April 30, 2014
For Immediate Release

Gold and Diamonds plentiful in Pre Classic Women’s 1500

            Eugene, Oregon – Recently the Prefontaine Classic was proud to announce “the best field ever” for the iconic Bowerman mile. Now that “best ever” has been matched on the women's side by the field in the Eugene IAAF Diamond League 1500 meters. 

            The landmark 40^th Pre Classic will be held May 30-31 at historic Hayward Field.  The women’s 1500 is filled with gold medalists and Diamond Trophy winners – some runners even have both— and every entrant has made an Olympic or World final in some event.

            Abeba Aregawi is best in the world by many measures.  She won gold at the World Championships last year in Moscow as well as the recent World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland.  She won the IAAF Diamond Trophy—scoring the highest point total in Diamond League 1500 races--for the second time last year.  She has the fastest personal best in the field at 3:56.54.  The Ethiopian-born Aregawi represents Sweden internationally and is just 23 years old.

            American Jenny Simpson, 27, won gold at the World Championships in 2011 and claimed silver last year behind Aregawi in Moscow.  She ranked No. 2 in the world last year by T&FN.  She has won national championships as a collegian and post-collegian at Hayward Field, and is one of few to have run sub-4 at Hayward Field at 3:59.90.

            Last year’s Pre Classic winner, Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, not only ran Hayward Field’s fastest-ever time at 3:58.58, but also the best-ever anywhere in the U.S.  Obiri ranked No. 3 in the word last year by T&FN.  She also owns a gold medal from the 2012 World Indoor Championships at 3000 meters.

            Fellow Kenyan Faith Kipyegon has a unique collection of gold medals.  She won the 2011 World Youth and 2012 World Junior titles in meet-record fashion and also owns World Junior cross-country titles from 2011 and 2013.  She is still just 20 and last year set a World Junior record of 3:56.98, the fastest by a Kenyan of any age.  She was runner-up at last year’s Pre Classic.

            Yet another Kenyan, Beijing Olympic gold medalist Nancy Langat was the initial Diamond Trophy winner in this event in 2010.  She still ranked among the top 10 last year by T&FN, but a few notches higher was Great Britain’s Hannah England, a former NCAA champ while at Florida State.  England rated No. 4 in the world last year. 

            That’s not all. There is another reigning Diamond Trophy winner and World Championships gold medalist ready to race in Eugene, but her biggest accomplishments so far have been in the 800 meters.  Still, Kenya’s Eunice Sum is no stranger to running longer distances, setting a best of 8:53.12 in the 3000 meters at the 2012 Pre Classic.  Sum ran her 1500 best of 4:02.05 last year.

            American Brenda Martinez is another World Championships medalist in the 800 meters with world-class 1500-meter talent.  She won bronze in last year’s World Championships 800 and also recorded America’s second-fastest 1500-meter time last year at 4:00.94.

            Still just a teenager, 19-year-old Axumawit Embaye of Ethiopia, earned the silver medal at the World Indoor Championships

            Treniere Moser of the U.S. had her best year in 2013, running a personal record of 4:02.85 in the Pre Classic.  Her 2014 could be even better as her fifth-place finish at the World Indoor Championships is her highest yet in a world title race.

            In all, the athletes ranked No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the world by Track & Field News are in this race. Yes, “best field ever”.

            Fans can follow the event lineups as all announced fields are posted at PreClassic.com.  The direct link to current start/entry lists is HERE and will include updates to all announced fields.

            Tickets for the 40^th annual edition of the Prefontaine Classic, to be held May 30-31 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., are available now from PreClassic.com and from 1-800-WEBFOOT.  Sponsored by NIKE continuously since 1984, the Prefontaine Classic will be shown live to an international audience and by NBC Sports from 1:30 till 3:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, May 31.

            The Prefontaine Classic is the longest-running outdoor invitational track & field meet in America and is part of the elite IAAF Diamond League of meets held worldwide annually.  Last year’s Pre Classic was scored highest in the world by All-Athletics.com, the official data partner of the Diamond League.

            Steve Prefontaine is a legend in the sport of track & field and is the most inspirational distance runner in American history.  He set a national high school 2-mile record (8:41.5) while at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, that is still the fastest ever in a National Federation-sanctioned race.  While competing for the University of Oregon, he won national cross country championships (3) and outdoor track 3-Mile/5000-meter championships (4), and never lost a collegiate track race at any distance.  As a collegiate junior, he made the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team and nearly won an Olympic medal, finishing 4^th in the 5K at the 1972 Munich Olympics, at age 22.  After finishing college in 1973 and preparing for a return to the Olympics in 1976, he continued to improve, setting many American records.  His life ended tragically on May 30, 1975, the result of an auto accident, at age 24.  The Pre Classic began that year and has been held every year since.