around during Lincoln's life while they were certainly available during Pre's life doesn't slow your roll?

The first portable camcorders recording on videotape were not introduced until the early 1980s.

Filming something in the early 70s was rather complicated and rare. Big events and TV shows would be 'filmed' for broadcast.

Home "videos" in 1975 were usually taken on a film camera, which then had to be taken to a store, delivered to a lab, developed, returned to you, strung up through a projector and shown at home to bore your friends. They also didn't have sound to capture amazing quotes.

Today every fool with a phone is taking video of every moment of their lives, but 40 years ago it was quite rare to be filmed.

So, yes, while videos are available from the early 70s, the fact that someone did not capture the moment Pre said something is not in the least bit surprising.

Looking for an answer wrote:

We all know this is Steve Prefontaine's most quoted line. So, out of curiosity, I started digging around to see if there was a video of him saying it. There doesn't seem to be anything out there. I read somewhere that he used to close speeches at youth camps with it, but there's no evidence of that readily available. I've never seen him quoted in an old newspaper article or anything, either.

This made me wonder - did anyone ever personally hear him say this? Am I missing some key piece of evidence? And how accurate is this continuously reused quote?

I am pretty sure he said it because the quote dates back to when he was alive and if he never said it he would have corrected the record. Also, I think I recall seeing it somewhere in an interview he gave. I am pretty sure he said it and I think he said it more than once.

all caps wrote:

The actual quote is:

TGALTYBITSTG

He was big on abbreviation.

And it was in ALL CAPS. Pre also said to do anything in less than all caps is to decapitalize everything.

He really did start to say "TGALTYBITSTG" right before Bowerman planted his rump onto Pre's face and let the wind fly. "To give anything less" is all that was heard from Pre before Bill let it fly. The rest of the quote has been garbled for all time.

Dead Drunk wrote:

To drink and drive is to sacrifice the gift.

Hmmm...

runn wrote:

critic 100 wrote:

Still would like to know why we cannonize a dope smoking drunk who had little since and was very selfish.

Maybe for the same reason Baseball canonizes Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford.

We have to make bigger stars of our current runners BUT they have to do something to deserve it.

Pre ran from the front and raced a lot.

Now, they follow, run slow and rarely race.

They have to get their names and personalities out there.

THIS.

This has nothing to do with Nike.

There was no Nike until after Pre's death.

"Is sacrifice really the best word here? Doesn't that mean you get something good if you give up your gift."

To sacrifice is to give up something WITHOUT getting anything in return.

anagram wrote:

all caps wrote:

The actual quote is:

TGALTYBITSTG

He was big on abbreviation.

And it was in ALL CAPS. Pre also said to do anything in less than all caps is to decapitalize everything.

Pre was into anagrams too: Gal Big Ttttys

To Go Ass-Less Tights, Your Biggest Instruments Temporarliy Start To Gyrate

Pre was good but also a lot of bs. He talked for years what he would do in the 72 5000 final and than took it out when it was too late. Made a big deal beating George Young at the trials-George was a fine runner buy at 5000-cmon Pre get a grip. He never went to the depths like Alberto ,Bob Kennedy or Ali in Manila..Never understand this infatuation with a very good but hardly great runner. And please the Mick or Ford never talked the garbage Pre did whatever their shortcomings they had Hall of Fame careers. Pre was good and he tried hard to help bring track into the modern era as to compensation but please he produced like Russell Westbbrook..

AnnaGramm wrote:

anagram wrote:

Pre was into anagrams too: Gal Big Ttttys

To Go Ass-Less Tights, Your Biggest Instruments Temporarliy Start To Gyrate

Sound like next seasons t shirt Quote!

Alternate Reality wrote:

This has nothing to do with Nike.

There was no Nike until after Pre's death.

Dead Drunk wrote:

To drink and drive is to sacrifice the gift.

SAVAGE

Va runner wrote:

I like your style, man. I followed your lead and discovered that no video exists of Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address

- The Chief

WRONG. There's film of Lincoln speaking!!! The internet is amazing.

GuessCo wrote:

Va runner wrote:

I like your style, man. I followed your lead and discovered that no video exists of Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address.

I dug deeper, turns out there is no video of Moses saying "let my people go!"

We can add Pre's quote to this long list of quotes that do not exist on YouTube, and thus, never actually happened.

Go work, Gumshoe.

- The Chief

You really believe the Moses stories?

That's awesome. Hope Santa is good to you this year.

Using your own logic, show me definitive proof that Moses never existed and all of his stories are false.

To save you time, you can't prove something is false unless you prove the opposite is true.

the doors of perception wrote:

never Nike marketing team.

That idiot drove smack dab into a big freekin' rock.

He never said anything of philosophical significance.

/thread

Drink driver at the end of the day.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. - Steve Prefontaine"

- Kahlil Gibran

Looking for an answer wrote:

We all know this is Steve Prefontaine's most quoted line. So, out of curiosity, I started digging around to see if there was a video of him saying it. There doesn't seem to be anything out there. I read somewhere that he used to close speeches at youth camps with it, but there's no evidence of that readily available. I've never seen him quoted in an old newspaper article or anything, either.

This made me wonder - did anyone ever personally hear him say this? Am I missing some key piece of evidence? And how accurate is this continuously reused quote?

Pre also said, "A lot of people run to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts." I wonder when he said it? Before or after Viren handed his azz to him, and he went home devastated with no medal.