Olympic re-matches and World record attempt set for Eugene Diamond League
Twenty-two Olympic gold medallists from the recent Tokyo Games will be in the spotlight at the 46th edition of the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene, the venue for the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Five events will feature a full set of Olympic medallists from Tokyo 2021. The Prefontaine Classic will be held on two days and includes the traditional Distance Night on Friday evening with a world record attempt by Sifan Hassan in the women’s 5000m and Saturday’s main event, which will end with a re-match between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Timothy Cheruiyot. Three of the five Olympic champions from the USA Athing Mu, Ryan Crouser and Katie Nageotte will make their first appearance since their triumphs in Tokyo.
Watch Prefontaine Classic live
Women’s 100 metres:
All three Olympic medallists Elaine Thompson Herah, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce and Shericka Jackson will face US Trials champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who missed the Olympic Games as she was tested positive for cannabis.
Thompson Herah won two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo in the 100m and in the 200m repeating the same feat achieved at the Rio Olympic Games five years earlier. The Jamaican star has become the first sprinter in history to complete the “double-double”. She improved the Jamaican records in both the 100m with 10.61 and in the 200m with 21.53. Only Florence Griffith Joyner ran faster in history with 10.49 and 21.34. Thompson Herah also won her third Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 relay with 41.02 with her teammates Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Briana Williams.
Fraser Pryce won the Olympic silver medal in the 100m in 10.74 and finished fourth in the 200m in 21.94. The 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medallist improved her PB to 10.63 in the 100m in Kingston last June.
Sherika Jackson completed the Jamaican triumph by winning the bronze medal in her PB of 10.76 five years after finishing third in the 400m in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Marie Josée Ta Lou matched her fourth place from Rio 2016 in the 100m with 10.91 after equalling the African record with 10.78 in the heats.
Sha’Carri Richardson clocked a wind-assisted 10.64 in the semifinals of the US Trials easing up before the finish-line. Richardson made her breakthrough in 2019 when she won the NCAA title in the 100m breaking the world under 20 record with 10.75. She improved her PB to 10.72 in Miramar last April and is currently ranked third in the world seasonal list.
Mujinga Kambundji finished sixth in the 100m final at the Olympic Games in 10.99 after equalling her PB with 10.95 in the heats.
Tehania Daniels finished seventh at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The former NCAA indoor champion improved her lifetime to 10.98 in the semifinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo and clocked a wind-assisted 10.84 in the Olympic Trials semifinals.
Javianne Oliver improved her lifetime best from 11.10 to 10.96 in the US Trials. The 2018 National Indoor champion finished second at the US Trials, where she clocked a wind-assisted 10.83 in the semifinals.
Briana Williams will make her debut in a Wanda Diamond League meeting. The Jamaican sprinter was the youngest ever to win the 100m and the 200m at the 2018 World Under 20 Championships in Tampere when she was 16. She finished fourth at the Jamaican Championships earning the lead-off spot on the 4x100 relay that claimed the Olympic gold medal in 41.02.
Women’s 200 metres:
Sha’Carri Richardson will double up in the 200 metres against Tokyo 2021 olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas, 200m world champion Dina Asher Smith and 11-time Olympic medallist Allyson Felix.
Richardson set the world under 20 record in the 200m clocking 22.17 at the NCAA Championships in Austin. This year she won her two 200m races in Gainesville in 22.11 and in Ostrava in 22.35.
Thomas won the 200m at the US Olympic Trials in 21.61 and is currently ranked third in the all-time list. Thomas, who is graduate in neurobiology and global health at the Harvard University, won the bronze medal in 21.87 and the silver medal in the 4x100 in 41.45 along with her teammates Javianne Oliver, Tehania Daniels and Jenna Prandini at the Olympic Games.
Asher Smith started the season very well with a 200m win at the Wanda Diamond League in Florence in 22.06 and won the 100m title at the British Championships in Manchester in 10.91, but she got injured on her harmstring and did not get through to the 100m final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The British sprinter bounced back by winning her second consecutive olympic bronze medal in the 4x100 relay in 41.88 after setting the national record with 41.55 in the heats.
Felix finished third in the 400m in 49.46 and won the gold medal in the 4x400 relay in 3:16.85 in Tokyo in her fifth appearance at the Olympic Games. At 35 Felix made history by winning her 11th Olympic medal, breaking the record she shared with Merlene Ottey.
