Upload a Photo Upload a Video Add a News article Write a Blog Add a Comment
Blog Feed News Feed Video Feed All Feeds

 

Folders

 

 

Long Throwers in Welcome Territory at Pre Classic

Published by
Eugene Diamond League - Nike Prefontaine Classic   May 28th 2014, 9:53pm
Comments

May 28, 2014
For Immediate Release

 

Long Throwers in Welcome Territory at Pre Classic

 

            Eugene, Oregon – Sandra Perkovic and Vitezslav Vesely are currently the world’s best in their events, but they are not the only gold medalists in the long throws at the Prefontaine Classic.

            The landmark 40th Pre Classic will be held May 30-31 at historic Hayward Field, which has seen many great performances in throwing events.  This year’s collection is among the meet’s best.

            Discus star Sandra Perkovic is the reigning gold medalist from both the Olympic Games and World Championships. The 23-year-old Croatian is a two-time winner of the IAAF Diamond Trophy and set her lifetime best just over a week ago in winning the Shanghai Diamond League.  Her mark of 231-4 (70.52) is the farthest in the world since 1992.  She has already earned two No. 1 world rankings from Track & Field News, and  set the Pre Classic meet record in 2012 at 219-7 (66.92).

            Challenging Perkovic will be six of the next top 7 in T&FN’s world rankings, including Moscow World Championships silver medalist Melina Robert-Michon of France.  Robert-Michon, like all but Perkovic, will be looking up to Germany’s Nadine Muller, who won silver at the 2011 World Championships and owns a best of 226-0 (68.89).

            American Gia Lewis-Smallwood was ranked No. 3 in the world last year by T&FN.  It was the best year for the 35-year-old, who set a PR 217-6 (66.29) to move to No. 4 on the all-time U.S. list.

            Two young challengers in the field include Germany’s Julia Fischer, the 2007 World Youth gold medalist, and compatriot Shanice Craft, the 2012 World Junior silver medalist. Both have already set PRs this year.

 

Women’s Discus

Personal Best

Sandra Perkovic (Croatia)

231-4

(70.52)

Nadine Muller (Germany)

226-0

(68.89)

Julia Fischer (Germany)

218-0

(66.46)

Gia Lewis-Smallwood (USA)

217-6

(66.29)

Melina Robert-Michon (France)

217-5

(66.28)

Zaneta Glanc (Poland)

214-4

(65.34)

Shanice Craft (Germany)

212-9

(64.85)

 

            Javelin star Vitezslav Vesely, the reigning World Champion, is the only two-time winner of the IAAF Diamond Trophy in this event.   The 31-year-old Czech was ranked No. 1 in the world the last two years by T&FN, a feat last achieved by the last double Olympic gold medalist, Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway. Thorkildsen, 32, has ranked among T&FN’s top 10 every year since 2004, including five times at No. 1.

            Young throwers are ready for a great challenge, led by 21-year-old Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad, as well as 22-year-old Russian Dimitriy Tarabin, who earned bronze in last year’s Moscow World Championships.  Tarabin was ranked No. 3 in the world by T&FN.

            The young throwers also include Sweden’s 23-year-old Kim Amb, who was ranked No. 7 in the world last year by T&FN as well as 2013 NCAA champ Sam Humphreys, an American from Texas A&M.

            Also in the field are the Czech Republic’s Petr Frydrych, and last year’s European under-23 bronze medalist, Thomas Rohler of Germany.

 

Men’s Javelin

Personal Best

Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway)

300-6

(91.59)

Dmitriy Tarabin (Russia)

291-6

(88.84)

Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Republic)

289-10

(88.34)

Petr Frydrych (Czech Republic)

289-5

(88.23)

Kim Amb (Sweden)

277-7

(84.61)

Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad)

277-6

(84.58)

Thomas Rohler (Germany)

275-5

(83.95)

Sam Humphreys (USA)

272-9

(83.14)

 

 

            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 40th 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 on NBCSN from 12:00-1:30 p.m. PT 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 4th 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.

More news

History for Eugene Diamond League - Nike Prefontaine Classic
YearResultsVideosNewsPhotosBlogs
2024     1    
2023 1 119 11 1093  
2022 1 107 12 550  
Show 34 more
 
+PLUS highlights
+PLUS coverage
Live Events
Get +PLUS!