Prefontaine Classic - Bowerman Mile Showdown, Tsegay's World Record Attempt, Kenyan Trials, and More

Friday, 24 May 2024

Prefontaine Classic 2024 - The men's Bowerman Mile at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene features an exceptional lineup, including seven athletes who have run under 3:50, Olympic and World Championship gold medalists, and world record holders.

Josh Kerr, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and Yared Nuguse will face off in a highly anticipated Bowerman Mile race, expected to uphold the prestigious history of this competition.

Kerr won the men’s 1500 meters gold medal at the World Championships, narrowly beating Ingebrigtsen with a time of 3:29.38. Last March, Kerr claimed the world indoor title in the 3000 meters in front of his home fans in Glasgow, finishing in 7:42.98 ahead of Nuguse. In February, Kerr set a world all-time best in the indoor 2 miles with 8:00.67 at the Millrose Games in New York.

Kerr, who will make his debut at the Prefontaine Classic, set a personal best of 3:48.87 over the mile at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston in 2022. The Scottish athlete competed for the University of New Mexico from 2015 to 2018, winning three NCAA titles. He also won the European under-20 title in Eskilstuna and the Olympic bronze medal in the 1500m in Tokyo 2021, setting a PB of 3:29.05.

Josh Kerr: “I will be opening up my outdoor mile season at the Pre Classic. I have been flirting around with other distances. It’s time to get back to what I am the best in the world at.”

Olympic 1500 meters champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen returns to the Prefontaine Classic for the seventh time in his career to defend his 2023 Bowerman Mile title. The Norwegian athlete won two Diamond League titles at Hayward Field last September in the mile, setting a national record and a meeting record of 3:43.73, the third-fastest time ever, and in the 3000 meters with a European record of 7:23.63. He also won the Bowerman Mile in 2021 in 3:47.24 and in 2022 in 3:49.76.

Ingebrigtsen won the gold medal in the 5000 meters and finished second to Jake Wightman in the 1500 meters at the World Championships in Eugene 2022. Later that year, he won two European outdoor gold medals in the 1500m and 5000m in Munich. Last year, he claimed a silver medal to Josh Kerr in the 1500m and a gold medal in the 5000m at the World Championships in Budapest. In 2017, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest athlete in history to run the mile distance in under 4 minutes in Eugene at the age of 16.

Yared Nuguse ran 3:43.97 in the Bowerman Mile behind Ingebrigtsen to break the 16-year-old US record in the mile at last year’s Diamond League final in Eugene, becoming the fourth-fastest athlete ever over this distance. Nuguse won the US indoor title and the world indoor silver medal in the 3000 meters in Glasgow 2024. The 24-year-old American finished fifth in the 1500 meters at the World Championships in Budapest 2023 in 3:30.25, won the 1500 meters in Zurich last year, and the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games indoor meeting in New York in 3:47.83.

The three middle-distance stars have not competed against each other since the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

Tsegay Aims for World Record; Kenyan 10000m Trials Set to Unfold

Women’s 10000 Meters:

World 10000 meters champion Gudaf Tsegay will attempt to improve the world record of 29:01.03 set by Letesenbet Gidey in Hengelo in 2021. Tsegay has won two world gold medals in the 5000 meters in Eugene 2022 and the 10000 meters in Budapest 2023. Tsegay broke Faith Kipyegon’s 5000 meters world record, clocking 14:00.21 at last September’s Diamond League Final in Eugene. Last March, the Ethiopian athlete won the world indoor silver medal behind Ellen St. Pierre in 8:21.13 in the 3000 meters in Glasgow. She set the third-fastest time in history with 3:50.30 in the 1500m at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen last April.

The Prefontaine Classic will also host the Kenyan 10000 meters Trials for the Olympic Games in Paris.

Two-time world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet returns to the Hayward Field track, where she won the world silver medal in the 5000 meters in 2022. The Kenyan athlete won the Diamond League title in Zurich in 2022 and set the third-fastest time in history with 14:05.92 at the Diamond League in Eugene last September.

Chebet will compete against Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, world silver medalist in the 5000 meters in Doha 2019, world bronze medalist in the 10000m in Eugene 2022, and world silver medalist in the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships in Riga 2023. Other contenders include Emmaculate Anyango, fourth at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade 2024, Lilian Rengeruk, silver medalist in the 5 km at the World Road Running Championships in Riga 2023 and at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade 2024, Agnes Jebet Ngetich, who won the world cross-country bronze medal in Bathurst 2023 and set the world road 5 km record with 28:46 in Valencia last January, and Grace Loibach Nawowuna, who improved her 10000m PB to 29:47.42 in Hengelo 2023 and finished fourth at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst 2023.

