During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Steve Prefontaine was a unique and distinctive personality, an athlete who revolutionized the sport of track with front-running ferocity and rock a star's ability to ignite a crowd.
In the United States he remained undefeated at his distance and held all seven American records between 2,000 and 10,000 meters. He ran one of the more memorable races at the Munich Olympics and was strongly favoured to win at the Montreal Games in 1976, but never got the chance. In 1975, at the age of 24, Steve Prefontaine was killed in a car accident.
Blunt, cocky and charismatic, his incessant willingness to push himself to the ultimate limit earned him the enduring respect and affection of runners and fans around the world.