One of the greatest American distance runners of all times, but also one of the most overrated distance runners of all times. His philosophy of being a front runner and running his hardest in every race sure was inspirational, but was also totally impractical. It is the reason why he never medaled at the Olympics. However, other runners, like Sebastian
Coe, Wilson Kipketer, and
Hicham El Guerroj are commonly overlooked because of
Pre's antics. One of them being grabbing an opposing team's "Stop Pre" shirt, wearing it, and running around the finish line like and idiot saying "Stop Me." Oh yea, on top of never
medaling in the Olympics, he died because he had too much to drink and drove right into a bloody boulder. A
true American hero.
Person 1:
Prefontaine was the greatest runner ever! Ya!
Person 2: No he wasn't he was just endorsed by Nike, he was really just a big idiot who overshadows the TRUE greatest runners of all time.
Person 1: O RLY!? Like who?
Person 2: Sebastian Coe, Roger Bannister, Wilson Kipketer,
Hicham El Guerroj, David
Wottle, etc. etc. etc.