Other international athletes to watch include Ethiopian 16-year-old Saron Behre, who improved her PB to 3:59.21 in the 1500 meters at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, Daisy Jepkemei from Kazakhstan, seventh at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade 2022, and Sarah Chelangat from Uganda, sixth at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade.

Men’s 10000 Meters:

Daniel Ebenyo is the favorite in the men’s 10000 meters, a non-Diamond League race. Ebenyo won two world silver medals in the 10000 meters in Budapest and the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships in Riga last year. Ebenyo set a PB of 26:57.80 at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels.

Ebenyo will compete against his compatriots Benson Kiplagat, the 2021 world under-20 champion and 2024 world cross-country bronze medalist, and Samwel Chebolel, who improved his PB to 13:00.69 in the 5000m at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting in 2024.

Women’s 800 Meters:

Reigning world champion Mary Moraa from Kenya will compete against Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain in the women's 800 meters.

Moraa and Hodgkinson return to Hayward Field after racing each other at the Diamond League final there last September, where Mu set the US record of 1:54.97.

Hodgkinson finished second at last year’s Diamond League final in Eugene, improving the British record to 1:55.19. The British athlete won the Diamond League final in Zurich in 2021 and the European outdoor gold medal in Munich 2022. She set the national indoor record in the 800 meters with 1:57.19 and the world all-time best in the 600 meters with 1:23.41.

Moraa won the world gold medal in Budapest, improving her PB to 1:56.03 one year after finishing third at the World Championships in Eugene in 1:56.71. The Kenyan athlete had a breakthrough 2022 season, winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 1:57.07 and the Diamond League final in Zurich in 1:57.63. She holds the Kenyan record in the 400 meters with 50.38 and won the African Games gold medal over this distance in 50.57 in Accra last March.

Jemma Reekie will look to continue her successful season. The Scottish athlete won the world indoor silver medal in Glasgow last March and finished second to Moraa at the Diamond League meeting in Doha.

Olympic finalist Natoya Goule Toppin from Jamaica will return to Hayward Field, where she finished fifth at the World Championships in 2022 in 1:57.90 and third at the Diamond League final in 2023 in a national record of 1:55.96.

Halimah Nakaayi from Uganda, the world champion in Doha 2019, will seek another good performance after winning at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 1:57.56 last week.

Tsige Duguma from Ethiopia started the 2024 season with the world indoor title in Glasgow and went on to finish first at the African Games in Accra in 1:57.73 and second at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 1:57.56.

The lineup also features Raevyn Rogers, Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo 2021, Catriona Bisset from Australia, fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022 and Oceanian record holder with 1:57.78, and Nia Akins, sixth at the World Championships in Budapest 2023.

Women’s 100 Meters Hurdles:

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn will face world indoor champion and record holder Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas and Olympic silver medalist Kendra Harrison.

Camacho Quinn won the Olympic gold medal in 12.37 after setting her PB of 12.26 in the semifinal and two world medals (bronze in Eugene 2022 in a wind-assisted 12.23 and silver in Budapest 2023 in 12.44). The Puerto Rican hurdler started the 2024 Diamond League with two consecutive wins on Chinese soil in Xiamen in 12.45 and Suzhou in 12.63 and finished fourth in the Continental Tour Gold in Los Angeles in 12.66. She has won eleven Diamond League races since 2021.

Charlton broke Susanna Kallur’s world indoor record in the 60 meters hurdles by clocking 7.67 at the Millrose Games and equaled her record in Madrid. The Bahamian hurdler won the world indoor gold medal, improving her world indoor record by 0.02 to 7.65 in Glasgow last March. Charlton finished second in Xiamen in 12.49 and Suzhou in 12.64.

Harrison returns to the Hayward Field track, where she won at the 2016 edition of the Prefontaine Classic in 12.24 a few weeks before breaking the world record with 12.20 in London. The US hurdler won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo and two world medals (silver in Doha 2019 and bronze in Budapest 2023). She came close to her PB when she clocked 12.24 in the heats of the World Championships in Budapest.

Danielle Williams won her second world outdoor title in Budapest in 12.43, beating Camacho Quinn by 0.01. Williams won her seventh Diamond League race in Zurich last year in 12.54.

