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In my opinion, this is one of the most exciting races of all time. Brought to you by prexemplar.com
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Steve Prefontaine 1972 Munich Olympic 5000m Final
Written on:July 13, 2010
25 Comments add one
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@mojomatt176 fuck U pre revolutionized running. U do not know what running is is you doont like pre
@YiftertheShifter1
Hani Habra
Yeah, let’s not mention blood doping, because Americans are known for it.
@wigglywaggly @wigglywaggly Well, Pre just wasn´t good enough at the most important moment. Viren concentrated especially for the olympics.
If you talk about his blood doping, you should also mention EVERY Yankee sprinter. They don´t look like human beings just like DDR sprinters. USA – the leading modern doping and business combining nation.
@wigglywaggly Well, Pre just wasn´t good enough at the most important moment. Viren concentrated especially for the olympics.
If you talk about his blood doping, you should also mention EVERY Yankee sprinter. They don´t look like human beings just like DDR sprinters. USA – the leading modern doping and business combining nation.
don’t mention blood doping
check out Steve Prefontaines notes on the official website:Original Pre notes from 1974
@mojomatt176 The reason why everybody loves steve prefontaine is because he almost started a running revaloution in America. He had a cool charater and we all love his character, Run till you have nothing left. The Americans had bad preparation back then, Pre wasnt allowed to run against Viren and the lads then, he also fought that rule.
what the hell is so great about prefontaine? people worship him as some running god but all ive ever seen is some cocky guy that knows how to lose an important race
I’m sorry, but I disagree. Besides the Montreal 10000m, this appears to be his easiest Olympic victory- the Munich 10K and Montreal 5K were far tougher. And Viren ran his personal best, a world record 13:16. 4, only four days after this final, which hardly indicates he was bleeding/ greatly fatigued by this race.
Pre always said, someone may beat me but they’ll have to bleed to do it. Viren is one of my favorite runners along with Pre. . . but, he bled big time to beat him. Had Pre lived and run in 76 it would have been a different story.
@djzennit I KNOW! Stewart kicked down Pre’s ass in the final 15 meters!
amazing ian stewart haha
Yeah, I’d be led to believe that Pre was more of a strength runner than a speed runner, that he’d do well at the 10000m, though nearly every 10000m Olympic final from Mills onward has been won by last lap acceleration. Pre did set the American record at 10000m, but was ranked US#1 at that distance, nor the 5000m in ’74/’75. Of course, with Pre, we will never know.
@YiftertheShifter1 i agree at this time in 72 viren was a little better. but like bowerman said in 1975 pre was best in world at that time. viren was injured alot from 73 to 75. pre would have been a better 10k runner for sure but he was stubborn about the 5k. i believe he ran 27 43 in his first 10k in 1974 running all alone on a rainy windy track in eugene. all of pre’s competitors believe the same about the 10k potential for him. he lacked that little extra finish in middle dis.
I meant Viren was way more powerful than Pre.
wchubi, what the hell are you talking about? Viren is WAY more powerful than Viren and, in terms of achievement, a better runner.
And second, you’re wrong: Viren is favored in a fast race (like the 10,000m at these Olympics, where he set the world record, DESPITE falling); the big irony is that Pre facilitated Viren’s victory by making it a lot quicker.
And third, don’t give us BS that Pre was better: Pre lost to Viren, game over. Viren was the better man, Pre wasn’t.
Oh gosh, my mistake. I thought the goal of the Olympics was to do the best you can, and try and win the race with one’s best strategy. Somebody better go tell all of the medalists that they did it all WRONG, and even though they have the hardware and Pre DOESN’T, that Pre is the best. . LMAO!!
no he didn’t. he ran a slow race that only he could win because he knew that he wasn’t as powerful (or good) of a runner as prefontaine.
That’s not how you win a 5000m at the Olympics. If Pre was going to try to use such tactics, he should drop a 60-61 second lap after three or four laps, and it would be a question of whether the field would follow him, and if it doesn’t, if Pre can maintain his rhythm; John Ngugi and Ismael Kirui were successful at this (however both were world cross country champions). Other than these two, the 5000m is usually won in a sprint finish.
. . . even so, thats exactly what he attempted to do at the end of this race, but he started his kick a tad too early
The whole idea behind how Pre ran was to leave people behind before the end of the race, not to outsprint them at the finish.
Stewart took bronze, not Gammoudi. And you lamenting about Pre’s tactics won’t change the fact that Viren won, Gammoudi took the silver, and Stewart took the bronze.
Yeah, Pre clearly cooked himself in the final lap. My sense is that he could have taken silver as the race was run, had he not responded to every one of Gammoudi’s surges. If that were the case, I really believe Stewart would have taken the bronze from Gammoudi.
oh man he should have saved it till like 100 m left. . went too early