Matt Small’s latest artwork depicting the legendary American track and field star Steve Prefontaine has gone on display at the Hayward Field Pre Classic in Oregon.

Originally displayed at the World Athletics Championships in 2022, the sculpture, a collaboration between Matt and Justin Bauer, has been years in the envisioning, but took only 10 days to complete. The concept was to create a mosaic portrait of Pre on a background shaped like a stop sign — invoking the Stop Pre T-shirt from the ’70s — and build in using pieces of salvaged metal. Everything from an old Bauer family camp table to reclaimed pieces of the demolished Hayward Field were pressed into service. Pieces of old red coloured track — some cut to reveal the layers, others the rough running surface — pieces of siding, stands and signage combine to make up the whole. Several broken pieces of waffle iron make up Pre’s hair line recalling the story of how Bill Bowerman raided his wife’s kitchen in search of a mold for his original shoe tread design.