Prefontaine Classic: Kipyegon, Tebogo, Hodgkinson and Sprint Stars Headline Eugene Diamond League

The world's best athletes converge on iconic Hayward Field on Saturday, July 4, as the 2026 Prefontaine Classic hosts the ninth stop of the Wanda Diamond League season. Olympic champions, world record holders and reigning global champions are set to light up Eugene in one of the year's deepest fields, with Faith Kipyegon returning to the track where she rewrote history, Letsile Tebogo chasing another 200m victory, Keely Hodgkinson facing world champion Lillian Odira over 800m, and Melissa Jefferson Wooden renewing her rivalry with Sha'Carri Richardson in a loaded women's 100m. The meeting also features world-class clashes in the Bowerman Mile, hurdles, throws, jumps and middle-distance events, promising another unforgettable night at Hayward Field.

Women’s 800 metres: 

Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson will go head-to- head against world champion Lillian Odira in the women’s 800 metres. 

Hodgkinson broke Jolanda Ceplak’s world indoor record in the 800 metres with 1:54.87 in Liévin and won the world indoor gold medal in Torun with 1:55.30. The British star finished second to Audrey Werro at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm setting a British record of 1:54.33 and improved her PB to 51.14 in the 400 metres in Rome. 

Odira won the world outdoor gold medal in Tokyo 2025 breaking Jarmila Kratochvilova’s championships record with 1:54.62. 

Anais Bourgoin from France is looking to continue her great season one week after breaking the national record with 1:55.65 at the Paris Diamond League. Bourgoin improved the previous mark held by her former coach Patricia Djaté. The French athlete won the European bronze medal in Rome 2024 and finished third at the Diamond League final in Zurich 2025 in 1:56.97. 

The other athletes to watch are Prudence Sekgodiso from Sekgodiso, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025 and fourth at the Diamond League meeting in Paris in a PB of 1:56.83 last week, Addison Wiley, winner at the Diamond League meeting in Doha in 1:57.98, Halimah Naakayi, world champion in Doha 2019, Raevyn Rogers, Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo 2021 in 1:56.81, Sanu Jallow from Gambia, NCAA champion in Eugene in a national record of 1:56.86 this year, Hailey Kitching from Australia, second at this year’s NCAA Finals in a PB of 1:57.65. 

Bowerman Mile: 

Olympic 1500 metres and world 5000m champion Cole Hocker will clash against last year’s Diamond League Final winner Niels Laros, Cameron Myers from Australia, Yared Nuguse from the USA and Azeddine Habz from France. 

Laros won last year’s edition of the Bowerman Mile in a national record and European under 23 record of 3:45.94 edging Nuguse by just one hundredth of a second. Laros won two more Diamond League races in the 1500m in Brussels and in the Zurich final in a national record of 3:29.20. This year he won the 800min Hengelo in a PB of 1:43.83 and finished second behind Marco Arop at the Diamond League in Paris in another Dutch record of 1:43.60. 

Myers will return to Hayward Field seeking to improve on a sixth-place finish in last year’s Bowerman Mile. Myers became the youngest ever winner at the Wanamaker Mile race at this year’s Millrose Games in New York. The Australian 20-year-old star won his first Diamond League race in Paris last Sunday setting a world lead of 3:28.00. His lifetime best of 3:47.48 is a world under 20 record. 

Nuguse claimed two back-to-back Diamond League wins this year in Rabat in a meeting record of 3:30.11 and Stockholm in 3:30.85 and finished a very close second in 3:48.21 to tie the same time with winner Timothy Cheruiyot. Nuguse finished second behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the Diamond League final in Eugene 2023 breaking Alan Webb’s 16-year-old US mile record with 3:43.97. 

Hocker won the Olympic gold medal in the 1500m in Paris setting a PB of 3:27.65 and won his first world title in the 5000m in Tokyo 2025. He won four NCAA titles for the University of Oregon. He set his PBof 3:47.13 at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic. 

Azeddine Habz finished second behind Myers in Paris in 3:29.80 and third in Rabat in 3:30.68. The Frenchman set a national record of 3:27.49 in Paris in 2025.

The best Kenyan athletes in the field are Timothy Cheruiyot, winner in the Dream Mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo in 3:48.21 and fourth in the 3000m in a PB of 7:27.24 and Reynold Cheruiyot, second in the 3000m in Keqiao in a lifetime best of 7:26.11 and fifth in Paris in the 1500m in 3:30.11. 

Women’s mile: 

Three-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion Faith Kipyegon will return to the Hayward Field venue, where she improved the world record clocking 3:48.68 in the women’s 1500 metres in last year’s edition of the Prefortaine Classic. 

Kipyegon set a world record at a Wanda Diamond League meeting for the fifth time in three seasons. 

This year Kipyegon will run over the mile distance in Eugene. The Kenyan legend set the world record of 4:07.64 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in 2023. 

Kipyegon has won five Diamond League Trophies and claimed 29 wins across six distances in the premier one-day athletics series. She is the first woman ever to hold the world records in the 1500m, mile and 5000m simultaneously. 

Kipyegon won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 1500m in Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 and added the Olympic silver medal in the 5000m in Paris 2024. She also claimed five world records (four in the 1500m in London 2017, Eugene 2022, Budapest 2023 and Tokyo 2025 and one in the 5000m in Budapest 2023). 

She has remained unbeaten for a decade at the Prefontaine Classic winning the 1500m six times at this meeting in 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. She ran three of her all-time top ten performances in the 1500 metres in Eugene. 

