Steve Prefontaine was born on this day in 1951. Steve Prefontaine was an American middle and long distance runner who once held seven American distance records from 2000 to 10000 meters. Steve competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics and would have been a favourite at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Steve Prefontaine was born in Coos Bay, Oregon. In the 8th grade he took notice of the cross country team who would jog past the football field. He noticed in his physical education class he was good at running long distances. He became a runner. Prefontaine would go to college at Oregon and run for the legendary coach Bill Bowerman.

In the 1972 Munich Olympic Games Prefontaine who came in as the American record holder in the event faded at the end of the race and just missed winning a medal. He was still in his early 20’s. The future looked bright.

During his college career he only lost three times all in the mile. After college running with the Oregon Track Club he set American records in every race from the 2000 to 10,000 meters.

On May 30th, 1975 Steve Prefontaine was returning home after a party when his car swerved into a rock wall and flipped. By the time medics reached him he was dead. Steve Prefontaine was 24 years old.

In the late 1990’s there were two movies made about his life, “Prefontaine” and “Without Limits.”