This year’s Prefontaine Classic on Saturday 25 May at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene will be headlined by some of the best track and field athletes.
Olympic and world champions are set to line up for exciting rematches in the women’s 800m, and there's a stacked field in the men’s mile and shot put events. Ethiopian’s Gudaf Tsegay will also continue her world record chase in the women’s 10,000m.
Find out more about the stars to watch, competition schedule, and how to watch the latest Diamond League event.
- Diamond League 2024: Full list of disciplines and results for each World Athletics track and field top tier event
- How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024
Spotlight on world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, Erriyon Knighton
The fastest woman in the world, Sha’Carri Richardson will be back on the Diamond League Series in Eugene lining up for her first individual 100m this season.
The 24-year-old American kickstarted her Olympic year with a second-place finish as part of a relay team at the Florida Relays in March, followed by back-to-back 200m runs in China. She finished second in Xiamen before dipping to third a week later at the Diamond League race in Suzhou.
The triple world medallist from the 2023 World Championships will be joined by Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, aiming to qualify for her third straight Olympic Games, and World Indoor 60m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia.
Three-time world gold medallist Christian Coleman goes in as the favourite in the men's 100m at the Hayward Field, where he wrapped up his 2023 season with the Diamond League Trophy.
Kenyan record holder Ferdinand Omanyala and the reigning World Indoor 60m bronze medallist Jamaican Ackeem Blake are also listed in the men’s dash entry list.
Twenty-year-old American sprinting phenom Erriyon Knighton's build-up for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 begins in earnest in Eugene, the same track he won the first of his two world medals in 2022. It will be his first outdoor race since topping a 200m indoor event in the French city of Lievin last February.
His compatriot Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver medallist from the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, will be chasing his second win in the series after claiming victory in Doha.
There should be some interesting contests in the hurdles as well, where world champion Grant Holloway will look to extend his 10-year unbeaten record in the men’s 110m hurdles, while Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn starts as the one to beat in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Focus on Gudaf Tsegay, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Athing Mu
Expect some very fast times in the middle- and long-distance events.
Gudaf Tsegay is on record-breaking form. After just missing Faith Kipyegon’s 1500m mark with her magnificent 3:50.30 run that pushed her to third in the all-time list at the Diamond League in Doha, the reigning 10,000 world champion will target the 10,000m world record held by fellow Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey.
She hopes to eclipse the 29:01.03 set by Gidey in 2021 as she headlines what should be a deep 10,000m women’s field.
Another interesting aspect of the men and women’s longest track distances at the Prefontaine Classics, is that Athletics Kenya will use both races as Olympic team trial events.
Two-time world cross country champion Beatrice Chebet, Emmaculate Anyango, and Grace Nawowuna are some of the Kenyans likely to secure early Paris 2024 tickets in Eugene.
2023 world 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Ebenyo, who has the event’s leading time this year, and Benson Kiplangat, the 2021 world U20 champion, are among the Kenyan men to look out for. Both events are non-Diamond League races.
Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen will line up for his seventh race at the Prefontaine Classic, seeking to defend his Bowerman Mile title, and will be joined by home favourite Yared Nuguse and Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, the reigning World indoor 3000m gold medallist, making his debut in the meet.
Athing Mu will officially open her season in Eugene facing a loaded entry list headlined by Kenya’s world champion Mary Moraa.
Mu, who raced sparingly last season and even skipped the world championships to focus on Paris 2024, opened up on a "pretty tough" transition to being a full-time athlete after opting to suspend her studies at the Texas A&M University.
“[Last year] was pretty tough,” Mu said in an interview with Runners World. “Coming into a new area being basically a full-time professional, versus in college being a student-athlete, is way different. I just had a whole bunch of changes going on, so I didn’t really know how to balance it out. But I think that kind of taught me what I need to do this year.”
Besides Moraa, the 21-year-old American will also test herself against Keely Hodkinson, the British athlete who secured silver behind her at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Expect some thrilling throws in the men’s shot put with a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 final, featuring world record holder Ryan Crouser against countryman Joe Kovacs and New Zealand’s Olympic bronze medallist Tom Walsh.
Schedule Diamond League Prefontaine Classic 2024
(Local time GMT-7)
- 10:50 10,000m women*
- 12:05 10,000m men*
- 12:50 Discus throw women
- 12:55 Pole Vault women
- 13:04 400m Hurdles men
- 13:12 100m Men
- 13:15 Triple Jump women
- 13:18 5000m women
- 13:41 100m Hurdles women
- 13:50 110m Hurdles men
- 13:57 1500m women
- 14:09 3000m Steeplechase women
- 14:12 Shot Put men
- 14:27 200m Men
- 14:34 800m women
- 14:42100m women
- 14:52 Bowerman Mile men
*Non Diamond League races
2024 Prefontaine Classic: How to watch live
Action will be streamed in a number of territories on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube page, but the live stream will not be available in all territories.
BBC has the rights in the UK and will broadcast it on BBC Two, while for audiences in the U.S., live coverage will be provided by NBC/Peaco*ck.
SuperSport is the rightsholder for the 2024 Diamond League in most of Africa.
Please check your local listings to find out more information.
