I was a sprinter for over a decade but my favorite track athlete has always been PRE. No one, ran with his guts, his swagger or his nuts. He was a true national treasure. He never did anything east and he always pressed his limits. We lost a great one. Godspeed PRE.
dropped everything I was doing and watched this. I'm just getting into distance running at the age of 30. I'm 6 months in, did 4.5 miles today and then suddenly got the urge to watch a running movie. I'd heard of Prefontaine many times before, but didn't know much more than the name and the face. What a legend. I'm gonna run a little harder tomorrow, and the next day and forever cause this guy reminds me why I run. P.S. Narrated by Ken Kesey? My god, one of my favorite American authors. And the Stamper family reference at the end. I'm in heaven
See No Limits & Prefontaine movies. No Limits best parts - "Winning any other way is chicken sh*t!" Music during 72 race. Prefontaine best parts - Ed O'Neil scenes before the race. The 72 race. Bowerman during the race "Look at that magnifigant little SOB he knows he can't outkick Viren so he's going to spring 600 yards. Bowerman after the race "You could have run for the silver you could have run for the bronze. You ran to win. I couldn't ask for more from an athlete."
There was a sunday afternoon TV show "AAU Track and Field," that my friends and I watched religiously. It had a driving guitar intro theme. You got to see the nations best athletes -- Prefontaine, John Carlos, Tommy Smith, perform each week. By the time the olympics rolled around, we knew as much about our track and field team as the reporters who covered them.
Prefontaine deserved a medal in 1972 for his brave efforts, but that isn't enough. He was a one trick pony not revered outside the US. He might have improved but we don't know.
Watched this a few times now what a man. So much desire and what an attitude. Ken Kesey narrating? Found that strange?. Didn't think it would be Ken Kesey's kind of topic.
At the opening ceremony of 1976 Olympics in Montreal the male torch lighter was a guy named Stephen preFontaine probably not a coincidence, a memorial to what might have been
Well made and very inspiring. But since he is still a role model for many runners the documentary shouldn't have brushed certain details in connection with his deadly accident under the carpet. It doesn't matter if there was another car involved or not. Fact is that Prefontaine was way above the legal alcohol limit! Fact is that he hadn't buckled up! Even if another car forced him to react quickly he might've survided the accident if he hadn't been drinking. A certain amount of alcohol makes it much more difficult to react properly when the driver is forced to react appropriately and very fast. And drivers who are buckled up have a much greater chance to survive even very serious crashes.
@sabine B. Fact is Pre made a terrible choice and paid the ultimate price, however, I see no need the throw the alcohol card in his face and disparage the man who has living family over his alleged alcohol consumption and I assume you have proof that he was indeed over the legal limit? Needless to say your comment was gratuitous, Pre is deceased and you should let it go.
@mstrunn Even this documentary wanted to point out he liked to party (more than once). Search alcohol limit and you will see quotes like: "According to the police report, a blood sample taken in those early morning hours after the 12:39 a.m. crash put Prefontaine’s blood-alcohol level at 0.16 percent, which today would be twice the legal limit of presumed impairment of 0.08 percent. In 1975, the presumed level of impairment was 0.10." So yeah the documentary brushed over this and even completely ignored the possibility. It is a tragedy. We will never know how fast he would run. We also do not know if his impairment was responsible for his death. There does seem to be a record that he was 2x our current legal limit. To think multiple news agencies would repeat 0.16 without any proof is not realistic. A 24 year old making a mistake is just tragic but not that uncommon. It seems likely he made poor judgement and was unlucky enough to die from that.
@@goatbloat8233 I absolutely agree with your assessment! We will never know for sure if Pre's drinking at the party contributed to his tragic death, and the outcome of the posthumous blood test has been debated by his family. But he was definitely not sober when he left the party. This should not be brushed under the carpet. And even if the accident was not his fault, most experts agree that he would have had a much better chance to survive the accident if he had been buckled up. As I said, the times were different back in the 1970s. Having a few drinks before driving and not using a seat belt wasn't frowned upon as much as today. If the party had been today there would have been a good chance that his pals would have stopped Pre. But as you said - these errors of judgement don't define who he was as a person.
Lol they even make light of that fact in that classic tv movie about him from the 90s. Some trainer says to him he should have gone for hammer throw or shot putting.
