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What to know about Prefontaine Classic Diamond League track and field meet at Hayward Field

chris hansen, eugene register-guard
·4 min read

The Prefontaine Classic Diamond League track and field meet returns to Hayward Field Saturday for the second time in eight months.

The lineup has 24 events — 14 Diamond League disciplines plus four additional pro events, four para athletics races and two youth 1,500-meter races — crammed into a meet scheduled to last 3 hours and 20 minutes, with the final two hours (1 p.m.-3 p.m.) airing live on NBC.

Nearly 2 dozen reigning gold medalists expected to compete

As of Friday, there are 23 athletes entered in the Pre Classic who are either the reigning Olympic champion from the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021, or the winner from the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

That includes Bowerman Mile contestant Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The Norwegian won Olympic gold in the 1,500 meters and world championship gold in the 5,000.

Also in the Bowerman Mile is Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, who won the 1,500 in Budapest.

Sha'Carri Richardson wins the women’s 100 meters on day two of the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene Friday, July 7, 2023.
Sha'Carri Richardson wins the women’s 100 meters on day two of the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene Friday, July 7, 2023.

American Katie Moon won both titles in the women’s pole vault, though she shared the world title with Nina Kennedy of Australia.

American 400 hurdler Rai Benjamin also has a pair of gold medals from the 4x400 relay.

The women’s 100 will feature Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica — who also won gold medals in the 200 and 4x100 in Tokyo — and world champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S., who was also a member of the winning 4x100 team along with 100 entrant Twanisha Terry.

The men’s 110 hurdles will include Olympic champion Hansle Parchment from Jamaica and American Grant Holloway, the world champion, while the women’s 100 hurdles has Puerto Rican Olympic champ Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Jamaican world champ Danielle Williams.

The women’s 3,000 steeplechase has Olympic champ Peruth Chemutai and world champ Winfred Yavi.

Other Olympic champions are Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in the 5,000, and American Valarie Allman in the women’s discus.

Other world champions are Kenya’s Mary Moraa in the women’s 800, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay in the women’s 10,000, American Laulauga Tausaga in the women’s discus and Canadian Camryn Rogers in the women’s hammer.

Oregon's Cole Hocker, left, gestures to the crowd as he edges former Duck Matthew Centrowitz, right, for the win in the men's 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in June 2021.
Oregon's Cole Hocker, left, gestures to the crowd as he edges former Duck Matthew Centrowitz, right, for the win in the men's 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in June 2021.

9 Ducks, 1 Beaver among 2024 Pre Classic competitors

Oregon track and field fans will have many familiar faces to cheer for on Saturday, including three in the men’s Bowerman Mile.

Cole Hocker, Matthew Centrowitz and Cooper Teare are entered in the meet finale, battling a field that includes Ingebrigtsen, Kerr and American record holder Yared Nuguse.

Olympian Jessica Hull is primed to take on a loaded field in the women’s 1,500 alongside former teammate Susan Lokayo Ejore, who has already run a personal-record 3:58.63 this season.

Sprinter Kyree King, who is entered in the men’s 200, has been having an impressive season. He is coming off a win in the 100 at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix on May 18, and he also won the 200 at Mt. SAC Relays on April 20.

Australia's Jessica Hull trailed USA's Cory Ann McGee back in the pack in the women's 1,500 meter finals. The former Duck finished seventh in a time of 4:01.82, during day four of the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene July 18, 2022.
Australia's Jessica Hull trailed USA's Cory Ann McGee back in the pack in the women's 1,500 meter finals. The former Duck finished seventh in a time of 4:01.82, during day four of the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene July 18, 2022.

Jorinde Van Klinken, who set the collegiate record in the women’s discus as an Oregon senior in 2023, is entered in that event. Olympian Jillian Weir is entered in the women’s hammer, and Oregon record-holder Alaysha Johnson is in the women’s 100 hurdles.

Former Oregon State standout Kaylee Mitchell is in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase. She now trains in Eugene as a member of the Bowerman Track Club coached by Oregon’s Jerry Schumacher.

Prefontaine Classic Diamond League schedule

  • 10:40 a.m. — Men’s/Women’s Para Athletics 400-meter wheelchair

  • 10:50 a.m. — Women’s 10,000

  • 11:30 a.m. — Women’s Para Athletics 100 wheelchair

  • 11:35 a.m. — Women’s hammer

  • 11:37 a.m. — Youth boys 1,500

  • 11:47 a.m. — Youth girls 1,500

  • 12:05 p.m. — Men’s 10,000

  • 12:45 p.m. — Men’s Para Athletics 100

  • 12:50 p.m. — Women’s discus

  • 12:52 p.m. — Women’s Para Athletics 100

  • 12:55 p.m. — Women’s pole vault

  • 1:04 p.m. — Men’s 400 hurdles

  • 1:12 p.m. — Men’s 100

  • 1:15 p.m. — Women’s triple jump

  • 1:18 p.m. — Women’s 5,000

  • 1:41 p.m. — Women’s 100 hurdles

  • 1:50 p.m. — men’s 110 hurdles

  • 1:57 p.m. — Women’s 1,500

  • 2:09 p.m. — Women’s 3,000 steeplechase

  • 2:12 p.m. — Men’s shot put

  • 2:27 p.m. — Men’s 200

  • 2:34 p.m. — Women’s 800

  • 2:42 p.m. — Women’s 100

  • 2:52 p.m. — Men's Bowerman Mile

Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Prefontaine Classic track and field meet returns to Eugene