Cyrena Samba Mayela from France won two world indoor medals, finishing first in Belgrade 2022 in 7.78 and second in Glasgow 2024 in 7.74. The French hurdler set her seasonal best of 12.44 and finished third in Los Angeles in 12.63.

Tonea Marshall showed her good form when she improved her PB to 12.42 in Clermont last April. She finished second in Doha in 12.51 and first in Los Angeles in 12.55 into a headwind of -1.0 m/s.

Ali, world champion in Doha 2019 and Olympic silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016, won in Gainesville in 12.44 and finished fifth in Los Angeles in 12.55.

The lineup will also feature Alaysha Johnson, US indoor champion in the 60 meters hurdles in 2023, and Masai Russell, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in 7.81.

Men’s 100 Meters:

Reigning world indoor champion Christian Coleman will headline the men’s 100 meters. Coleman won the Diamond League Final in Eugene last September, equaling the world seasonal best of 9.83 and lifting the Diamond Trophy for the second time in his career. Coleman won his second world indoor gold medal in the 60 meters in 6.41 in Glasgow last March and started his Diamond League campaign with two wins on Chinese soil in Xiamen in 10.13 and Suzhou in 10.04.

Coleman will face Ferdinand Omanyala from Kenya, African record holder with 9.77, and Ackeem Blake from Jamaica, who won the world indoor bronze medal in Glasgow in 6.46 in the 60 meters and improved his PB to 9.89 in the 100 meters at the Los Angeles Grand Prix last year.

Men’s 200 Meters:

World and Olympic medalists Erriyon Knighton, Kenny Bednarek, and Letsile Tebogo will highlight the men’s 200 meters. Erriyon Knighton finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 in 19.93 and won two world medals (bronze in Eugene 2022 in 19.80 and silver in Budapest 2023 in 19.75). The 20-year-old US sprinter claimed his first US title in Eugene in 19.72 and three wins in Diamond League meetings in Brussels in 2022 (20.07), Florence (19.89), and Oslo (19.77) in 2023. Last winter, he won his first indoor 200 meters race in Liévin in 20.21. He set the national under-20 record of 19.49 in Baton Rouge in 2022.

Letsile Tebogo from Botswana claimed two world medals in Budapest 2023, finishing second in the 100 meters in 9.88 and third in the 200 meters in 19.81. The double world under-20 champion broke Frankie Fredericks’ African record with 19.50 at the Diamond League meeting in London in 2023. He set the world all-time best in the 300 meters with 30.69 and improved his PB to 44.29 in the 400 meters last March. During the 2024 Continental Tour season, he finished second in the 200m in Nairobi in 19.71 into a headwind of -1.5 m/s and in the 100m in Los Angeles in 10.13.

Bednarek won silver medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 in 19.68 and at the World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene in 19.77. The US sprinter will chase his second win in the 200 meters at this year’s edition of the Diamond League after his triumph in Doha, where he set the world seasonal lead with 19.67. He claimed seven wins in Diamond League meetings during his career.

Courtney Lindsey won the NCAA outdoor title in the 100m in 9”89 and started his 2024 season with a win over Tebogo in Nairobi into a headwind of -1.5 m/s. He won the 4x100 relay at the World Relays in Nassau in a world-leading time of 37.40.

The lineup will also feature Joseph Fahnbulleh from Liberia, fourth at the World Championships in Eugene in 19.84, Aaron Brown, Olympic and world finalist in the 200 meters and world 4x100 relay champion in Eugene 2022, Kyree King, winner in the 4x100 relay at the World Relays in Nassau, and Alexander Ogando, fifth in the 200 meters in 19.93 and gold medalist in the 4x400 mixed relay at the World Championships in Eugene 2022.

Women’s 100 Meters:

Sha’Carri Richardson won her first 100 meters world title with a PB of 10.65 in Budapest, moving up to fifth in the world all-time list. She followed up with a bronze medal in the 200 meters in a lifetime best of 21.92 and a second gold medal in the 4x100 relay. Richardson won three Diamond League races last year in the 100m in Doha (10.76), Chorzow (10.76), and Zurich (10.88) and finished fourth in the Diamond League Final in Eugene in 10.80. She started the 2024 season with two second places in the first Diamond League 200 meters races in Xiamen in 22.99 and Suzhou in 23.11.

