Steve prefontaine biography

His momentum gone and energy spent, Prefontaine staggered the last dozen meters and was passed by Ian Stewart of Great Britain for the bronze. Prefontaine was deeply disappointed and upset that the race had been decided by tactical tricks rather than blood-and-guts running. Still, he was young, and long-distance runners typically reached their prime in their late twenties.

Prefontaine rebounded after his loss to have an outstanding senior season at Oregon. At the end of his college career he had won seven NCAA titles, three in cross-country he skipped the cross-country season to recover from the Olympics and four in the three-mile. Prefontaine graduated from the University of Oregon in with a B. He spent the next two years running as an amateur for the Oregon Track Club.

By the end of his career Prefontaine owned every U. He was the best U. There was much more to Prefontaine than races and records. He often held running clinics at high schools and at the Oregon State Prison. He was also an activist for the reform of amateur athletics. The AAU's restrictions on financial support for amateur athletes, as well as its sanctions on athletes for skipping AAU events to participate in European meets, made life difficult for many amateurs in the United States.

Prefontaine was an outspoken and defiant critic of the system. Instead, he continued to push for a reorganization of amateur athletics. Prefontaine was also the first athlete to sign with Nike, a company cofounded by his former track coach Bill Bowerman.

Steve prefontaine biography: Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine was an

He took the title of National Public Relations Manager and initiated the campaign to get top international athletes to wear Nike shoes. A statue of Prefontaine stands at the Nike corporate headquarters, and the Prefontaine Classic track meet, held annually at Hayward Field, has become one of the premier track events on U. Prefontaine ran his last race on 29 May at Hayward Field in front of his hometown crowd.

It was the final meet of a tour of top Finnish athletes that he had organized. He won, extending his winning streak at steves prefontaine biography over a mile at Hayward to twenty-five. Later that night, while driving home, Prefontaine died in a single-car accident. Inthree years after he died, the U. InPrefontaine became an employee of an athletic shoe company started by his college coach, Bill Bowerman.

That company was Nike. He became the first athlete to be paid to wear Nike shoes. He was also the first person in the company to try and get top international athletes to wear the new brand. He would send a personal letter and free shoes to his top rivals and ask them to try them out. On April 9,Steve Prefontaine wrote a letter to a relatively unknown, but up and coming runner named Bill Rodgers.

Rodgers wore the shoes sent by Prefontaine the following week in the Boston Marathon. He ran a new American and Course Record time of Because the shoes were a bit big for him Bill had to stop twice in the final miles to tighten them, to the surprise and shock of the spectators and the press. Twenty-one days after Rodgers' win, Prefontaine died in a car crash.

On May 30,on the return from a party and dropping off of a friend, Frank Shorter, Prefontaine was driving down a familiar road, Skyline Boulevard, near Hendricks Park, when his car, a gold MGB, [5] swerved left and hit a rock wall along the side of the street. The overturned car trapped Prefontaine underneath it. It is unclear if in the end Pre suffocated or the car's weight caused his ribs to puncture his heart.

The death of Prefontaine proved shocking to many. The Eugene Register-Guard called his death "the end of an era. His blood alcohol content was 0. By the time of his death, Prefontaine was an extremely popular athlete, and along with Frank Shorter and Bill Bowerman, is attributed with sparking the running boom of the s. His life story has been detailed in two big-screen films, 's Prefontaine and 's Without Limits as well as the documentary Fire on the Track.

An annual track event, the Pre Classic, has been held in his honor since Steve Prefontaine is arguably the greatest American distance runner in history, and at the height of his career he held every American track and field record from the 2, to the 10, meters. He still remains an icon in American running.

Steve prefontaine biography: Born in Coos Bay

Over his running career he ran races, of which he wonor 78 percent. One of Prefontaine's most famous quotes was, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift. They sent letters and made phone calls, while their coaches visited Prefontaine to acquire him for their respective teams. He won four 5,meter titles in track, three times in a row.

Gradually, he earned repute for his extremely aggressive "front-running" style of racing. With his tremendous leg speed, Prefontaine recorded his career-best time for the mile Steve ended up at the fourth place. He did not lose a single collegiate NCAA race during his four years at Oregon, be it a 3-mile event, a 5,meter event, a 6-mile event, or a 10,meter event.

Following the event held on May 29, steve prefontaine biography Prefontaine won a 5,meter race, the American and Finnish athletes partied. While returning from the party, after midnight, Prefontaine decided to drive his orange MGB convertible. The same night, he met with a severe accident while driving. He was declared dead before any medical help could reach him.

Each year, more than a thousand runners participate in the event. Check out this biography to get detailed information on his life. Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. May 30, Milwaukee Journal. May 31, Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 12, Eugene-Register Guard. June 4, Archived from the original on February 12, Retrieved March 26, Archived from the original on September 29, SuperWest Sports.

Retrieved October 11, Peter Jan Margry, pp. City of Eugene. Archived from the original on December 27, Retrieved March 18, Archived from the original on January 14, Retrieved March 25, Archived from the original on March 2, Sports Illustrated Advertisement. Nikebiz Company Overview. Archived from the original on September 2, Retrieved March 7, Around the O.

University of Oregon. Retrieved April 20, Fleck's jargon". Retrieved June 15, June 29, Retrieved November 18, Archived from the original on April 19, Track and Field News. Retrieved on July 8, External links [ edit ]. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steve Prefontaine. Wikiquote has quotations related to Steve Prefontaine.

Modern history of Oregon —present.

Steve prefontaine biography: Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine (January

Le Guin Hall S. Native peoples history History to Pioneer history Modern history. National Distance Running Hall of Fame inductees. Pan American Champions in men's metres. US National Championship winners in Men's m, 2 miles or 3 miles. Bill Bowerman men's head coach Ted Haydon men's assistant coach Hoover Wright men's assistant coach Stan Wright men's assistant coach Nell Jackson women's head coach Randall Lambert women's assistant coach Ron Sorkness women's assistant coach.

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