Marie Josée Ta Lou will also take part in the 200m. Over this distance the Ivorian sprinter won the world silver in London 2017 and finished fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 200m in 22.27.
Jenna Prandini finished second behind Thomas in the 200m at the US Olympic Trials improving her PB to 21.89 and won the Olympic silver medal with 41.45. In 2015 Prandini won the US Track and Field Championships title in the 200m and the NCAA title in the 100 for the Oregon Ducks.
Mujinga Kambundji will also run the 200m. The 2019 world bronze medallist equalled her lifetime best by clocking 22.26 in the heats and in the semifinal before finishing seventh in the final in 22.30.
The other names to watch are Lynna Irby, who won the NCAA 400m title in 49.80 in 2018 and the Diamond League race in the 400m in Monaco in 2020, and Brittany Brown, world silver medallist in Doha 2019 in 22.22 in the 200m.
Men’s 100 metres:
The line-up features nine sprinters with a PB under the 10 seconds, including fresh Olympic silver and bronze medallists André De Grasse and Fred Kerley and African record holder Akani Simbine.
De Grasse won the Olympic gold medal in the 200m improving the Canadian record to 19.62 three days after winning the bronze medal in the 100m with his PB of 9.89. The Canadian sprinter also won the bronze medal in the 4x100 with 37.70.
Fred Kerley won the Olympic silver medal in the 100m clocking a PB of 9.84. Before this year Kerley was known as a 400m sprinter and won the world bronze medal in the one-lap race in Doha 2019 in 44.17. He is one of the few sprinters who clocked PBs under 10 seconds in the 100m, 20 seconds in the 200m and 44 seconds in the 400m.
Akani Simbine broke the African record with 9.84 in Szekesfehervar and finishing fourth in the Olympic Games final in 9.93.
Trayvon Bromell leads the world seasonal list with 9.77 and won the US Trials in 9.80. Bromell, who is ranked fourth in the US all-time list, will try to bounce back from the disappointment at the Olympic Games, where he did not get through to the final after clocking 10.00 in the semifinal.
Twenty-three year-old Michael Norman is the youngest sprinter in the Eugene line-up. He holds PBs of 9.86 in the 100m, 19.70 in the 200m and 43.45 in the 400m (the fourth fastest time in history). Norman won the 400m Diamond League title in 2019. He finished fifth in the 400m in 44.31 and won the 4x400 relay gold medal in 2:55.70 at the Olympic Games clocking his leg in 44.03.
Ronnie Baker won the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic twice in his career in 2017 in a wind-assisted 9.78 and 2018 in 9.86. He improved his PB to 9.83 in the semifinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo before finishing fifth in the final in 9.95.
Thirty-nine year-old Justin Gatlin won the Prefontaine Classic six times: five in the 100m (9.90 in 2012, 9.88 in 2013, a wind-assisted 9.76 in 2014 (Prefontaine Classic all-conditions best), 9.88 in 2016) and one in the 200m (19.68 in the 2016).
Isiah Young improved his 100m PB to 9.89 and finished fifth in the 200m at the US Trials in Eugene in 20.03. Cravon Gillespie finished second in the 100m and in the 200m at the NCAA Championships in 2019 setting the Oregon best times of 9.93 and 19.93.
Men’s 200 metres:
Kenny Bednarek will take on 2019 world champion Noah Lyles in the 200m in a re-match of the Olympic Games. Bednarek won the Olympic silver medal in a PB of 19.68 ahead of Lyles, who had to settle with the bronze medal in 19.74.
Lyles leads 3-1 in his four head-to-head clashes against Bednarek and took two narrow wins in Walnut (19.90 to 19.94) and at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene (19.74 to 19.78). Lyles will face his brother Josephus, who improved his PB to 20.22 on 25 July in Azusa.
Raj Benjamin will make his first appearance in the 200m since 2018 when he broke the 20 seconds barrier with 19.99 in the Diamond League in Paris Charlety. Benjamin won the Olympic silver medal in the 400m hurdles in 46.17 behind Karsten Warholm, who broke the world record with a sensational 45.94. Benjamin also won the 400m hurdles at the US Trials in 46.83.
