He sure was an incredible runner but he was also a total jerk too. In 1971 my dad was working at a sporting goods store in Albany, Oregon. His boss knew Pre and told him that if he won his next race he could come by the store and pick up a pair of running shoes for free. Well, he won the next race and a week later he showed up on the shift my dad was working expecting a free pair of shoes. My dad knew nothing about free shoes for a University of Oregon runner and didn’t even know who Pre was. Anyway Pre absolutely went apeshit when he realized he wasn’t gonna get the shoes and went on to call my father every nasty name in the book!! That’s the kind of guy Pre was. It was all about him and to hell with other people.

At 30 seconds in, Wendy Ray nails it. I don’t know either what the word is but it’s a certain type of invisible charisma that sets them apart.

All that matters is that you pour out your soul into everything you do. TO THE LAST DROP ❤

How i remember that Olympics and the great Pre and great race he ran against the best in the world. He would have been the second American to win the Gold in 5k behind Bob Schul in '64 if he had made it to Montreal.

NZ John Walker ran the same way-guts and power!

Pre has been my hero beginning in my early running days starting in 1970. I have coached runners for most of my adult life and used Pre’s motto Anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. I still live by that motto today in 2024 and brought my kids up following this motto. Thanks Pre, you are gone but never forgotten

Absolutely brilliant as Steve prefontaine was too. Probably the greatest ever American & world athlete & so inspiring & gutsy. Only 24 when he passed away & could have been in 4 more olympics from 5k to 10k & eventually marathon & winning them all. Steve was honest & hard working & never cheated although lasse viren blood doped which was legal then but became illegal later on. Steve didn't need to blood dope or cheat as he was as honest & such a hero to everyone.

Happy 73rd birthday steve

PRE LIVES!

I was training as a bicycle racer in Santa Cruz CA when a girl I liked said she was running the 1978 Wharf to Wharf race. It's just a fraction under a 10 K course and so I paused my 400 mile a week cycle training regime and instead ran on the beach for 6 days before the race and took the day before off. I got to the starting area early but figured out by the size of the official sign up line I would still be in line when the starter pistol went off so instead I went up to see the start line and look over the Frank Shorter type racers at the tape ready to run their race. I was looking at them and standing on the sidewalk when the race started. I just started running. I was trying to keep near the leaders but quickly fell behind. I think I ran a 6:15 or 6:30 first mile which I felt for too fast for me. I slowed up the next mile and ran a 7:20 2nd mile and then accelerated to 7:00 for the 3rd, 4th and 5th mile and then went into a longer stride and full out sprint for last 1/2 mile to Capitola Wharf. The time on my scuba diver watch was 41 minutes flat as I ran across the finishline. Somebody said that was a Top 10% finish that year. As a 23 year old young buck I was not very impressed with my performance. Now at age 68 and looking back on only training my running muscles for 6 days before the race I realize I could have improved my time if I trained as runner a bit more seriously. As is was I continued my cycle training 400 miles a week up and down the CA coast and up n down the steepest hills I could find near Santa Cruz. Only after seeing the performance of a 16 year old Greg LeMond did I decide to focus on writing about world Champion athletes rather than trying to be one. See the reviews of my book on Amazon: Champion: A Story of the Happy Life of Roman Lefthanded Losinski (Champion Book Series) www.amazon.com/dp/1545108692/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_gl_i_RDQQH6ZX7B8R138P94VQ

Cute

Tactic failed in the 1972 Munich 1500 final....poor Steve...seemed like a great man!

Liquori...lol

Great race lots of talent.

What a great loss for sport..a legendary runner that still inspires me and a lot of people around the world...we love you forever pre...thanks for all you have acomplished in your short life and god bless you.

crazy how he looked 15 years younger without the stache...much respect to SP tho

This marty liquari dude never wins

I'm 41 yrs old and still get motivated by PRE!

A beautiful young Lady.

Pre is the only Olympian I'll ever remember.

racist 😘😭

Danm, it’s like Pre was racing someone even faster than himself on those final laps.

That’s a small track

Pre Lives!

Sub 4 on a tight track probably only 160 yards.

i would love to be reborn as an average high school runner in like...1970.

Not the smartest runner (Pre) but had amazing talent, with better coaching he would have possibly won. Leslie Viren was a beast!!

I actually ran alongside Marty back in 1971, NJ State HS championships, at the Jersey City Armory he was just doing some training and between races everybody would go on the track and get/keep warmed up...Marty ran by me (just jogging easily) so I put it into overdrive (100 yard sprint speed) and within 2 minutes he lapped me

Prefontaine ran like he was being chased by wolves.

White people: "omg fucking legend!" Real runners: "terrible execution and just completely burned out."

"Prefontaine dies in the final stride"....wrong. Prefontaine dies drunk in a car . Sad. Life goes on.

"Pre's People" New documentary on Prefontaine sheds light on what made him great! Early years in Coos Bay, OR!

"Pre's People" New Prefontaine documentary inspiring!

so honest with a sense of humor, forget running, a great loss as a person.

MJ has been and always will be the GOAT of basketball

Too bad he drank so much.

blood doping baby!

LA used to be an indoor track hub

Man,They broke the mold with Pre...never be another like him.

Thanky you for your video. She is very beautiful and excellent at long jump. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Now that is front running

"But he will need to keep up a pretty nifty pace." 0:54

Pre Pre Pre

Back in those days you could do that but unfortunately not today at least not in the 1500m and up 800 yes. He was special one of a kind, USA track needs someone like him

one of my idols

Ian Stewart ... One of the first names I remember watching on grandstand back in the mid 70s 👍

54:33 ... 5k meters = 3.11 miles in 13;53 = each mile in 4;46 on average, he ran in high school.

If he was born early, even by a few days, he was a pre-mie too.

Imagine how fast he would run without that mustache.

Lasse Viren blood doping winner....