Richardson will face Marie-Josée Ta Lou Smith from Ivory Coast and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson Herah.

Ta Lou Smith has won a total of three world medals in London 2017 (silver in the 100m and 200m) and Doha 2019 (bronze in the 100m) and 14 Diamond League races in her career. The Ivorian sprinter, coached by John Smith, set the African record of 10.72 in Monaco in 2022.

Thompson Herah will return to the Hayward Field track, where she improved her PB to 10.54 at the Prefontaine Classic in 2021, a few weeks after her second Olympic double in the 100 meters in 10.61 and 200 meters in 21.53 in Tokyo. The Jamaican sprinter returned to her best shape last year, winning in Brussels in 10.84 and finishing third in Eugene in 10.79. She will compete at the Prefontaine Classic for the fourth consecutive year.

Thompson Herah will meet Richardson for the first time since the 2023 Diamond League final in Eugene.

Richardson, Ta Lou, and Thompson Herah will be joined by Julien Alfred from Santa Lucia, world indoor champion in the 60 meters in Glasgow in 6.98. Alfred set national records of 10.81 in the 100 meters and 21.91 in the 200m. She won NCAA titles over both distances in 2023 and finished fifth in the 100m and fourth in the 200m at the World Championships in Budapest.

Men’s 110 Meters Hurdles:

The men’s 110 meters hurdles race is a rematch of last year’s Diamond League Final in Eugene between the top three finishers Hansle Parchment, Grant Holloway, and Daniel Roberts.

Holloway has won three world outdoor gold medals (Doha 2019, Eugene 2022, Budapest 2023), two world indoor titles (Belgrade 2022, Glasgow 2024), and the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 2021 behind Parchment. Last February, he broke his own world indoor record by 0.02 with 7.27 in the 60 meters hurdles at the US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. He has remained unbeaten in the indoor 60 meters hurdles since 2014. Holloway finished second in 13.06 at last year’s Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene.

Parchment aims to defend his 2023 Prefontaine Classic title. At last year’s Eugene meeting, which served as the Diamond League Final, the Jamaican hurdler set a world lead and a PB of 12.93 to win his first Diamond League Trophy. Parchment has two Olympic medals (gold in Tokyo in 13.04, bronze in London 2012). He set a seasonal best of 13.26 when he finished third in Suzhou.

Roberts won the world bronze medal in Budapest 2023 and finished third at the 2023 Diamond League in Eugene. The US hurdler claimed three US outdoor titles in 2019, 2022, and 2023. He won the first two Diamond League races in Xiamen in 13.11 and Suzhou in 13.12.

Lorenzo Simonelli will make his debut at the Prefontaine Classic after his dream indoor season, in which he won the world indoor silver medal in the 60 meters hurdles in Glasgow, improving his Italian record for the fourth time to 7.43. Simonelli won the European under-23 silver medal in the 110 meters hurdles in Espoo 2023 behind Sasha Zhoya in 13.33 after improving his PB to 13.31 in the semifinal.

Shunsuke Izumiya finished fifth at the World Championships in Budapest and set the Japanese record with 13.04 last year. He started the season well, finishing third in Xiamen in 13.17 and second in Suzhou in 13.23.

Cunningham won the silver medal in Eugene 2022 in 13.08 and won the NCAA title on the Hayward Field track in 13.00. This year he claimed the 60 meters hurdles US indoor title in 7.39 in Albuquerque.

Cordell Tinch broke Grant Holloway’s NCAA record with 12.96 and qualified for the World Championships in Budapest after finishing second at the US Championships in Eugene. Tinch finished second in Xiamen in 13.16 and fourth in Suzhou in 13.26.

Asler Martinez from Spain won the world bronze medal in Eugene and the European gold medal in Munich in 2022. Martinez clocked 13.29 in Ibiza and 13.36 in Montreuil in his first two outdoor races this season.

Men’s 400 Meters Hurdles:

Rai Benjamin will return to Hayward Field, where he won the world silver medal in 2022 in 46.89 and the Diamond League final in 46.39, the second-fastest time in his career. Benjamin ran faster only at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, where he won the silver medal behind Karsten Warholm in a North American record of 46.17. Benjamin ran the 400 meters in 44.42 at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut and a world seasonal lead of 46.64 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in his first two races this year.

Benjamin will face Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke, who set the world under-20 record with 47.34 in the semifinal of the World Championships in Budapest before finishing fourth in the final in 48.07.