The Eugene mile race will bring together all the three medallists from last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, Dorcus Ewoi and Jessica Hull, who finished second and third behind Kipyegon in the Japanese capital, and Georgia Hunter Bell, who won the Olympic 1500m bronze medal in Paris 2024 behind Kipyegon and Hull. Hunter Bell won the Olympic bronze medal in a British record of 3:52.6, the world indoor gold medal in Torun last March in 3:58.53 and the world silver medal in the 800m in Tokyo in 1:54.90. The British athlete won two Diamond League races in the 1500m in 3:58.63 and in Paris in a seasonal best of 3:55.63. 

Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom started her Diamond League season in Keqiao in 3:55.56, in Stockholm in 4.00.68 and Doha in 3:59.89 and finished second in Xiamen in 3:57.79. 

The line-up will feature Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma, world indoor champion in Glasgow and Olympic silver medallist in Paris 2024, Nikki Hiltz, world indoor bronze medallist in Torun 2026 and winner at the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in New York in a PB of 4:19.64, Laura Muir, two-time European gold medallist in Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022 and Olympic silver medallist in the 1500m, Klaudia Kazimierska from Poland, world indoor silver medallist in Torun. Worknesh Mesele, fourth in the 1500m in 3:57.76, and Sarah Healy, European indoor champion in the 3000m in Apeldoorn and winner in the 1500m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome in 3:59.17, Heather MacLean, national indoor champion in 2022 and Emily Mackay, world indoor silver medallist in the 3000m in Torun 2026. 

Women’s 100 metres:  

Melissa Jefferson Wooden will headline the 100 metres at the Prefontaine Classic one year after winning in 10.75 in the 2025 edition of this meeting. Jefferson Wooden returned to the Hayward Field Track one month later to win the US title in a PB of 10.65. The 25-year-old sprint star won three world gold medals in the 100 metres in a championships record of 10.61 becoming the fourth fastest sprinter in history. She completed her world title treble  by winning the 200 metres world gold medal with a world lead of 21.68 and the 4x100 relay in 41.75. Jefferson Wooden has not beaten over 100 metres since the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, where she finished third behind Julien Alfred and Sha’Carri Richardson. 

Jefferson Wooden opened her Diamond League campaign with a second place behind Julien Alfred in the 200m in Rome in 22.17 and won the 100 metres in Stockholm in 10.84. 

Jefferson Wooden will clash against Sha’Carri Richardson in a match-up between the past two Prefontaine Classic winners. Richardson won at the Eugene meeting in 10.83. Richardson won two world titles in the 100 metres in 10.65 and in the 4x100 relay in 41.03 and the bronze medal in the 200 metres in 21.92 and is a double medallist from the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 (silver in the 100 metres in 10.84 and gold in the 4x100 relay in 41.78). Richardson won back-to-back US national titles in 2023 in 10.82 and in 2024 in 10.71, the fourth fastest time in Hayward Field history. She returned to her best shape this year when she won at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 10.99 and at the Star Athletics Sprint Series in Winter Garden in a seasonal best of 10.77. 

The other top US sprinters in the field are Cambrea Sturgis, who broke the 22 seconds barrier for the first time in her career clocking 21.93 at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi and won her first Diamond League race in Rabat in 22.21, Shawnti Jackson, third in the 100m in 11.01 and second in the 200m in the 200m in 22.12 at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Kayla White, second in the 200m in Rabat in 22.28 and in College Station in 22.07 and in the 100m in 11.08 in Los Angeles, and Jenna Prandini, who set seasonal best times of 10.97 in the 100m and 22.36 in the 200m in Tucson. 

The Jamaican contingent is led by Shericka Jackson, two-time world champion in the 200 metres in Eugene 2022 in 21.45 and Budapest 2023 in 21.41, the second fastest time in history. Jackson made a successful come-back from a tough 2025 season by winning two back-to-back Diamond League races in the 200m in Keqiao in 22.07 and Xiamen in 21.87 and the Jamaican 100 metres title in a seasonal best of 10.81.

The other Jamaican sprinters in the field are twin sisters Tia and Tina Clayton and Jonielle Smith. Tia Clayton won two Diamond League races in Chorzow 2024 in 10.83 and Doha 2025 in 10.92 and the world silver medal with the 4x100 relay in Tokyo 2025. 

Tina Clayton won two world silver medals in the 100 metres in 10.85 and in the 4x100 relay with 41.79 in Tokyo 2025. The Jamaican started her Diamond League season with a win in Rabat in 10.85 ahead of Lavanya Williams and Jonielle Smith and finished second in 10.85 behind Jackson at this year’s Jamaican Championships in Kingston. Jonielle Smith placed third at the Jamaican Championships in 10.94 this year. 

Adaejah Hodge from the British Virgin Islands broke Sha’Carri Richardson’s NCAA record in the semifinal of the 100 metres with 10.63 at the NCAA Finals in Eugene before finishing second in the final behind Jamaica’s Shesese Walker. Hodge bounced back to win the 200m NCAA Outdoor title for the Georgia Bulldogs breaking Abby Steiner’s NCAA record with 21.68. She also clocked 10.77 at the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville last April. 

Amy Hunt from Great Britain, world silver medallist in the 200 metres in 22.14, broke the 11 seconds barrier with 10.97 in Stockholm and 10.99 in Oslo and won the British title in the 100m in 11.01. Hunt will renew her rivalry against her compatriot Dina Asher Smith, world gold medallist in the 200m in Doha 2019, European champion in Rome in 2024 in the 100m and in the 4x100 relay and second at this year’s British Championships in Birmingham in 11.13.

