Source 1

Biographical

His dad's name was Raymond Prefontaine and he was a carpenter. His mom was a seamstress named  Elfriede Senholz Prefontaine

"two sisters were raised in a small coastal town in Oregon." (Coos Bay)

Source 1

Biographical

Pre was an unsuccesful football player his freshment year when he discoverd his talent was in distance running his sophmore year.

1

Racing record

"At the conclusion of his high school career, Prefontaine quickly entered international competition. He placed fourth at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships the summer after his senior year, earning a spot on the national team that competed at international events. He went on to race in four international meets that summer, placing as high as second in the 5,000 meters against world-class competition."

1

About the coach

"Oregon's legendary track coach Bill Bowerman had already trained several U.S. and world record holders, and he recognized that same potential in Prefontaine."

1

Impact

"his connection with the community of fans that supported him throughout his career. The chants of "Go Pre!" at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field could become deafening."

"He openly admitted that he ran best in front of "his people."

1

Race record

"In thirty-eight races at Hayward, Prefontaine lost only three times, all at one mile, which was not his specialty."

1

Racing strategy

"Though at times considered arrogant, he ran for guts, not glory. Prefontaine became known for pushing the pace of a race early, running in front rather than hanging back to conserve his strength for a finishing kick, or sprint, at the end. This style usually worked well for him, and in his collegiate races he routinely broke his opponents with a fast, punishing pace."

1

Racing Olympics

"The race began at a surprisingly slow pace that favored Viren, Gamoudi, and other strong kickers in the world-class field. Prefontaine wanted a fast race that came down to "who's toughest"—his kind of race. With four laps to go and the crowd on his side, he took control and dramatically increased the pace. After two more laps most of the field had dropped back, but Viren and Gamoudi stayed with him. Viren held a slight lead, and with 300 meters left Prefontaine started to pull away from the inside of the track to pass him, but Gamoudi, showing a veteran's tactical sense, moved to cut him off before he could pass. Prefontaine tried to pass Viren again on the last curve, and again Gamoudi quickly cut him off. His momentum gone and energy spent, Prefontaine staggered the last dozen meters and was passed by Ian Stewart of Great Britain for the bronze."

1

Racing

"At the end of his college career he had won seven NCAA titles, three in cross-country (he skipped the 1972 cross-country season to recover from the Olympics) and four in the three-mile."

1

Record

. "By the end of his career Prefontaine owned every U.S. record between 2,000 and 10,000 meters and between 2 and 6 miles. He was the best U.S. distance runner of his time."

1

Legacy

"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."

1

Impact

"Prefontaine was an outspoken and defiant critic of the system. Despite having little money, he refused to become a professional, although he was offered up to $200,000 a year to join the emerging professional circuit. Instead, he continued to push for a reorganization of amateur athletics."

Coach/biography

"Prefontaine was also the first athlete to sign with Nike, a company cofounded by his former track coach Bill Bowerman. He took the title of National Public Relations Manager and initiated the campaign to get top international athletes to wear Nike shoes."

2

Fanbase

"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.S. soil."

2

Races

"Prefontaine ran his last race on 29 May 1975 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"

2

Fans

Pre had extremely devoted fans who would chant "GO PRE!"

2

Philosophy

Quote from Pre: "A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into an exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. "

2

Backround

Coos Bay, Oregon, where he was born in 1951 and discovered his gift for running fast and far as a student at Marshfield High School.

2

racing style

"Prefontaine's brash, charismatic style, both on and off the track, helped to popularize the sport of running and gave him the stature to further the cause of athlete's rights"

2

legacy

"Prefontaine's outspokenness and willingness to risk AAU sanctions made him a "lightning rod for the tensions between the AAU and amateur athletes," and that "he was instrumental in helping the cause of athletes' rights."

3

legacy

Congress passed the Amateur Sports Act, which stripped the AAU of its authority over amateur athletes.

3

legacy

Prefontaine was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976.

2

racing

"specializing in two-miles races. In 1973 he set the U.S. indoor record of 8:24.8,"

3

fanbase

In 1974 Track and Field News named Prefontaine the most popular track athlete in the world.

 3

philosophy

Pre turned down an offer of $200,000 a year to run profesionaly.

2

Activist

"He was impatient with the track-and-field establishment, which he regarded as elitist and unresponsive to the needs of individual athletes. He criticized the lack of financial support for out-of-school amateur athletes, denied the training facilities of the major universities, and he resisted efforts by the American Athletic Union (AAU) to force him to compete against inferior runners from the Soviet bloc."