As great as he was, one major thing that wasn’t really taken into account as much back in the day is the fact most of Prefontaines training took place at nearly sea level. While many of his opponents trained at higher elevations. When he went to Munich he would’ve been nearly 1500ft higher in elevation alone. That makes a HUGE difference in any sports, let alone endurance running where oxygen in and out is #1. I’m not trying to take anything away from his legacy….but he most likely wasn’t the ‘best’ runner there that just had a bad race…
Pre's integrity & forth rightness& take no prisoners attitude is hard to find or duplicate in today's modern track & field. 5K record times of our modern era leave our esteemed hero outside of 300 meters in arrears----w athletes like Daniel Komen running --7:20-- for 3K (no 1 close in over 20yrs except his own --7:24-- INDOOR !) & the Bekele's -Gebresalassie- El Gourouj's --all their record times make other world class athletes seem like college kids---much like Genzebe Dibaba is currently doing to all her women competitors.Nonetheless--Steve's great charismatic personae will not diminish--no matter how eventually "slow" his historical times compare. Furthermore-Steve really had very little chance w Lasse Viren----how can you compete w a guy who not only falls mid -race---be recovers -sprints back into contention -then wins a gold medal in world record time? 5K wasn't any different really---as Viren confirmed his distance running immortality by also winning that 5K AND 4 years later got both golds AGAIN!! No Steve was a great runner----but, Lasse Viren was an unbeatable runner in Olympic competition( well-marathon-haha!) Prefontaine was ,is & will remain an incredible motivation for many generations of runners ----and he remains as an icon worth trying imitate! STOP PRE
interesting to speculate what would happen if he lived another 8 years. Would he win a medal at the Olympics in 72 and 76? Or would he again finish fourth and be like a child prodigy that never made the top, perhaps the top was the style of his racing , not the stragedy but the crazy will to win. There are many better runners than Prefontaine few with his will ....
I was a sprinter for over a decade but my favorite track athlete has always been PRE. No one, ran with his guts, his swagger or his nuts. He was a true national treasure. He never did anything east and he always pressed his limits. We lost a great one. Godspeed PRE.
dropped everything I was doing and watched this. I'm just getting into distance running at the age of 30. I'm 6 months in, did 4.5 miles today and then suddenly got the urge to watch a running movie. I'd heard of Prefontaine many times before, but didn't know much more than the name and the face. What a legend. I'm gonna run a little harder tomorrow, and the next day and forever cause this guy reminds me why I run. P.S. Narrated by Ken Kesey? My god, one of my favorite American authors. And the Stamper family reference at the end. I'm in heaven
See No Limits & Prefontaine movies. No Limits best parts - "Winning any other way is chicken sh*t!" Music during 72 race. Prefontaine best parts - Ed O'Neil scenes before the race. The 72 race. Bowerman during the race "Look at that magnifigant little SOB he knows he can't outkick Viren so he's going to spring 600 yards. Bowerman after the race "You could have run for the silver you could have run for the bronze. You ran to win. I couldn't ask for more from an athlete."
Ao
Thanks Joe, been watching this for a few years on youtube. I went thru coos Bay and Eugene once
Pre was really one of a kind... No one will ever have as great of an impact on running as he did
I was a fan. So sad when he died. What might have been.
What if. Man, Prefontaine is such a fascinating character. What a loss.
There was a sunday afternoon TV show "AAU Track and Field," that my friends and I watched religiously. It had a driving guitar intro theme. You got to see the nations best athletes -- Prefontaine, John Carlos, Tommy Smith, perform each week. By the time the olympics rolled around, we knew as much about our track and field team as the reporters who covered them.
❤ amazing, wow.
He was a legend
Pre, a true legend, forever and ever, period!!!!.
Prefontaine deserved a medal in 1972 for his brave efforts, but that isn't enough.
He was a one trick pony not revered outside the US.
He might have improved but we don't know.
pre will always remain the greatest!!
Watched this a few times now what a man. So much desire and what an attitude. Ken Kesey narrating? Found that strange?. Didn't think it would be Ken Kesey's kind of topic.
Heart & Guts Athlete #rippre🙏🏼
At the opening ceremony of 1976 Olympics in Montreal the male torch lighter was a guy named Stephen preFontaine probably not a coincidence, a memorial to what might have been
Bigger than life is never even won an Olympic medal.
All that he had accomplished on and off the track by age 24...he hasn't I even come close to his prime yet.