The other sprinters in the field are Favour Ofili from Nigeria, winner in the 200m at the Lone Grand Prix in 22.15, and Jemima Joseph, who won the European silver medal in the 4x100 relay in Rome 2024.

Sprinters will contest the heats before the final. 

Men’s 200 metres: 

Reigning Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo will go head to head against Bryan Levell from Jamaica, Makanakaishe Charamba from Zimbabwe. 

Tebogo will seek his back-to-back win in the Diamond League in the 200 metres following his victory in Oslo in 19.84 before clocking a wind-assisted 9.95 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. This year the Botswana sprinter finished second in the 200 meters in Rabat in 19.96 and third in the 100m in Rome in 9.95. Tebogo claimed his first win at the Prefontaine Classic in the 200 metres in a world-leading 19.76 at the age of 21 in 2025. He made history by winning Botswana’s first ever Olympic gold medal with the African record of 19.46. Tebogo won three world medals (silver in the 100 metres in 9.88, bronze in the 200 metres in 19.81 in Budapest 2023 and gold in the 4x400 relay in 2:57.76 in Tokyo 2025) and two world under 20 gold medals in the 100 metres in Nairobi 2021 in 10.19 and in Cali 2022 in a world under 20 record of 9.91. He competed for the first time at the Prefontaine Classic in 2022 at the age of 18. Tebogo was named the 2024 World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year and claimed the Jesse Owens Rising Star Award for the second year in a row at the Diamond League Finals. 

Levell made his breakthrough in 2025 when he set his PBs of 9.82 in the 100 metres in Eisenstadt and 19.69 in the 200m in Budapest. The Jamaican won the world bronze medal in the 200 metres in Tokyo last September improving his PB to 19.64. This year Levell set seasonal best times of 9.90 in the 100m in Kingston and 19.93 in the 200m in Nairobi. 

Charamba won the 200m in College Station in a PB of 19.88, the second fastest in Zimbabwean sprint history and finished second at the Diamond League meeting in Doha with the same time. Charamba  finished seventh in the 200 metres in the Olympic final in Paris 2024. 

Zharnel Hughes from Great Britain won the British 200 title in Birmingham in 20.04 and finished second in the 100m behind Romell Glave in the 100m. Hughes broke Linford Christie’s 100m British record with 9.83 and John Regis’s national record in the 200m with 19.73, the second fastest European time in history. The British sprinter won the world bronze medal in the 100m in Budapest 2023. 

The other top sprinters in the field are 22-year-old rising star José Figueroa from Puerto Rico, gold medallist in the 200m at the Panamerican Championships in Medellin in a PB of 19.87, Sam Blaskovski , who improved his PBs to 9.89 in the 100m in Carnival and 19.93 in the 200m in Winter Garden, Courtney Lindsey, who tied his PB with 9.89 in the 100m in Winter Garden (Florida) and finished third in the 200m in Stockholm in 20.24, 18-year-old Tate Taylor, the first high school athlete to break the 20 seconds in the 200m with 19.94 at the US Under 20 Championships in Eugene, and Jamaica’s Adrian Kerr, winner in the 200m at the Velocity Fest in Kingston with 20.28 in Kingston ahead of Oblique Seville and semifinalist at the World Championships in Kingston in 20.08.  

Men’s 100 metres: 

The men’s 100 metres race at the Prefontaine Classic is not a Diamond League scoring event but will feature seven of the top ten ranked sprinters in the world. The line-up includes world champion Oblique Seville and NCAA champion Kanyinsola Ayayi and world 200 metres silver medallist Kenny Bednarek. 

Jamaica’s Oblique Seville won his first global gold medal at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025 in 9.77. This year Seville won the Jamaican title in Kingston setting the fastest time in the world. in 9.82 on 19 June. He dipped under the 10 seconds barrier three more times in 2026 clocking 9.96 in Kingston, a wind-assisted 9.91 in College Station and 9.95 in the semifinal of the Jamaican Championships. He will make his debut at the Prefontaine Classic and his second appearance at Hayward Field after finishing fourth at the World Championships in Eugene in 2022. 

Kenny Bednarek won two Olympic silver medals in the 200 metres in Tokyo 2021 in 19.68 and Paris 2024 in 19.62 and is a two-time Diamond League winner in the 200 metres in Zurich 2021 in 19.70 and Brussels 2024 in 19.67. Bednarek set the fourth fastest 200 metres in Hayward Field history with 19.59 at the 2024 US Olympic Trials and is a three-time world medallist (double silver medallist in the 200m in Eugene 2022 in 19.77 and in Tokyo 2025 with 19.58 and gold in the 4x100 relay in 2025 in 37.29). This year the US sprint star won the 200 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat in 19.69 beating Letsile Tebogo and André De Grasse. He claimed a back-to-back win in the Diamond League by clocking 19.87 in Stockholm. On 14 June he stormed to a win in a wind-assisted 9.72 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. He was previously announced to run in the 200m at this year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic and will drop down to the 100 metres. 

Trayvon Bromell will aim to win a back-to-back win in the Diamond League after taking a close victory over Noah Lyles in Paris in a seasonal best of 9.91 last Sunday. Bromell has enjoyed great success at Hayward Field winning the NCAA title in 2014 in 9.97, the US Championships title in 2021 in 9.80, the Prefontaine Classic in 2022 in 9.93 and the bronze medal at the World Championships in Eugene in 2022 in 9.88. He is the sixth fastest sprinter in history with his PB of 9.76 at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi in 2021. This year he won the world indoor bronze medal in Torun in the 60 metres in 6.42. The US sprinter opened his 2026 with a fourth place at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao in 10.01 and finished third in Xiamen in 10.03 before winning at the Lone Star Grand Prix in College Station in a wind-assisted 9.85. 