CJ Allen is a strong performer on the Diamond League circuit. He improved his PB to 47.58 in Oslo last year and finished second in Doha in 48.39 this year.

The lineup also features Estonia’s Rasmus Magi, seventh at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and at the World Championships in Budapest 2023, Trevor Bassitt, world bronze medalist in Eugene in 2023, Khallifah Rosser, fifth at the World Championships in Eugene in 47.88, Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde, sixth at the World Championships in Eugene 2022, James Malik King from Jamaica, fifth at the Jamaica Invitational in 48.39, and Gerald Drummond, fourth at the NACAC Championships in Freeport in 2022.

Men’s Shot Put:

Ryan Crouser broke the world record, throwing 23.56m at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. The two-time Olympic and world champion has won 13 Diamond League competitions in his career. Crouser finished second to his American fellow Joe Kovacs by two centimeters at last year’s Diamond League Final in Eugene. Last year, he won his second world outdoor gold medal in Budapest 2023 with 23.51m, missing his world outdoor record by just five cm. Last March, he claimed his first world indoor gold medal in Glasgow.

Kovacs won his second consecutive Diamond League title in Eugene last September with 22.93m and a total of 13 Diamond League meeting wins. He finished second to Crouser at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021 and collected five world medals, including two titles in Beijing 2015 and Doha 2019.

Tom Walsh won the world title in London 2017 and two Olympic bronze medals in 2016 and 2021. He claimed four wins at the Diamond League Finals. He set an Oceanian record of 22.90m at the World Championships in Doha 2019. Last winter, he won the world indoor silver medal in Glasgow with 22.07m.

Women’s Discus Throw:

Olympic gold medalist and three-time Diamond League champion Valarie Allman will go head-to-head against reigning world champion Laulaga Tausaga, two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic Elkasevic, world seasonal leader Yaimé Perez, and Olympic silver medalist Kristin Pudenz from Germany.

Allman has remained unbeaten in her five competitions this year, including two Diamond League meetings in Xiamen with 69.80m and Suzhou with 69.86m. She claimed two wins at the Prefontaine Classic in 2022 with 68.35m and in 2023 with 68.66m. Allman set the Hayward Field Stadium record with 70.01m at the 2021 US Olympic Trials in Eugene.

The US thrower won three consecutive Diamond Trophies in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Allman won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo and two medals at the World Championships (bronze in Eugene 2022 and silver in Budapest 2023).

Tausaga won a surprising world title in Budapest, improving her PB by five meters to 69.49m, and finished second at the Diamond League Final in Eugene last year with 68.36m. After fouling out at the 2021 Olympic Trials in Eugene, she reached the final at the World Championships in the same venue one year later. At the 2022 US Championships in Eugene, Tausaga qualified for her third World Championships with her PB of 64.49m in the final round to finish second behind Allman. Tausaga started her 2024 season with 65.38m in San Diego.

Perkovic Elkasevic will compete for the second time this season in the Diamond League after finishing fourth in Xiamen with 65.60m. The Croatian discus thrower has won two Olympic gold medals, two world titles, six European titles, and seven Diamond League Trophies. She claimed three wins at the Prefontaine Classic in 2012 (66.92m), 2014 (69.32m meeting record), and 2016 (68.57m), and a total of 46 victories at Diamond League meetings.

Yaime Perez, the 2019 world champion, 2021 Olympic medalist, and two-time Diamond League winner, threw a world-leading mark of 73.09m in Ramona (Oklahoma). She finished second to Allman at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen with 68.83m and in Los Angeles with 64.95m last week.

Jorinde Van Klinken from the Netherlands holds a national record of 70.22m. Van Klinken, who graduated from Oregon University in 2023, won the European bronze medal in the shot put in Munich 2022 and finished fourth at the World Championships in Eugene 2022 and Budapest 2023. The Dutch thrower won the NCAA title in Austin and her first Diamond League competition in Oslo last year. Last February, she set her indoor PB at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin.

Kristin Pudenz from Germany, the Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo 2021, returns to Eugene, where she finished third at the Prefontaine Classic in 2022, reached the final at the World Championships in 2022, and placed fifth at the 2023 Diamond League final. The German thrower started her 2024 season with a fifth place at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen with 64.63m.

Women’s Hammer Throw:

The women’s hammer throw lineup features three world champions, another world medalist, and the current world leader.