The star-studded line-up also features Canadian sprinters Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake, who won the olympic bronze medal in the 4x100 in Tokyo in a national record of 37.70, and Kyree King, who improved his PBs in the 100m to 9.97 and in the 200m to 20.15 this year.
Men’s shot put:
The men’s shot put field features the three medallists from the Olympic Games in Tokyo: Ryan Crouser (gold), Joe Kovacs (silver) and Tom Walsh (bronze). The trio won every major gold medal since 2015.
Crouser claimed his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with 23.30m missing his own world record by seven cm. The Oregon-native star produced all of his throws over his previous Olympic record in the Tokyo final and became the first shot putter in history to score three throws over the 22.86m barrier in the same competition. He returns to the same venue where he improved Randy Barnes’ world record with 23.37m at the US Olympic Trials.
Crouser has produced 141 puts over the 22 metres barrier and won 20 consecutive competitions since the 2019 World Championships in Doha, when he threw 22.90m but he had to settle with silver medal behind Joe Kovacs, who smashed his PB with 22.91m to win his second world outdoor title. Crouser leads 25-6 in his head-to-head matches against Kovacs.
Kovacs is ranked fourth in the world all-time list. He won two consecutive editions of the Prefontaine Classic in 2015 (22.12m) and 2016 (22.13m) and will make his seventh appearance at the Oregon meeting. He narrowly missed his seasonal best with 22.65m when he won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo.
Tom Walsh won the world outdoor title in London 2017 and two world indoor gold medals in Portland 2016 and Birmingham 2018. He improved his PB to 22.90m when he won the world bronze medal in Doha. The shot putter from New Zealand set his seasonal best with 22.47m in Tokyo.
Darlan Romani is the only shot putter, who was able to beat Crouser, Kovacs and Walsh at the 2019 Pre classic in Stanford with the South American record of 22.61m. The Brazilian shot putter finished fourth at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and repeated the same placing at the Olympic Games with 21.88m.
Payton Otterdahl clinched the third spot for the Olympic team at the US Trials at Hayward Field with 21.92m in final round beating Darrell Hill by just 3 cm. Hill claimed the 2017 Diamond League title in Brussels improving his PB to 22.44m.
Women’s 1500m:
Two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon will line up against Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir and Canadian record holder Gabriela Debues Stafford. Faith Kipyegon became the second middle-distance runner to win two 1500m Olympic gold medals.
The 27-year-old Kenyan athlete set the Olympic record with 3:53.11 in Tokyo beating Laura Muir, who broke her own British record with 3:54.50.
Kipyegon won the Diamond League race in Monaco in the 1500m in 3:51.07 missing Genzebe Dibaba’s world record by exactly one second to move up to fourth in the world all-time list. Kipyegon claimed the first of her three Pre Classic wins in 2016 with 3:56.41, a meeting record and the fastest ever race on home-soil.
Muir has won two Wanda Diamond League Trophies in 2016 and 2018. The Scottish middle-distance runner, who won the European outdoor title in Berlin 2018 and finished fourth at the 2017 World Championships in London, clinched a 800m win in the Diamond League this year in Monaco in her lifetime best of 1:56.73 last July.
Gabriela DeBues Stafford finished fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 3:58.93. She set her fastest time of the year with 3:58.28 in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics and the Canadian record with 3:56.12 when she finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Linden Hall became the first Australian 1500m runner to dip under the 4 minutes at 3:59.67 earlier this year and improved her Australian record to 3:59.01 when she finished sixth in the Olympic final in Tokyo. Hall’s compatriot Jessica Hull finished 11th in the Tokyo Olympic final after improving her PB to 3:58.81 in the semifinals.
Winnie Nanyondo holds the Ugandan record of 3:59.56 and just missed the Olympic final in Tokyo in the 800m. Nanyondo finished fourth in the 800m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Rababe Arafi from Morocco ran her first sub-4 minute time at the 2018 Pre Classic in Eugene and improved the 1500m national record to 3:58.84. Gaia Sabbatini improved her lifetime best by over 3 seconds to 4:02.25, setting the second fastest time in Italian 1500m history.
Women’s 5000 metres:
Double Olympic 5000m and 10000m champion Sifan Hassan will make an attempt to break the 5000m world record on the first of the meeting’s two days. Hassan will conclude a session dedicated on middle distance races on Friday one day before the main programme on Saturday 21st August. Hassan will target the world record set by Letesenbet Gidey last October with 14:06.62 in Valencia 2020.