Gift Leotlela became the youngest South African sprinter to compete in an individual athletics event at the Olympic Games at the age of 18 in Tokyo 2021. He improved his PB to 9.87 in the heats of the World Championships in Tokyo before finishing fifth in 9.95 in the final. This year he won his first Diamond League race in Keqiao in 9.97 edging Ferdinand Omanyala and Kenny Bednarek. 

Kayinsola Ajayi from Nigeria won the NCAA title in Eugene in a wind-assisted 9.72 for Auburn University. Ajayi improved Olusoji Fasuba’s Nigerian record by 0.01 to 9.84 at the NCAA East Regionals in Lexington. Ajayi was part of the Auburn Tigers 4x100 relay team, who set the NCAA record with 37.75 in Eugene. 

Christopher Coleman won the 100 metres three times at the Prefontaine Classic in 2019 in 9.81, at the Diamond League final in Eugene in 2023 in 9.83 and in 2024 in 9.95. Coleman won last year’s edition of the Diamond League Final in Zurich in 9.97. He won six world indoor and outdoor titles, including the world 100m title in Doha 2019 in his PB of 9.76. He claimed two NCAA titles in the 100m and 200m in Eugene in 2017 two months before winning the world bronze medal in London. 

Ackeem Blake won the Diamond League Final in Brussels in 2024 in 9.94 holding off Christian Coleman. The Jamaican sprinter was part of the 4x1team that won the mixed 4x100 relay in Gaborone  and finished third at the Jamaican Championships in 9.94 behind Oblique Seville and Gary Card. 

Lachlan Kennedy won the Australian title last April with a PB of 9.96, the fastest time ever run on Australian soil. Kennedy won the world indoor silver medal in the 60 metres in Nanjing 2025 in 6.50. He will make his second appearance at the Prefontaine Classic after finishing eighth in 10.07 in 2025. 

Women’s 100 metres hurdles: 

Olympic champion Masai Russell from the USA will take on world bronze medallist Grace Stark, two-time world outdoor champion Danielle Williams, world record holder Tobi Amusan from Nigeria. 

Russell is aiming to win the first Diamond League Trophy of her career. The US hurdler claimed her first race in this circuit in Silesia last August setting a Diamond League record of 12.19 and finished fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo in 12.44. 

Russell won the US Olympic Trials in Eugene in 12.25 and the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 in 12.33. She opened her 2026 Diamond League season with a win over Devynne Charlton in a meeting record of 12.25 in Keqiao. One week later she smashed her own US record with 12.14, a Diamond League record and the second fastest time in history. She was two hundredths of a second off the world record of 12.12 set by Tobi Amusan at the World Championships in Eugene in 2012. 

Tobi Amusan will aim to win her second consecutive Diamond League race following her victory in Paris in 12.28. Amusan set the world record of 12.12 in the semifinal of the World Championships in Eugene 2022 before becoming Nigeria’s first ever world champion in athletics. Amusan won the world silver medal in Tokyo 2025 in 12.29. Amusan won three Diamond League titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. She won the NCAA Championships title in 2017. 

Russell will clash against Amusan again in a race that features nine athletes, who boast PBs of 12.37 or faster. 

Grace Stark won three Diamond League races setting meeting records in Keqiao with 12.42, Stockholm in 12.33 and Paris in a lifetime best of 12.21 before claiming the world outdoor bronze medal in 12.34. Stark clinched the 2024 NCAA outdoor title for the Florida Gators in 12.47 completing a perfect collegiate outdoor season without a single defeat. Later that year she finished third at the US Olympic Trials in 12.31 earning a spot for the Olympic Games  in Paris, where she finished fifth in 12.43. Stark opened her 2026 season with a win in 7.86 in the 60 metres hurdles in 7.86 in Karlsruhe. Last June she placed third in 12.48 in the 100m hurdles in Los Angeles and second at the Diamond League meeting in Paris in 12.38.

Devynne Charlton won her third consecutive world indoor title in Torun last March equalling her world indoor record with 7.65 in the 60 metres hurdles. The Bahamian hurdler finished second to Russell in 12.38 in Keqiao and improved her PB by one hundredth of a second to 12.37 in Xiamen. 

Danielle Williams is a three-time medallist at the World Championships, winning two gold medals in Beijing 2015 and Budapest 2023 and bronze in Doha 2019. Williams set her PB of 12.31 at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia. She won the Diamond League Trophy in 2019 and four Jamaican titles. Last February she claimed two World Indoor Tour titles in New York and Boston. 

Ackera Nugent won at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 12.32 before claiming the Diamond League in Zurich last September in 12.30. The Jamaican hurdler set a national record clocking 12.24 at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. 

Kendra Harrison, Olympic silver medallist in Tokyo 2021, set a US record of 12.24 at the Prefontaine Classic in 2016 a few weeks before breaking the world record with 12.20 at the Diamond League in London in 2021. 

The other top US hurdlers in the field are Alaysha Johnson, winner in Zagreb in a meeting record of 12.43 and third behind Amusan and Stark in Paris in 12.39, and Tonea Marshall, who set a PB of 12.24 in Chorzow in 2025. 