Wow
Well made and very inspiring. But since he is still a role model for many runners the documentary shouldn't have brushed certain details in connection with his deadly accident under the carpet. It doesn't matter if there was another car involved or not. Fact is that Prefontaine was way above the legal alcohol limit! Fact is that he hadn't buckled up! Even if another car forced him to react quickly he might've survided the accident if he hadn't been drinking. A certain amount of alcohol makes it much more difficult to react properly when the driver is forced to react appropriately and very fast. And drivers who are buckled up have a much greater chance to survive even very serious crashes.
@sabine B. Fact is Pre made a terrible choice and paid the ultimate price, however, I see no need the throw the alcohol card in his face and disparage the man who has living family over his alleged alcohol consumption and I assume you have proof that he was indeed over the legal limit? Needless to say your comment was gratuitous, Pre is deceased and you should let it go.
@mstrunn Even this documentary wanted to point out he liked to party (more than once). Search alcohol limit and you will see quotes like: "According to the police report, a blood sample taken in those early morning hours after the 12:39 a.m. crash put Prefontaine’s blood-alcohol level at 0.16 percent, which today would be twice the legal limit of presumed impairment of 0.08 percent. In 1975, the presumed level of impairment was 0.10."
So yeah the documentary brushed over this and even completely ignored the possibility. It is a tragedy. We will never know how fast he would run. We also do not know if his impairment was responsible for his death. There does seem to be a record that he was 2x our current legal limit. To think multiple news agencies would repeat 0.16 without any proof is not realistic. A 24 year old making a mistake is just tragic but not that uncommon. It seems likely he made poor judgement and was unlucky enough to die from that.
@@goatbloat8233 I absolutely agree with your assessment! We will never know for sure if Pre's drinking at the party contributed to his tragic death, and the outcome of the posthumous blood test has been debated by his family. But he was definitely not sober when he left the party. This should not be brushed under the carpet. And even if the accident was not his fault, most experts agree that he would have had a much better chance to survive the accident if he had been buckled up.
As I said, the times were different back in the 1970s. Having a few drinks before driving and not using a seat belt wasn't frowned upon as much as today. If the party had been today there would have been a good chance that his pals would have stopped Pre.
But as you said - these errors of judgement don't define who he was as a person.
Prefontaine seemed like a bulky guy for long distance running
That's because he had a lot of guts.
Lol they even make light of that fact in that classic tv movie about him from the 90s.
Some trainer says to him he should have gone for hammer throw or shot putting.
5'9" 155 isn't to bulky
He was a middle distance guy and lots tend to be more muscular and have some bulk
As great as he was, one major thing that wasn’t really taken into account as much back in the day is the fact most of Prefontaines training took place at nearly sea level. While many of his opponents trained at higher elevations. When he went to Munich he would’ve been nearly 1500ft higher in elevation alone. That makes a HUGE difference in any sports, let alone endurance running where oxygen in and out is #1. I’m not trying to take anything away from his legacy….but he most likely wasn’t the ‘best’ runner there that just had a bad race…
Just read Shoe Dog
Pre's integrity & forth rightness& take no prisoners attitude is hard to find or duplicate in today's modern track & field. 5K record times of our modern era leave our esteemed hero outside of 300 meters in arrears----w athletes like Daniel Komen running --7:20-- for 3K (no 1 close in over 20yrs except his own --7:24-- INDOOR !) & the Bekele's -Gebresalassie- El Gourouj's --all their record times make other world class athletes seem like college kids---much like Genzebe Dibaba is currently doing to all her women competitors.Nonetheless--Steve's great charismatic personae will not diminish--no matter how eventually "slow" his historical times compare. Furthermore-Steve really had very little chance w Lasse Viren----how can you compete w a guy who not only falls mid -race---be recovers -sprints back into contention -then wins a gold medal in world record time? 5K wasn't any different really---as Viren confirmed his distance running immortality by also winning that 5K AND 4 years later got both golds AGAIN!! No Steve was a great runner----but, Lasse Viren was an unbeatable runner in Olympic competition( well-marathon-haha!) Prefontaine was ,is & will remain an incredible motivation for many generations of runners ----and he remains as an icon worth trying imitate! STOP PRE
interesting to speculate what would happen if he lived another 8 years. Would he win a medal at the Olympics in 72 and 76? Or would he again finish fourth and be like a child prodigy that never made the top, perhaps the top was the style of his racing , not the stragedy but the crazy will to win. There are many better runners than Prefontaine few with his will ....
20:10