Hassan will run her first race since the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she became the first athlete to win medals in the 1500m, 5000m and 10000m in the same edition of this event. She won two gold medals in the 5000m and 10000m and the bronze in the 1500m. The Dutch runner scored another historic double by winning two gold medals in the 1500m and 10000m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. She broke the third world record of her career in the 10000m with 29:06.82 at the FBK meeting in Hengelo last June and set the Wanda Diamond League record and the European record in the 3000m clocking 8:18.49 at the Prefontaine Classic in 2019 in the edition held in Stanford. She also improved the European records in the 1500m to 3:51.95 at the World Championships in Doha and in the 5000m to 14:22.12 in London.
She is the 13th fastest woman in history over the 5000m distance. The Prefontaine Classic record and the fastest ever time on North American soil has been held by Genzebe Dibaba since 2015 with 14:19.76.
Hassan will face Fantu Worku, who has a 14:26.60 PB set this year at the Bislett Games in Oslo.
Women’s 2 Miles:
This year’s 10000m Olympic bronze medallist Letesenbet Gidey will headline the 2 miles race. The Ethiopian runner broke the 10000m world record with 29:01.03 at the Ethiopian Trials on the same Hengelo track where Hassan set the previous record two days earlier.
Gidey will face Hellen Obiri from Kenya, who won the silver medal in the 5000m at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and two consecutive world gold medals in 2017 and 2019. Obiri claimed two wins in Eugene in the 1500m in 2014 (3:57.05) and in the 5000m in 2016 (14.32.02). The line-up also features Ethiopia’s Lemlem Hailu, who won the world under 18 gold medal in the 1500m in Nairobi 2017 and clocked 8:29.28 indoors in the 3000m in Madrid in 2021, Kenya’s Caroline Chepkirui Kipkirui, who clocked 14:27.55 in the 5000m in Brussels in 2017 and 8:29.05 in the 3000m in Doha 2018, Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, world bronze medallist in the 5000m in Doha 2019 and national record holder in the 3000m with 8.20.07 in the 2019 edition of the Prefontaine Classic, Amy Eloise Markovc, European Indoor champion in the 3000m in Torun 2021, and Burundi’s Francine Nyonsaba, Olympic silver medallist in the 800m in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Women’s 800 metres:
US 19-year-old star Athing Mu will make her debut in the Diamond League in the Women’s Distance Night on the opening day on Friday after winning the Olympic gold medal in 1:55.21. Mu broke the US senior record held by Ajée Wilson and became the first US Olympic champion over this distance since Meline Manning in Mexico City 1968. Mu also won the NCAA outdoor title in 400m with 49.57 and the US Trials in the 800m in 1:56.07.
At the Tokyo Olympic Games Mu beat another junior athlete Keely Hodgkinson, who won the silver with 1:55.88 breaking the British record of 1:56.21 held by Kelly Holmes since 1995. The 2021 European Indoor gold medallist also smashed her own European Under 20 record with 1:55.88.
Raevyn Rogers came back from seventh place into the final straight to clinch the Olympic bronze medal in 1:56.81. Rogers also won the world outdoor silver medal in Doha 2019 in 1:58.18, finished second at the 2021 US Trials in 1:57.66 and won three consecutive NCAA outdoor titles in 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the Oregon Ducks.
Jemma Reekie from Great Britain finished fourth in the Olympic final and improved her Scottish record twice to 1:56.96 in Monaco and 1:56.90 in Tokyo.
Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi won a surprising world gold medal in Doha 2019 and set the national record with 1:58.03 in Monaco last July.
Kate Grace won the 2016 US Trials title and reached the Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro. Grace missed the Olympic selection this year after finishing seventh at the US Trials in Eugene. She bounced back with a win in the Oslo Diamond League meeting with 1:57.60 and a third place in Monaco in her PB of 1.57.20. She leads the Wanda Diamond League standings with 20 points ahead of Jamaica’s Natoya Goule, who finished second with 1:56.44 in Stockolm. Goule finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The line-up also features double world bronze medallist Ajée Wilson.
Bowerman Mile:
Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will clash against 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot in the traditional Bowerman Mile, named after the legendary US coach Bill Bowerman, who coached Steve Prefontaine and co-founded Nike. Bowerman died in 1999 and the Pre-Classic mile has been known as the Bowerman Mile since then.
