Faith Kipyegon, Mondo Duplantis, Julien Alfred, Beatrice Chebet, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Kishane Thompson, plus a number of Brits, are among those competing in Eugene on Saturday
The Prefontaine Classic has pulled out all the stops for its 50th anniversary meeting on Saturday (July 5). The ninth meeting of this summer’s Diamond League series features 14 world record-holders and 48 Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists.
This means fans will get to see full podium rematches from the Paris Games in the women’s 100m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase and long jump, together with the men’s 400m.
Both 100m races at Hayward Field are bubbling with talent and in-form athletes. These include Kishane Thompson, who is fresh from winning the Jamaican men’s title in 9.75 (0.8) – a time that puts him No.6 on the world all-time rankings.
Surprisingly Thompson has never won a Diamond League race and in Eugene he faces Trayvon Bromell, the American who clocked 9.84 to win in Rome last month, plus British duo Zharnel Hughes and Jeremiah Azu.
The women’s 100m is no less stacked with Olympic champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia up against the minor medallists from Paris – Sha’Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the United States – together with Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.
Another Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, faces in-form American Kenny Bednarek in the men’s 200m.
Olympic one-two-three in the men’s 400m – Quincy Hall of the United States, Matt Hudson-Smith of Britain and Muzala Samukonga of Zambia – face Charlie Dobson of Britain, Kirani James of Grenada and European champion Alexander Doom of Belgium.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the 400m hurdles world record-holder, leads the line-up for the women’s 400m with Britain’s Amber Anning and Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke in the mix.
There is no Keely Hodgkinson in the women’s 800m, which means Athing Mu-Nikolayev of the United States, Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa and Mary Moraa of Kenya will be battling for honours with Jemma Reekie leading the British challenge. Anais Bourgoin, the recent European Team Championship winner from France, also runs.
There is no Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Josh Kerr in the Bowerman Mile either, but there is still a great line-up. Olympic champion Cole Hocker and the Paris bronze medallist and fellow American Yared Nuguse face the recent Kenyan Champs one-two Reynold and Timothy Cheruiyot.
Then there is Azeddine Habz, the Frenchman having run a national record of 3:27.49 to win the Diamond League in Paris last month. Olympic 5000m and 10,000m medallist Grant Fisher tests his speed, while in-form 800m runner Tshepiso Masalela of Botswana moves up in distance.
Australian talent Cameron Myers, who turned 19 last month, plus another youngster, the 20-year-old Niels Laros of the Netherlands, test themselves against their older rivals.
Jake Wightman, the 2022 world champion, leads the British challenge with Neil Gourley.
Just over a week after her sub-four-minute mile attempt in Paris, Faith Kipyegon runs the 1500m in Eugene. She faces Ethiopians Diribe Welteji and Freweyni Hailu, Australian Jess Hull, American Nikki Hiltz, Ireland’s Sarah Healy and Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell. With Hull and Hunter Bell winning medals behind Kipyegon in Paris last year, it means this is another Olympic rematch.
Beatric Chebet and Gudaf Tsegay’s 5000m clash in Rome last month ended with an emphatic victory for Chebet as she ran a Kenyan record of 14:03.69. They meet again in Eugene with Tsegay’s world record of 14:00.21 under threat. Chebet, the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion, ran a world 10,000m record of 28:54.14 at this meeting 12 months ago.
Another Paris 2024 rematch is in the women’s 3000m steeplechase with gold medallist last year, Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, taking on Olympic silver medallist Peruth Chemutai of Uganda and bronze medallist Faith Cherotich of Kenya.
American Conner Mantz looks set to be the lone non-African in a men’s 10,000m packed with east Africans who are using the event as their World Champs trial. These include Berihu Aregawi, Selemon Barega and Hagos Gebrhiwet.
Rai Benjamin of the United States takes on Alison dos Santos of Brazil and Abderrahman Samba of Qatar in the men’s 400m hurdles.
In the field, Mondo Duplantis of Sweden is the man to beat in the men’s pole vault.
Tara Davis-Woodhall of the United States takes on Malaika Mihambo of Germany among others in the women’s long jump.
A few days after setting a US shot put record of 20.95m in Idaho, Chase Jackson leads the women’s shot line-up.
American throwers are also likely to be at the fore in the women’s discus with Valarie Allman and hammer with Brooke Andersen and DeAnna Price, although the latter features Olympic champion Camryn Rogers of Canada and world record-holder Anita Włodarczyk of Poland.
Another world record-holder, Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania faces Olympic champion Roje Stona of Jamaica and last weekend’s European Team Champs winner Daniel Ståhl of Sweden.
Leonardo Fabbri of Italy, another big Euro Team Champs winner, faces Americans Joe Kovacs and Payton Otterdahl in the men’s shot.
The meeting is being shown live on BBC for UK viewers from 9-11pm.