Brooke Andersen returns to the venue where she won the world title in 2022 with 78.96m and two US titles in 2022 (77.96m) and 2023 (78.65m). She set a seasonal best of 79.92m in Tucson and won at the Los Angeles Grand Prix with 77.32m. She is ranked third in the all-time list with her PB of 80.17m in 2023.

Andersen will face DeAnna Price, the first US hammer thrower in history to win a world gold in Doha in 2019. Price made her comeback last year when she finished third at the World Championships in Budapest. She set a North American record of 80.31m at Hayward Field in 2021.

Defending world champion Camryn Rogers from Canada returns to Eugene, where she won the world silver medal in 2022, becoming the first Canadian woman ever to win a world medal in a field event. Rogers won the world gold medal in Budapest 2023 and is ranked fifth in the world all-time list with her Canadian record of 78.62m.

Janee Kassanavoid is a two-time world medalist (bronze in Eugene 2022 and silver in Budapest 2023). Kassanavoid finished fourth at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene 2021, five centimeters off the Olympic qualifying spot. She started the 2024 season with a win in Nairobi with 75.59m.

Annette Echikunwoke reached the final in Eugene and set the African record of 75.49m in 2021. She changed her allegiance from Nigeria to the USA after the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Silja Kosonen from Finland won gold medals at the World under-20 Championships in Nairobi 2021, the European under-20 Championships in Tallinn in 2021, and the European under-23 Championships in Espoo 2023. The 21-year-old Finnish thrower finished seventh in Eugene 2022 and fifth in Budapest 2023 in her first two appearances at the World Championships.

Jillian Weir from Canada, a graduate of the University of Oregon, finished fifth at the World Championships in Eugene with 72.41m. Her father won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in the hammer throw. She holds a PB of 73.12m at the 2022 Canadian Championships.

Janaeah Stewart won the NCAA title for Ole Miss in Eugene in 2018 and set a PB of 75.49m in 2019.

Women’s Triple Jump:

Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts headlines the women’s triple jump as the second-ranked athlete in the world in this event. Ricketts won her second world silver medal in Eugene in 2022 with 14.89m, three years after finishing second in Doha 2019. The five-time Jamaican champion won the Diamond League Trophy in Zurich 2019 and jumped over the 15 meters barrier twice in Brussels with 15.01m and at the Diamond League final in Eugene with a PB of 15.03m. She won at the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston with 14.50m and finished second in Los Angeles with 14.36m.

Thea Lafond from Dominica won the world indoor gold medal in Glasgow 2024 with her PB of 15.01m and finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships in Eugene.

Leyanis Perez Hernandez from Cuba won the world indoor silver medal in Glasgow with 14.90m and the world outdoor bronze medal in Budapest 2023 with 14.96m.

Ukraine’s Maryna Beck Romanchuk won the European outdoor gold medal in Munich 2022 with her PB of 15.02m, the world silver medal in Budapest 2023 with 15.00m, and the world indoor silver medal in Belgrade 2022 with 14.74m.

Keturah Orji claimed the US indoor title in Albuquerque with 14.50m and finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow 2024. Orji has collected a total of 10 US indoor and outdoor titles dating back to 2016. She set her PB of 14.91m in Chula Vista in 2021.

Women’s Pole Vault:

Olympic and world champion Katie Moon will renew her rivalry against Sandi Morris. Moon took two wins at the Prefontaine Classic in 2021 with 4.82m and 2023 with 4.86m. She set her lifetime best of 4.95m when she won the US Olympic Trials in Eugene 2021, a few weeks before her Olympic triumph with 4.90m in Tokyo. Moon claimed her first world outdoor title in Eugene 2022 with 4.85m, beating Morris on countback.

Morris won two world indoor titles in Birmingham 2018 and Belgrade 2022 and three world outdoor silver medals in London 2017, Doha 2019, and Eugene 2022. The US vaulter has claimed wins at eleven Diamond League meetings. Last week, she won in Los Angeles with 4.70m.

The lineup features Alysha Newman from Canada, who improved her PB to 4.83m in Clermont-Ferrand in 2023, Robeilyis Peinado from Venezuela, world bronze medalist in London 2017 and winner at the Ibero American Championships with 4.50m, and Bridget Williams, winner at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile with 4.60m.

Women’s 1500 Meters:

Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji will compete against Laura Muir and Elle St. Pierre in a star-studded women’s 1500 meters.

