I know it's a melodramatic title, but sometimes sport is, well, melodramatic. As when, at the end of the video on our first Sports Sunday post, the commentator mentioned the "guts" of the runners. One of the legends of the sport, Steve Prefontaine, was reknowned for his guts, that is, his willingness to hurt himself. This was never more prominent than in the 1972 5000 meter final, one of the great Olympic races ever (but not the greatest, it must be said). The announcer's calls -- "Gahmoudi is bankrupt, and so is Prefontaine!" and "Prefontaine dies in the final strides" -- are indicative of what gave Pre his aura.
What's also wonderful about this race is Prefontaine's willingness to run to win rather than run to get a silver or bronze medal. The discussion of the race in this film makes it clear that a more prudent and less glorious strategy would have secured the bronze for him, something that the bronze medalist himself admits in a shamefaced way. This brings us back to the restricted vs general economy or investment-return vs pure expenditure notion of the first post in the series. Pre's lesson: only getting close to pure expenditure -- when someone "dies in the final strides" -- is worthy of glory.
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