Ingebrigtsen won his first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo improving the Olympic and European record to 3:28.32. The Norwegian star became the youngest runner to dip under the 4 minutes barrier over the mile distance with 3:58.07 at the age of 16 in 2017. He set a world-age- 17 best with 3:52.28 at the 2018 Pre Classic and his PB of 3:51.30 in the 2019 edition. In his previous appearances at this year’s Wanda Diamond League Ingebrigtsen broke the European record in the 5000m with 12:48.45 in Florence and finished second in the 1500m in Monaco.
Jakob’s elder brother Filip Ingebrigtsen won the 1500m world bronze medal in London 2017 and still holds the family record over the mile distance with 3:49.60.
Timothy Cheruiyot won the past two editions of the Bowerman Mile in 3:49.87 in 2018 and in 2019 in 3:50.49. The Kenyan star set the world seasonal best with 3:28.28 in Monaco beating Jakob Ingebrigtsen and won the Olympic silver medal in 3:29.01. Cheruiyot has won 10 of his 11 previous head-to-head matches against Ingebrigtsen.
Australia is represented by Oliver Hoare, who won the Continental Tour 1500m race in Eugene last April in 3:33.54, and Jye Edwards, who finished third in the Dream Mile in Oslo in 3:49.27.
Matthew Centrowitz, who won the 1500m Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016, set the fastest outdoor time by a US runner on US soil with 3:49.26 in Portland last July. Matthew’s father Matt Centrowitz Senior won the 5000m at the Pre Classic four times and set the US record in 1982.
Men’s 2 miles:
The Tokyo 2021 Olympic medallists Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda, Selemon Barega from Ethiopia, Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda and US Paul Chelimo will headline a strong 2 miles field. At the Tokyo Olympic Games Cheptegei won the silver medal in the 10000m in 27:43.63 and the gold medal in the 5000m in 12:58.15. The 5000m and 10000m world record holder won the 2014 world under 20 title in the 10000m in Eugene and the 2 miles race at the Prefontaine Classic in 2019.
Cheptegei will take on Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, who won the Olympic gold medal in the 10000m in Tokyo and the other Ugandan star Jacob Kiplimo, who won the Olympic bronze medal in the 10000m in Tokyo and the world half marathon title in Gdynia last year, and US Paul Chelimo, two-time Olympic medallist in the 5000m (silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and bronze in Tokyo 2021).
Barega won the Olympic gold medal in the 10000m in Tokyo and finished second at the World Championships in the 5000m in Doha. The Ethiopian star set the world under 20 record in the 5000m clocking 12:43.02 in Brussels in 2018.
Kiplimo claimed the Olympic bronze medal in the 10000m and set the seventh best performance in history with 26:33.93 over this distance in Ostrava.
Women’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
The women’s 3000m steeplechase has produced the ten fastest times ever on US soil. Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai will make her first appearance since her surprising Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 9:01.45. Chemutai won Uganda’s first gold by a woman at the Olympic Games.
Courtney Frerichs won the world silver medal in London 2017, the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 2021 and set the US record of 9:00.85. The Missouri-native runner trains in Oregon and joined the Bowerman Track Club after winning the NCAA title in 2016. She ran her fastest time on US soil with 9.09.75 at the 2019 Pre Classic.
Twenty-year-old Mekides Abebe improved the Ethiopian record to 9:02.52 at the Wanda Diamond League in Doha last May and finished fourth at the Olympic Games in 9:06.16.
Norah Jeruto Tanui set the world seasonal best clocking 9:00.67 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha last May. She finished second in the 2018 Diamond League final with 8:59.62.
Winfred Mutile Yavi finished fourth at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and set her PB of 9:02.64 in the Wanda Diamond League meeting in the Qatari capital last May. Celliphine Chepkok won the Prefontaine Classic in a world under 20 record of 8:58.78 and won two world under 20 gold medals in 2016 and 2018.
The other top names are Germany’s Gesa Felicitas Krause, who won two world bronze medals and two European titles, Marusa Mismas-Zrimsek, who finished sixth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with the Slovenian record of 9:14.84, Geneviève Gregson, Australian record holder with 9:14.28, and Kenya’s Daisy Jepkemei, world under 20 gold medallist in Barcelona 2012 and fourth at the 2019 Prefontaine Classic.