2

death

"Prefontaine's death in an automobile accident in Eugene, Oreg., cut short a brilliant career. On the day of his death, he won a 5,000-meter race and then attended a party with six Finnish athletes he had brought to the United States to compete"

2

death

"His convertible hit an embankment and flipped over. Prefontaine was found pinned beneath it. His blood alcohol level indicated intoxication."

3

record

"Before his death he had set fourteen U.S. records,"

 3

fanbase

was honored in 1980 when the city of Coos Bay erected a memorial statue as a tribute to his career.

Source 3

 "Steve Prefontaine." - International Track Star. N.p., 1998. Web. 15 May 2014.

Source1

Jolly, J. Christopher. "Steve Prefontaine." Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s. Ed. William L. O'Neill and Kenneth T. Jackson. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. Biography in Context. Web. 15 May 2014.

Source 2

"Steve Roland Prefontaine." Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994. Biography in Context. Web. 15 May 2014.

coach

4

Bill Bowerman made custom spikes for pre

Coach 

4

Bill Bowerman died in 1999 at age 88

coach

4

Bill bowerman  cofounded nike.

Coach

When he was elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1981, he refused induction because Hayward, his college coach, had never been chosen.

4

Goldstein, Richard. "Bill Bowerman, 88, Nike Co-Founder, Dies." New York Times 27 Dec. 1999. Biography in Context. Web. 2 June 2014.

5        Philosphy

 "The best pace is a suicide pace," one saying attributed to Pre has it, "and today is a good day to die."

5

 In the documentary Fire on the Track, his rivals, training partners, and coaches speak of him as a kind of savior

5

life

For most of his career, Pre lived on food stamps

5

legacy

Some people, in fact, referred to him as the "James Dean of Track."

                                      source 5

 Heald, Michael. "That Pre Thing." Runner's World Apr. 2013: 080. Biography in Context. Web. 2 June 2014.

6

racing

You know about his seven NCAA titles. You know he won one of them with stitches in his foot from a diving-board accident a few days earlier. 

6

background

one of pre's legs was shorter than the other

6

background

At that time, athletes could earn no more than $3 a day from running to remain amateurs and be eligible to compete in the Olympic Games. 

6

background

 Prefontaine worked in a bar part-time to pay the bills and lived in a trailer

legacy

In 1976 he was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame

Source 6

"Steve Prefontaine." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Biography in Context. Web. 2 June 2014

Rivals

Lasse Viren was Pre's greatest rival. Beating him at the Olympic Games and winning gold

RIvals

Pre organized a meet at hayward field for the Fins so that he can race Viren, unfortunately Lasse "strained a muscle" and couldn't compete.

source 7

Without limits. Dir. Billy Crudup. Warner Home Video, 1998. DVD.

Prefontaine believed he would never be the best if he didn't defeat Lasse Viren

Source 7

Rival

Ian Stewart of Britain beat Pre in the last 15 meters of the olympic 5000m

source 7

ON june 30-31st the prefontaine track classic was held. Galen Rupp of Oregon won the 10k race and set the 10k american record at 26:44.36

source 8

source 8

"Rupp Breaks Own American 10K Record at the Pre." ABC News. ABC News Network, 30 May 2014. Web. 3 June 2014. <http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/rupp-breaks-american-10k-record-pre-23939821>.

Steve was lovingly nicknamed Pre by his fans

source 9

pre was training for the 1976 montreal olympics when he died

source 9

"He is at least partially responsible for inspiring the running boom during the 1970s,"

source 9

Source 9

"Steve Roland Prefontaine." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 02 June 2014.

 "They've read about Pre in books, seen the documentary or the two dramatic films about his life, or been inspired by his quotes and his go-for-broke running style."

source 10

""He's been dead longer than he was alive, and he still has an impact on people," Bence says."

source 10

"A giant mural at Oregon's Hayward Field, where he won so many races, features multiple images of Pre."

source 10

fans

Some inspired runners have tatood Pre's words "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

source 10

fans

"Says Oregon student Jake Crump, 20, who is from Coos Bay and is an editor for the Daily Emerald: "I would say it's pretty hard to grow up in Oregon and not know Steve Prefontaine and his story.""
Source 10

anti-fans

 "Stop Pre" T-shirts worn by opposing fans (countering Oregon's "Go Pre" shirts).

source 10

fans

That legend has been passed on by word of mouth and media. Also, his story was an everyman's tale of a guy "from Nowhere, Oregon," as Linda describes it, who became "this huge star based on his own hard work."

source 10

Fans

"Prefontaine was seen as a man of the people and a rebel. He lived in a trailer outside Eugene, worked at a tavern and spent time with his fans."

Source 10