Men’s 110 metres hurdles: 

World record holder Ja’Kobe Tharp will clash against Jamal Britt and Cordell Tinch in the men’s 110 metres hurdles. 

Tharp will make his second ever Diamond League appearance one month after breaking  Aries Merritt’s world record with a sensational time of 12.75 in the semifinal of the NCAA Finals at Hayward Field in Eugene before winning his second collegiate outdoor title in 12.90. The 21-year-old hurdler took five hundredths of a second off the world record of 12.80 set by Merritt at the Diamond League Final in Brussels in 2012. Tharp became the second athlete in history to break an individual world record at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after Dwight Stones, who cleared 2.31m in 1975. 

Tharp made his breakthrough in 2024 when he won the world under 20 title in Lima in 13.05. Last year he won both the NCAA outdoor title in 13.05 and the US Championships title in 13.01. Tharp finished third in Monaco in 13.17 behind Trey Cunningham and Cordell Tinch on his Diamond League debut and sixth in the final of the World Championships in Tokyo in 13.31. 

Last March he won the NCAA Indoor title in the 60 metres hurdles in 7.32 breaking Grant Holloway’s collegiate record. With this performance he moved to third on the world indoor all-time list behind Holloway and Colin Jackson.  

Britt will be seeking his fourth Diamond League win this season after taking victories in Keqiao and Xiamen in 13.07 and in Paris in a PB of 12.89. Britt also dipped under the 13 seconds barrier in two Continental Tour Gold races in Los Angeles in 12.99 and Zagreb in 12.98. 

Tinch claimed five wins in Xiamen in 13.06, Keqiao in 12.87, Chorzow in 13.03, Lausanne in 12.98 and Zurich in 12.92 en route to his first Diamond League title in 2025. The US hurdler crowned a successful season by winning the world title in Tokyo 2025. During the 2026 indoor season he set a career best of 8.29m in the long jump and won the 60 metres hurdles in 7.52 in New York. 

The line-up also features Orlando Bennett from Jamaica, world silver medallist in Tokyo 2025 in 13.08 and second at the Diamond League meeting in Rome this year, Dylan Beard, who won the US Indoor title in the 60 metres hurdles in 7.37 in 2026 and set a PB of 13.02 in Paris last year. 20-year-old Cuban hurdler Kendry Menendez, third at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Zagreb in a PB of 13.02, Jamar Marshall, winner at the Continental Tour Gold in College Station in a PB of 13.04, Braxton Brann, third at the NCAA Championships in Eugene in 13.07, Demario Prince from Jamaica, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Torun with a PB of 7.43 and Jamaican champion in Kingston in 13.13 in 2026.

Men’s shot put: 

A star-studded men’s shot put will feature the top seven athletes on the world seasonal list, including Diamond League champion Joe Kovacs, world indoor champion Tom Walsh and European champion Leonardo Fabbri. 

Kovacs leads the entry list with his seasonal best of 22.58m set when he won in Rabat last May. The US shot putter  won the Prefontaine Classic for the fourth time with 22.48m last year. His winning throws in 2024 (23.13m) and 2023 (22.93m). He set four of his ten all-time best marks at Hayward Field. He set his PB of 23.23m when he won the Diamond League in Zurich in 2022 moving to second on the world all-time list. 

Kovacs won two world titles in Beijing 2015 and Doha 2019, two world silver medals in London 2017 and Eugene 2022, three consecutive Olympic silver medals in Rio 2016, Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, He achieved 18 Diamond League over the past 12 years.

Tom Walsh won his fourth world indoor gold medal in Torun 2026 with 21.82m following his titles in Portland 2016, Birmingham 2018 and Nanjing 2025. Walsh won two Olympic bronze medals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 and a total of World Indoor and Outdoor Championships medals. 

The shot putter from New Zealand claimed 13 wins at Diamond League meetings and four Diamond Trophies in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. He will make his 12th appearance at the Prefontaine Classic. He achieved his best mark at Hayward Field and the second best result of his career with 22.69m at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic. 

Leonardo Fabbri achieved the world best mark of 22.50m in Stellenbosch last February. The Italian shot put star claimed the Diamond League title in Brussels in 2024 improving his Italian record to 22.98m. He moved to fifth in the world all-time list and won the European outdoor title in Rome 2024 with 22.45m and two world outdoor medals (silver in Budapest 2023 with 22.34m and bronze in Tokyo 2025 with 21.94m as well as a world indoor bronze medal in Glasgow 2204 with 21.96m. Fabbri is a 12-time  Italian indoor and outdoor champion. He achieved his best performance of 22.31m at the Prefontaine Classic in 2023. During this outdoor season he won the fourth Diamond League competition of his career in Rome with 22.14m, claimed the fourth win  of his career in Ostrava with 21.91m and placed second with 22.21m in Zagreb.

Rajindra Campbell claimed the first Diamond League win of his career in Xiamen with a Jamaican record of 22.34m. Campbell won at the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb ahead of Fabbri and Walsh setting another national record with 22.44m. He also won at the Los Angeles Grand Prix with 21.94m edging Jordan Geist and Joe Kovacs. 

The other shot putters in the field are Jordan Geist, world indoor silver medallist in Torun 2026 with 21.64m and winner of the World Indoor Tour after two wins in Ostrava and Madrid with the same mark of 22.04m, Roger Steen, world indoor bronze medallist in Torun with 21.49m and winner at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Belgrade with 22.07m, Payton Otterdahl, fifth at the World Championships in Budapest 2023 and fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, and Adrian Piperi, world indoor bronze medallist in Nanjing with 21.48m and sixth at the World Championships in Tokyo in 2025. 

