Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 12 summarizes the legacy of Pre. Pre felt running was a gift, but a gift mainly achieved through hard work and tenacity, and that tenacity was his biggest asset on the track and the quality everyone remembers about the runner. His fight against the AAU and "shamateurism" was continued by his fellow runners, and in 1978, Congress passed the Amateur Sports Act, which broke the stranglehold the AAU had on amateur athletics and improved the lives of athletes. The runners Pre touched and affected went on to various degrees of success in the Olympics and elsewhere. Another part of Pre's legacy was his relationship with Nike. Pre was Nike's first superstar athlete, and Pre helped to direct international attention to the then-small shoe company. At Nike's corporate headquarters, the Prefontaine building serves as a reminder of Pre.

Other tributes to Pre include...