Steve Prefontaine
Prefontaine in 1973 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | American | |||||||||||
| Born | January 25, 1951 Coos Bay, Oregon, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | May 30, 1975 (aged 24) Eugene, Oregon, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 152 lb (69 kg) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics/Track, Long-distance running | |||||||||||
| Event(s) | 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, mile, 2 mile | |||||||||||
| College team | Oregon Ducks | |||||||||||
| Club | Oregon Track Club | |||||||||||
| Coached by | Bill Bowerman | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | 1972 Munich 5000 m, 4th | |||||||||||
| Personal bests | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Steve Roland Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975) was an American long-distance runner who from 1973 to 1975 set American records at every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and he was preparing for the 1976 Olympics with the Oregon Track Club at the time of his death in 1975.
Prefontaine's career, alongside those of Jim Ryun, Frank Shorter, and Bill Rodgers, generated considerable media coverage, which helped inspire the 1970s "running boom". He was killed in an automobile crash near his residence in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 24. One of the premier track meets in the world, the Prefontaine Classic, is held annually in Eugene in his honor. Prefontaine's celebrity and charisma later resulted in two 1990s feature films about his short life.