The other athletes to look out for are Chukwebuka Enekwechi from Nigeria, third at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic with the African record of 22.10m and sixth in the Olympic final in Paris 2024, Uziel Munoz from Mexico, world silver medallist in Tokyo 2025 with a national record of 21.97m, and Konrad Bukowiecki from Poland, European silver medallist in Berlin 2018 and European indoor champion in Belgrade 2017. 

Men’s 400 metres: 

The men’s 400 metres will bring together world 400 metres champion Collen Kebinatshipi from Botswana and world 400 metres hurdles champion Raj Benjamin. 

Kebinatshipi won his first ever Diamond League race in Xiamen in 43.92 last May. The Botswanan athlete stormed to a win in Paris in a Diamond League and meeting record of 43.54 last week, just one hundredth of a second off the PB of 43.53 he set when he won the world gold medal in Tokyo. 

Benjamin won the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 in 46.54 and anchored the US team to gold in the 4x400 relay. He claimed his first world title in Tokyo 2025 in 46.52. The US hurdler won at the Prefontaine Classic in 2019 in a previous meeting record of 47.16 and the Diamond League final in Eugene 2023 in a meeting record of 46.39. 

Ezekiel Nathaniel from Nigeria won the NCAA title in 2025 in a national record of 47.49. He returned to Hayward Field to finish third on his Diamond League debut in 47.88 a few weeks later. He won his first Diamond League race in Lausanne and finished fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo in a national record of 47.11. Nethaniel won the 400m hurdles in a seasonal best of 47.37 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. 

Jacory Patterson won last year’s Diamond League final in Zurich setting a PB of 43.85. Patterson started his 2026 with a win at the Maurie Plant meeting in Melbourne in 44.41 and won his first Diamond League race of the season in Rabat in a meeting record of 44.11. 

The other athletes to look out for are Khaleb McRea, world indoor record holder with 44.52 and world indoor silver medallist in Torun 2026, Chris Bailey, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025 and third at last week’s Diamond League meeting in Paris in a PB of 44.06, Michael Norman, world champion in Eugene and meeting record holder of the Prefontaine Classic with 43.60 in 2022, Vernon Norwood, who won Olympic gold medals with the 4x400 relay in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 and set a PB of 44.10 in London in 2024, and Chris Robinson, who won the NCAA title in the 400m hurdles in 2023 in 48.12 and set a PB of 47.95 in Eugene in 2024. 

Women’s 3000 metres steeplechase: 

Olympic champions Peruth Chemutai and Winfred Yavi and reigning world champion Faith Cherotich will headline the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase. 

Cherotich won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo 2024 and the world gold medal in Tokyo 2025. The Kenyan athlete finished second with a PB of 8:48.71 moving to fifth on the world all-time list. Cherotich, world under 20 champion in 2022 and winner of the World Athletics Rising Star Award in 2023, won two consecutive Diamond League titles in Brussels 2024 and 2025. This year she finished second in Keqiao in 8:51.48 and third in Xiamen in 8:52.53. 

Yavi won the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 and won at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic in a PB and a Hayward Field record of 8:45.25, less than one second off the world record. She won the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 with the Olympic record of 8:52.76 and set the second fastest time in history with 8:44.39 at the Diamond League meeting in Rome in August 2024, missing the world record by just 0.07.  She won her first world title in Budapest in 8:54.29 and the Diamond League Final in 8:50.66 in Eugene 2023. She finished second to Cherotich at last year’s edition of the World Championships in Tokyo. 

Peruth Chemutai will make her seventh appearance at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. She finished third at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with a seasonal best of 8:51.77, the tenth best performance in history. Chemutai became the first Ugandan woman to win the Olympic gold medal when she triumphed in Tokyo 2021. She won the Olympic silver medal in Paris. In 2024 she won the 3000m steeplechase at the Prefontaine Classic in 8:55.09, breaking the 9 minute barrier for the first time in her career. Chemutai started the 2026 season with a close win at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao in 8:51.47 beating Faith Cheotich by just one second. The Ugandan athlete claimed a back-to-back win in Xiamen ahead of Yavi and Cherotich one week later with a world seasonal lead of 8:51.06.

Women’s long jump: 

Olympic and world champion Tara Davis Woodhall leads the line-up with her PB of 7.20m in the long jump at the Los Angeles Grand Prix. At this meeting the US athlete also finished second to Masai Russell in the 100 metres hurdles in a lifetime best of 12.47. Davis Woodhall won the long jump competition at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic with 7.07m and has won three consecutive US outdoor titles and the NCAA title in 2021 at Hayward Field. She recorded her best ever mark at this venue with 7.12m in 2025 before winning the world title in Tokyo with 7.13m. She won the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 with 7.10m. 

Her husband Hunter Woodhall, a five-time Paralympic medallist,will compete in the Para 100m at this year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic. 

Davis Woodhall will renew her rivalry against Italy’s Larissa Iapichino, two-time Diamond League champion in 2024, European indoor champion in Apeldoorn 2025 and world indoor silver medallist in Torun 2026. Iapichino finished second in both Stockholm with a wind-assisted 6.84m and Hengelo with 6.73m with a headwind of -0.6 m/s. 

European gold medallist Malaika Mihambo returns to Hayward Field where she won her second world gold medal in 2022 with 7.12m and finished second with 7.01m behind Davis Woodhall at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic. The German athlete jumped 6.87m in Dresden and 6.82m in Rehlingen. 

