Steve Prefontaine

Steve Roland Prefontaine ( born January 25, 1951 in Coos Bay, Oregon; † May 30, 1975 in Eugene, Oregon) was an American track and field athlete. He was called by his fans as " Pre".

Career

His career began at the Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon.

1969 Prefontaine was included in the track & field team at the University of Oregon, which at that time was coached by the legendary coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. There he won in four years, seven NCAA titles, he also held eight American bests, two of which are today still endure. During his career, he broke his own American records 14 times.

In 1972 Steve Prefontaine at the age of 21 years at the Olympic Games in Munich as the youngest 5000 - meter runner of all time in Olympic history. The race he finished in 4th place behind Lasse Viren (Finland), Mohamed Gammoudi (Tunisia ) and Ian Stewart ( Great Britain).

The race was for " pre " as he was called by his fans, tactically and strategically unfavorable. As a pace runner who loved a consistently fast and run with cyclical changes in speed races, slow initial rounds do not fit him into the concept, as this endspurt strong athletes were favored. Thus Prefontaine took the lead and exacerbated the speed considerably. Nevertheless, he did not succeed, the then world's best runners viruses, Gammoudi and Stewart to distance crucial. After several changes of tempo and attacks the American tactical cleverness of the Tunisian and his time dominating performance as the Finn had to admit defeat. On the last meters and with his last strength of the finish line counter steering, he was überspurtet from the British Stewart, which meant fourth place for him.

An offer to become professional runners, Prefontaine refused to continue to participate in the Olympic Games can. He sat down significantly for the rights of amateur athletes in the USA. His great goal was the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, where this time he really wanted to win over the 5000m. Steve Prefontaine, however, died in 1975 at the age of 24 in a car accident.

Dedications

The annually held in Eugene Prefontaine Classic track and field meet is named in his honor.

Films

Préfontaines life was filmed twice. In 1997 he was of Jared Leto in " Prefontaine " ( "Steve Prefontaine - The long distance runner " ) embodies, and in 1998 took over Billy Crudup in " Without Limits " ( " Limitless " ), the main role.

Personal best

• Long-distance runners (United States)
• Born in 1951
• Died in 1975
• Americans
• Man