Welteji won the world silver medal in the 1500 meters in Budapest and finished second at last year’s Diamond League final in Eugene in the 1500 meters. The Ethiopian athlete set the world record in the women’s road mile with 4:20.98 at the World Road Championships in Riga in 2023. This year, she finished fifth in the 1500 meters at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and fourth in the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen in 3:57.62.

Muir won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 2021 in a British record of 3:54.50, the world bronze medal in Eugene 2022 in 3:55.29, and two European gold medals in Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022. She holds seven national records ranging from 1000m to 5000m. She finished third at last year’s Diamond League Final in Eugene, setting the second-fastest time of her career with 3:55.16.

St. Pierre won the world indoor gold medal in the 3000 meters in Glasgow in a North American record of 8:20.67, one year after giving birth to her son in March 2023. The US athlete also won the world indoor silver medal in Belgrade 2022.

Another athlete to watch is Australia’s Jessica Hull, a four-time national champion and five-time national record holder over various distances in the 1500m indoors (4:01.19), outdoor mile (4:15.34), indoor mile (4:19.03), indoor 3000m (8:24.39), and outdoor 5000m (14:43.80). Hull finished fourth in the 3000 meters in 8:24.39 at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow last March and seventh in the 1500m at the World Championships in Budapest.

Women’s 10000 Meters:

The Prefontaine Classic will also host the Kenyan 10000 meters Trials for the Olympic Games in Paris.

Men’s 10000 Meters:

Women’s 5000 Meters:

Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands leads the lineup in the women’s 5000 meters. Hassan returns to the Hayward Field track where she won the 5000 meters at the 2021 edition of the Prefontaine Classic in 14:27.89. Later that year, she won two gold medals in the 5000m and 10000m and a bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. Hassan also won two world gold medals in the 1500m and 10000m in Doha 2019 and two World Marathon Majors in London (2:18:33) and Chicago (2:13:44, European record).

Hassan will face Ethiopian runners Ejgayehu Taye, world bronze medalist in the 10000m in Budapest 2023 and second in the 5000 meters at the Diamond League meeting in Doha in 14:29.26, Freweyni Hailu, world indoor gold medalist in the 1500m in Glasgow 2024 and fourth in the 1500m at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and the World Championships in Eugene 2022, Lemlem Hailu, world indoor champion in the 3000m in Belgrade 2022, Karoline Grovdal from Norway, European Cross Country champion in 2022 and 2023 and European bronze medalist in the 10000m in Amsterdam in 2016 and the 3000m steeplechase in Berlin 2018, Nozomi Tanaka from Japan, national record holder in the 1500m in 3:59.19 at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and 5000m in 14:29.18 in Brussels in 2023, and Joselyn Brea from Venezuela, who broke the national record of 14:36.59 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on 17 May.

Women’s 3000 Meters Steeplechase:

Winfred Yavi Mutile from Bahrain won the world gold medal in the 3000 steeplechase in 8:54.29 in Budapest 2023. Yavi claimed her first Diamond League win in Eugene with her lifetime best of 8:50.86 last year and three more races in the circuit in Paris 2022, Doha, and Zurich in 2023.

Beatrice Chepkoech from Kenya set the world record of 8:44.32 in Monaco in 2018. She won the world gold medal in Doha 2019 and the world silver medal in Budapest 2023 in 8:58.98. She finished second at last year’s Diamond League Final in Eugene in 8:51.67.

Yavi and Chepkoech will be joined by Jackline Chepkoech, world under-20 champion in Nairobi 2021, Commonwealth Games champion in Birmingham 2022, and winner of two Diamond League races in Brussels in 9:02.43 in 2022 and London in 8:57.35 in 2023.

The lineup also features 19-year-old Kenyan Faith Cherotich, world under-20 champion in Cali 2022 and world bronze medalist in Budapest 2023 in 9:00.69, Peruth Chemutai from Uganda, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2021 and second at the Diamond League meeting in Suzhou, Sembo Almayehu from Ethiopia, second at the World Under-20 Championships in Cali 2022 and winner at the Diamond League meeting in Florence 2022, US athletes Courtney Frerichs, silver medalist at the World Championships in London 2017 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, and Courtney Wayment, third at the US Championships and world finalist in Budapest in 2023, Valerie Constien, US indoor champion in the 3000m in 2023, Kaylee Mitchell, sixth at the US Championships in 2023, and Marwa Bouzayani from Tunisia, winner in the 3000m at the Memorial Kusocinski in Chorzow 2024.