Hillary Kpatcha from France won her first ever Diamond League competition in Stockholm with a wind-assisted mark of 6.85m beating Iapichino by just one cm. 

The line-up also features US long jumpers Alexis Brown and Alyssa Jones, who have surpassed the 7 metres barrier this year. Brown won at the Tom Jones Invitational with 7.07m moving to seventh on the US all-time list. Jones soared to a PB of 7.09m at the NCAA West Regionals, setting the second longest jump in NCAA history.

The other athletes to watch are Monae Nichols, world indoor silver medallist in Glasgow 2024 and Maja Askag from Sweden, world under 20 champion in the long jump and triple jump in 2021 

Men’s discus throw: 

Mykolas Alekna from Lithuania will open his Diamond League season after suffering a pectoral muscle injury. Alekna broke the world record for the first time in 38 years with 74.45m in Ramona in 2024.  He improved his own world record to 75.56m in the same venue last April. He owns three of the four furthest throws in history. Alekna won the Olympic silver medal in Paris 2024 and six Diamond League competitions, including the Prefontaine Classic in 2025 with 70.97m.  

Alekna will renew his rivalry against 2024 European champion and 2022 world gold medallist Kristjan Ceh from Slovenia, three-time world champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden, Olympic champion Roje Stona from Jamaica and Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny from Australia. 

Ceh improved his Slovenian record to 72.61m in Ramona last April. He kicked off his Diamond League campaign with a win in Shanghai with a meeting record of 70.58m and finished third in Stockholm with 67.67m. He threw 71.86m to win his Slovenian record in Maribor and won at the Paavo Nurmi with 69.13m. 

Stahl claimed the Stockholm Diamond League with a seasonal best of 69.60m in front of his home fans beating Matthew Denny and Kristjan Ceh. Stahl secured his world title with 70.47m in Tokyo last September, in the same venue where he won the Olympic gold medal in 2021. The Swedish star has won 13 Diamond League competitions, including three finals in 2016, 2019 and 2021. 

 Stona won the gold medal at the Olympic Games with the Olympic record of 70.00m to become the first Jamaican gold medallist in  a throwing event. He finished second for the University of Arkansas at the 2023 NCAA Championships. He improved his PB to 70.66m in Ramona last April. 

Denny won a great competition in Ramona last April with a seasonal best of 74.04m, a world leading mark and the third best performance of his career. The Australian thrower set the Oceanian record of 74.78m and won two back-to-back Diamond League titles in 2023 and 2024. 

Women’s shot put: 

Reigning world and Diamond League champion Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands will be looking to continue her great season. The Dutch shot putter won in Keqiao with 21.09m improving the previous Diamond League record held by Valerie Adams since 2012. Schilder won her second Diamond League competition of the season in Stockholm with a meeting record of 21.09m. She also finished second in Oslo with 20.11m, third in Paris with 19.89m and won in Hengelo with 20.03m. 

Schilder will renew her rivalry with Chase Jackson, two-time world outdoor champion in Eugene 2022 and Budapest 2023, world indoor champion in Torun 2026 with 20.14m and winner at the Diamond League in Oslo in a meeting record of 20.74 and at the Los Angeles Grand Prix with 20.53m, Sarah Mitton from Canada, two-time world indoor champion in Glasgow 2024 and Nanjing 2025 and winner at the Diamond League winner in Paris with 19.99m, and Yemisi Mabry from Germany, Olympic champion in Paris 2024 with 20.00m and national indoor champion with 20.37m.

Women’s hammer throw: 

Olympic and world champion Camryn Rogers will clash against world record holder and three-time Olympic gold medallist Anita Wlodarczyk in a non-Diamond League scoring competition that brings together all the medallists from the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 and the World Championships in Tokyo 2025. 

Rogers set a world leading mark of 81.13m in Austin last April and claimed three consecutive competitions in Nairobi with 76.17m, in Turku with 80.09m and College Station with 79.36. She placed fourth in Los Angeles with 76.50m: this result broke her unbeaten streak that had lasted since 2025. 

The line-up also features Brooke Anderson, who won the world gold medal in Eugene 2022 and se a seasonal best of 79.09m, DeAnna Price, world champion in Doha 2019, Zhao Jie and Zhang Jiale, who won silver and bronze medals at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025, and Annette Echikunwoke, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024. 

Men’s hammer throw: 

World and Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg from Canada leads the line-up in the non-Diamond League scoring event. Katzberg set the second best performance in the world this year with 82.43m at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi and won his fourth Canadian title with 81.13m. Katzberg won his second consecutive world title in Tokyo with a North American record of 84.70m. 

Katzberg will clash against Mykhaylo Kokhan, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024 and second at the Continental Tour meeting in Zagreb with 81.42m, Rudy Winkler, winner at the 2025 edition of the Prefontaine Open with a Diamond League record of 83.16m, Merlin Hummel from Germany, world silver medallist with his PB 82.77m in Tokyo 2025, Daniel Haugh, US Olympic Trials champion in 2024 with 79.51m. 

Women’s discus throw: 

Two-time Olympic champion Valerie Sion won three consecutive Diamond League competitions this year in Xiamen with 68.45m, Rabat with 68.75m and Stockholm with 68.60m. The US discus thrower won five consecutive Diamond League titles from 2021 through 2025. She became only the eighth athlete ever to complete a perfect Diamond League season by winning every single meeting she entered in 2025 (Xiamen, Rome, Paris, Eugene and the Zurich final). She won three times at the Prefontaine Classic in 2023 with 68.66m 2024 with 67.36m and 2025 with a meeting record of 70.68m                                                                

Sion will take on Jorinde Van Klinken, silver medallist at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025 and at the European Championships in Rome 2024. The Dutch athlete placed second in Rabat with 66.72m and Stockholm with 66.57m and set a national record of 70.99m in Ramona last April. 

