Well, on the whole, people did get to experience Kip Keino several years before Prefontaine. He was, of course, Kenyan, not American but in comparing times, you can't discount Keino....who is now 78... And whose health problems were not drinking-related. I will always respect Pre's talent. He was a great athlete. But there were others who were comparable and who did not do what Pre did. And I will go farther with a more recent athlete who is meaningful to me. If pre's edginess was okay because he was good and if his brash directness was taken as confidence rather than arrogance..... then why did so many people give Oregon Triple man AJ Acosta so much flak? Hmmm
Cottonshirt wrote:
Qweru said: That’s what makes him “great” as compared to lesser known runners who accomplished more than he did.
I would be very interested to see your list of lesser-known runners who accomplished more than he did.
in four years of college, he never lost a race at Hayward Field.
at the time of his death, 30th May 1975, he held every American outdoor track record from 2,000m to 10,000m, that's seven American Records at different distances, as follows: 2,000m 5:01.4 9th May 1975, 3,000m 7:42.6 2nd July 1974, 2 miles 8:18.3 18th July 1974, 3 miles 12:51.4 8th June 1974, 5,000m 13:21.9 26th June 1974, 6 miles 26:51.4 27th April 1974, 10,000m 27:43.6 27th April 1974.
your list should make extremely interesting reading.
cheers.