Men’s 800 metres:
The two-lap race will feature the Olympic gold and silver medallists Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich Cheruiyot, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Clayon Murphy and Elliot Giles from from Great Britain.
Korir finished second in the Wanda Diamond League in Monaco in 1:43.04 and won his first Olympic gold medal leading a Kenyan double. Rotich won the Olympic silver and the world bronze in Doha 2019 and set a seasonal best of 1:43.57 in Monaco last July.
Murphy won the US Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in 1:43.17. Giles set the British Indoor record with 1:43.63 in Torun and finished third in the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockolm in a seasonal best of 1:44.05 last July.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
World champion Dalilah Muhammad will run her first race since the Olympic final in Tokyo, where she won the silver medal in 51.58 behind Sydney McLaughlin, who broke the world record with 51.46. Muhammad finished inside the previous world record set by McLaughlin at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene with 51.85.
Muhammad will face 2015 world silver medallist Shamier Little, who had to settle with a fourth place at the US Trials in Eugene, but she bounced back with an impressive PB of 52.39 in the Wanda Diamond League in Stockolm.
The line-up features three more finalists from the Olympic Games in Tokyo: Janieve Russell from Jamaica (fourth in 53.08), Anna Ryzhikova from the Ukraine (fifth in 53.48), Gianna Woodruff from Panama (sevenh in 55.84 after clocking 54.22 in the semifinal).
Men’s triple jump:
This year’s Olympic medallists Pedro Pablo Pichardo, Fabrice Hugues Zango and double olympic silver medallist Will Claye will square off against at Hayward Field. Pichardo won his first Olympic gold medal with 17.98m and the European Indoor title in Torun last March. He became the first Portuguese triple jumper to win a gold medal since Nelson Evora in Beijing 2008. Zango won Burkina Faso’s first ever Olympic gold medal thanks to his bronze medal in Tokyo with 17.47m. The African jumper broke the world indoor record with 18.07m in Aubière last January.
Pichardo leads 8-5 in his head-to-head matches against Zango.
The Portuguese jumper also beat Zango in the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesféhervar with 17.92m. Zango beat Pichardo in Madrid with 17.83m to 17.69m.
Claye won two consecutive Olympic silver medals in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 behind Christian Taylor and finished fourth in Tokyo this year. The 2018 world indoor champion won the 2014 edition of the Prefontaine Classic with 17.66m.
The other top names are US Donald Scott, seventh at the Olympic Games with 17.18m, Andrea Dallavalle from Italy, European Under 23 champion and ninth in Tokyo, and Max Hess from Germany, European gold medallist in Amsterdam 2016.
Women’s pole vault:
US pole vault star Katie Nageotte will compete for the first time as reigning Olympic champion. Nageotte enjoyed a dream season winning the US Trials in Eugene setting the Hayward Field record with 4.95m, the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco with 4.90m and the Olympic gold medal with 4.90m. She has attempted to break the US record four times this year.
Nageotte will face Holly Bradshaw, who won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo with 4.85m and broke the British outdoor record with 4.90m at this year’s National Championships in Manchester, Katerina Stefanidi from Greece, who won the Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016, the world title in London 2017 and the European gold medal in Berlin 2018, Morgann Leleux Romero, second at the US Trials in Eugene, Iryna Zhuk from Belarus, national record holder with 4.74m, and Canada’s Anicka Newell, olympic finalist in Tokyo.
Women’s high jump:
Nafissatou Thiam will make her first appearance at this year’s edition of the Wanda Diamond League in the high jump. Thiam won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the heptathlon in Tokyo with 6791 points. Thiam became the second woman to successfully defend an Olympic combined events title after US legend Jackie Joyner Kersee. The Belgian star cleared 1.92m in the high jump of the Olympic heptathlon. She set a 2.02m high jump PB in an heptathlon competition in Talence. She will take part in a competition on American soil for the first time in her career.
Thiam will face Iryna Gerashchenko from the Ukraine, who finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with 1.98m, Vashti Cunningham, world indoor champion in Portland 2016 and world bronze medallist in Doha 2019 with 2.00m, Yuliya Levchenko from the Ukraine and Kamila Lichwinko from Poland, silver and bronze medallist in London 2017, and Alessia Trost from Italy, world indoor bronze medallist in Birmingham 2018.