The line-up Usa’s Laulaga Tausaga, world champion in Budapest 2023, Alida Van Klinken from the Netherlands, double European under 23 champion in Espoo 2023 in in the shot put and discus throw and NCAA champion in 2026 with 65.98m, Cierra Jackson, who won the NCAA title in 2025 and set her PB of 67.82m at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic on her professional debut, and Erika Beistle, fourth at the US Olympic Trials in 2024. 

Women’s pole vault: 

Three-time world champion Katie Moon will face four-time world silver medallist Sandi Morris, twin sisters Hana and Amanda Moll. 

Moon won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with 4.90m and three consecutive world titles in Eugene 2022 with 4.85m, Budapest 2023 with 4.90m and Tokyo 2025 with 4.90m becoming the first woman in history to achieve this feat. Moon set a seasonal best of 4.75m in Des Moines and finished third at the Rabat Diamond League meeting with 4.70m. 

Morris won the Olympic silver medal in Rio 2016, four world outdoor silver medals in LoPreview the 2026 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene featuring Faith Kipyegon, Letsile Tebogo, Keely Hodgkinson, Sha'Carri Richardson and more.ndon 2017, Doha 2019, Eugene 2022 and Tokyo 2025. She won the Diamond League final in Brussels 2016 setting the US outdoor record with 5.00m. 

Hana and Amanda Moll have cleared 4.88m and 4.84m respectively this year. Hana won the NCAA indoor title setting an all-time NCAA record with 4.82m and started the outdoor season setting an outdoor collegiate record of 4.80m at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut last April and improved her outdoor record to 4.83m. Amanda took a revenge by winning the NCAA outdoor title with a third-attempt clearance of 4.84m setting a new all-time collegiate outdoor record. 

The line-up will also feature Marie Julie Bonnin from France, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025, Brynn King, third at the US Olympic Trials in 2024 with a PB of 4.73m, Chloe Timberg, NCAA outdoor champion in 2024 with 4.71m, Gabriela Leon, NCAA outdoor champion with 4.60m. and Emily Grove, third at the 2017 US Championships and winner at the Prefontaine Classic in 2024. 

Men’s 800 metres: 

US 17-year-old rising star Cooper Lutkenhaus will chase his third consecutive Diamond League in the men’s 800 metres win this season. Lutkenhaus won in Stockholm in 1:42.70 on his debut in the circuit becoming the youngest male track event in  Diamond League history. Just three days later Lutkenhaus won a thrilling photo-finish race against Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in a world under 18 record of 1:42.08. Last March he won the world indoor gold medal in Torun 2026 in 1:44.24 becoming the youngest world champion in athletics history. 

The other athletes to watch are Bryce Hoppel, world indoor champion in Glasgow  and fourth in the Olympic final in Paris with a US outdoor record of 1:41.67, Donovan Brazier, world champion in Doha 2019 and US outdoor champion in a PB of 1:42.16 ahead of Lutkenhaus, Elliot Crestan from Belgium, world indoor silver medallist in Torun 2026 with 1:44.38 and national record holder with 1:42.43 in Paris in 2024, Tshepiso Maselela from Botswana, seventh in the Olympic final in Paris with a PB of 1:42.82 and second in the Continental Tour meeting in Zagreb in 1:44.99, and Brandon Miller from the USA, winner at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 1:43.94 this year. 

Men’s 2 miles: 

Grant Fisher, double Olympic bronze medallist in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres, will aim to continue his winning streak one week after claiming his first ever Diamond League victory in the 5000m in Paris in 12.54.80 with a final lap in 54.62. 

Fisher will go head-to-head against Mohamed Abdilahi from Germany, who won the 3000 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao with 7:25.77 improving the long-standing German record held by Dieter Baumann and set the national 10000m record with 26:56.58 in San Juan Capistrano. 

Andreas Almgren set the European record in the 5000 metres in Stockholm with 12:44.27 in 2025 and the Swedish record in the 3000m with 7:26.48 in 2026. Almgren won the world bronze medal in the 10000m in Tokyo 2025. 

Women’s 2 miles: 

Two-time world under 20 world country champion Marta Alemayo from Ethiopia will face her compatriot Aleshing Baweke and Hirut Meshesha. 

Alemayo set a lifetime best of 14:32.84 in the 5000m at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao this year. 

Baweke won the 3000m at the Diamond League Final in Zurich 2025  and improved her PBs of 14:18.54 in the 5000m in Rome and 8:26.29 in Liévin in 2026. 

Meshesha won the world indoor bronze medal in the 1500m in Belgrade 2022. 

Women’s 1500 metres: 

The women’s 1500 metres features Juliette Whitttaker, seventh in the 800m Olympic final in Paris 2024 in a PB of 1:57.76, Lucia Stafford from Canada, North American indoor record holder in the 1000m with 2:33.76, Italian middle distance runners Marta Zenoni, national record holder over the mile distance with 4:17.16 in London Diamond League meeting last year, and Gaia Sabbatini, who won the European under 23 title in 2021 and broke the 4 minutes barrier for the first time with 3:59.49 in Budapest 2025.