Prefontaine Page #4

---

the United States of America.

Great uniforms this year,

aren't they?

Look.

There's Steve Prefontaine, one of

America's best hopes for a gold medal.

And there's Art Walker,

the triple jumper.

- You guys see that Swedish long jumper?

- What do you think, I'm blind?

She sure wasn't. The way she was checking

out every guy in the U.S. delegation.

- For real? God bless America.

- That's right.

- Goodbye.

- # Oh, say can you see #

- Identification. Identification.

- # By the dawn's early light #

- # By the twilight's last gleam... #

- Give it up, Galloway.

If you get on the medal stand,

just move your lips.

Home sweet home.

What did they have, 5,000 doves?

800 dancing girls?

At least we know what they

spent their money on.

Look on the bright side, guys.

To clean it, all we

need is a fire hose.

Jesus.

Mark Spitz has the lead. Here

comes Hayden Locke in the middle.

Over here in lane eight,

it's John Murphy, putting on a sprint.

John Murphy coming hard

in lane eight.

Murphy's after Spitz! It's too late.

The winner is Mark Spitz! He's got six!

And he's got a new world

and Olympic record.

There is time for the Russians to go

to their big man, Alexander Belov.

They're going to try.

Alexander Belov!

And this time it is over.

First it was indicated

the U.S. had won 49-48.

That looks like the final score...

although there is a big rhubarb

going on in front of the bench.

No, no, no.

I'm serious. Come on.

Guys who are trying to double up

on the 5,000 and 10,000?

Bedford? Yifter? Lasse Viren?

I'm not worried about them.

- The race is in the bag.

- Shh.

What the hell are

you drinkin', Pre?

Last I looked, Bedford was

the world record holder.

Viren just set a world record in

the two-mile last month.

Viren's been running

good races, true. True.

But when I make my move

with a mile to go...

it's gonna be "whoosh"!

And those guy's will feel

like they hit a stone wall.

"Whoosh"?

"Whoosh".

Frank Shorter of the United

States is still hanging back.

You're watching the 10,000 meter final

live on a beautiful sunny day in Munich.

There goes Viren, down.

- Gammoudi trips over him and falls

off the track. - Man. Tough break.

Not for Shorter!

Come on, Frank.

Time to make your move.

Don't count Viren out yet.

...less than three laps to go.

Amazing!

After falling, Viren has quickly rejoined

the pack and is now moving into fifth.

- Jesus, what a talent. - Yeah,

it's the best that money can buy.

What's that supposed to mean?

He's like a lot of

the top Europeans.

He's got a fake government job that

doesn't cut into his training regime.

Got an entourage of doctors

and trainers wherever he goes.

But they're not athletes over here, man.

It's like they're national treasures.

I don't know. Looks like

a goddamn stallion to me.

And now, after six miles,

here they go.

Passing slower runners.

The three of them going for the gold.

This is unbelievable.

- He's going after the record.

- The Finnish flag's still flying.

Here comes Puttemans after Viren.

Look at Viren accelerate.

And Viren's going to hold it!

Lasse Viren the winner, 27:38.

That breaks the world record

of 27:
39.4...

By about half a second.

I'll tell you, Jim, there's

one man in these stands...

that had better be worried having watched

this race, and that's Steve Prefontaine.

The world record of Ron Clarke had stood

since 1965. There was Frank Shannon.

Look at this. Here's

a bit of real Olympia.

A kid, a blond-haired boy with the

Finnish flag leaping over the barrier...

Viren!

Look.

Hey, Pre, come here,

quick. I need you.

God, he makes other guys look like

they're standin' still.

Exactly. Stand still.

Don't move.

To folks up there watchin', it's just

America's greatest distance runner...

conferring with his two coaches.

Down here, it's you two guys

covering me while I take a leak.

- This isn't Eugene, Bill.

- I need a new race plan.

- Relax, rube.

- Goddamn it, Bill. I'm serious.

Look, if you were running

the 400 against Viren...

we could all join hands about

now and have a good cry.

You're runnin the 5,000.

Listen to me, rube. On Saturday,

his posse won't mean squat.

Bedford'll go out fast,

and you'll stay right on his butt.

By the time you get ready to take over,

Viren's legs will be crap.

The only kick he'll have left is the one

you give him in the ass on your way by.

Look at Viren accelerate!

And Viren's going to hold it!

That breaks the world

record of 27:
39...

Hello?

Hello. Is this the U.S. complex?

Please, is this...

- Who the hell is this? - Shaoul Adami.

Something horrible is happening.

I know it. Please.

I need your help.

- What's going on? Where are you?

- I need you. Run! No!

Run! No! No!

- No!

- Hello? Hello?

I've got an extreme emergency. Get me a

number inside of the American Embassy.

Right away, damn it!

Do it now!

This is an I.T.N. news flash...

from the Olympic Village in Munich,

where Arab gunmen...

The peace of what have been

called the "Serene Olympics"...

was shattered just before

dawn this morning...

Arriving passengers,

do not be alarmed.

- American killed him?

- No, Israeli.

Arab terrorists went to the

headquarters of the Israeli team...

and immediately killed one man,

Moshe Weinberg, a coach.

Two shots in the head,

one in the stomach.

The guerillas are demanding

the release...

of 250 Arabs held

prisoner in Israel...

and have set noon as the

deadline for their release.

They had set a deadline of noon...

saying that they were going to kill

all of their hostages at that time.

That deadline, obviously, has passed.

There are men with guns

beginning to train those guns...

on the rooms where the two heads

were sticking out a moment ago

of the Arab guerilla lookouts.

- One man with binoculars...

- Has anybody here seen Mark Spitz?

- No. - Where in

the hell is Spitz?

How many Jewish athletes

do we have on the team?

This is happening now,

if you can possibly believe that.

A crowd estimated

at 75,000 to 80,000 people...

has gathered, awaiting

the outcome of this.

Here are the men with what appear to be,

I suppose, submachine guns.

These are the Germans. They are

the men trying to free the Israelis.

They suspended the Games.

Burke just told us.

I guess murdered athletes

don't make for good sport.

It's the right thing to do.

We should all go home now.

Oh, I don't know.

I know this is awful to say, 'cause

I feel terribly for those guys over there...

but right now all I can think about

is how hard I've worked to get here.

I feel ripped off, man.

Is that where you're at, Pre?

It's dark. It's 23 minutes

past 7:
00 in the evening...

and inside that little block

are ten Israelis,

one of them believed dead...

the other nine said to

be standing in a circle...

hands tied behind their back

and lashed to each other...

Come on, Pre.

Grab your stuff. You're

staying with me tonight.

Steve! Steve!

Steve!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes