QuickTake:

Bill Dellinger won bronze in the 5,000 meters at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo before starting a long coaching career that took him from Springfield’s Thurston High School to University of Oregon. There, he coached the famous Steve Prefontaine.

Bill Dellinger, an Olympic bronze medalist and influential University of Oregon track and field and cross-country coach, died June 27 at age 91. 

Dellinger, an Oregon native, went to the Olympics three times, in 1956, 1960 and 1964. In Tokyo in 1964 he won the bronze medal in the 5,000 meters. He also coached distance running for University of Oregon for nearly 30 years, most notably mentoring Steve Prefontaine.

“It is with an extremely heavy heart to say that we have lost a LEGEND today,” wrote Dellinger’s nephew on Instagram on Friday. “My Uncle Bill Dellinger passed away peacefully with his family by his side.”

Dellinger was born in Grants Pass, but spent most of his life in Springfield, Oregon. He went to UO for college, running under the famous coach Bill Bowerman. While at UO, Dellinger won two NCAA titles and broke the American record for 5,000 meters three times in 1956, according to the University of Oregon Hall of Fame. 

After graduating from the UO with an education degree, he served for a short time in the Air Force before returning to become a teacher and coach at Springfield’s Thurston High School. All the while, he trained and qualified for the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. His fastest time for the 5,000 meters was 13:49.8, which he ran in 1964.

Bruce Mortenson, the Ducks first NCAA champion in the steeplechase, shared a memory with Lookout Eugene-Springfield of Dellinger from the spring of 1964. 

“At the time no one on the national scene knew that Bill was training for the 1964 Olympics,” Mortenson said. “The national media was focused on Jim Beatty of the Los Angeles Track Club. Beatty was running well and winning some important races and was a favorite to make the U.S. team. Meanwhile here in Eugene Bill was training and on a couple of occasions ran time trials at Hayward with some pacers to help. In those time trials Bill would record a time as fast or faster than Beatty was running. While no one else knew what Bill was doing, those of us connected to Oregon track knew he was to make the team and do well at the Olympics.”

After his retirement from elite running, he coached at Lane Community College until UO hired him to be assistant coach under Bowerman in 1967.

According to Runner’s World, Dellinger was a key figure in Prefontaine’s life and running career. Dellinger started his head coaching career at UO’s cross-country program in Prefontaine’s freshman year. They had a close relationship, “like brothers,” according to Kenny Moore’s book “Bowerman and the Men of Oregon.”

Dellinger took over as head coach of the UO track and field team in 1972 after Bowerman retired. During his coaching career at UO, Dellinger led Oregon’s cross-country team to four NCAA titles and led the track and field team to win one NCAA championship. He also was a distance coach for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team for the 1984 Olympics.

Dellinger was married to Marol Dellinger and lived in the Eugene-Springfield area until his death.

Vanessa Salvia contributed to this report.

Lilly is a graduate of Indiana University and has worked at the Indianapolis Star and in Burlington, Vermont, as well as working as a foreign language teacher in France. She covers education and children's issues for Lookout Eugene-Springfield.