Top Professional Stars Make Final Stop At Eugene's Hayward Field For Prefontaine Classic And Diamond League Final

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photos by Kim Spir

The Prefontaine Classic is annually the top international track and field meet held on U.S. soil. This year it is the first U.S. setting for the Diamond League final, culminating World Athletics’ 14-meet series.

It is not a two-day World Championships, but most of the Budapest winners will be in Eugene, Ore., site of the 2022 Worlds. There is prize money of $70,000 per event, with $30,000 to winners.

Ten storylines for the Pre meet Saturday and Sunday at Hayward Field:

Noah Lyles not done after all

After triple gold medalist Noah Lyles won the 200 meters Aug. 31 at Zurich, his season was presumably over.

Two days later, in Xiamen, China, his 100-meter world lead of 9.83 was equaled by Christian Coleman. Lyles, that day, posted on social media: “You know what . . . I might have another 100m in me for the year.”

That additional 100 meters pits Lyles against Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, silver medalist at Budapest, and Coleman, who finished fifth.

Lyles is aiming for a sixth Diamond League trophy, having won four times in the 200 and once in the 100. The record of seven DL titles is shared by French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie and U.S. triple jumper Christian Taylor.

Athing Mu not done, either

After taking Budapest bronze at 800, Athing Mu said vacation was next. Or not.

Whether Nike is requiring Mu to race or she wanted another shot, the Olympic champion is in a rematch against the World champion, Kenyan Mary Moraa, and world leader, silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain.

Sha’Carri Richardson has proved herself

Sha’Carri Richardson IS back. She IS better.

The Budapest triple medalist has nothing more to prove until the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she is racing again anyway. She is up against the Budapest silver medalist (Shericka Jackson) and fourth place (Marie-Josee' Ta Lou of Ivory Coast), plus Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jamaica's two-time Olympic champion at 100m.

Richardson and Jackson share the world lead at 10.65.

Shericka Jackson resumes FloJo chase

Jackson has run three of the four fastest 200 meters of all time. The fourth, of course, is Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34 from 1988.

The 29-year-old Jamaican is coming off a Diamond League record of 21.48 at Brussels and a championship record of 21.41 at Budapest. Jackson clocked 21.45 at Eugene a year ago.

“I definitely feel like I’m getting there, closer to that record,” Jackson said at Brussels.

World Athletics has placed the women’s 200 as the last of 32 events on the Pre schedule. Notably absent from entries is World silver medalist Gabby Thomas.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen doubling up

There is nothing Jakob Ingebrigtsen can do to win back the 1,500 gold medals he lost at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. But the Norwegian has won everything else over the past two years, including two World golds at 5,000 and world records this summer at 2 miles and 2,000 meters.

He will be in Saturday’s Bowerman Mile and Sunday’s 3,000 meters. Unlike other championship meets, there will be pacemakers, so it’s plausible Ingebrigtsen will chase two more world records and give himself an early birthday present. He turns 23 on Tuesday.

The mile field is deep but lacks World champion Josh Kerr, the Scot who won Sunday’s Fifth Avenue Mile in New York. The 3,000 features Olympic gold medalists in the 1,500 (Ingebrigtsen), 5,000 (Joshua Cheptegei) and 10,000 (Selemon Barega).

American record in mile plausible

Under perfect conditions, Yared Nuguse and perhaps Cole Hocker could make a run at the American record of 3:46.91 for the mile, held by Alan Webb since 2007.

Nuguse has already set American records in the outdoor 1,500 (if you discount Bernard Lagat), and indoor mile and 3,000. And he’s coming off a Zurich victory over Kerr.

Hocker, seventh at Worlds and ninth at Zurich, has zero Diamond League points but was admitted as a wild card. He missed the 2022 Worlds at his Eugene home, developing an injury soon after finishing fifth in the Bowerman Mile.

If nothing else, Hocker could become the 10th sub-3:50 American. (His PB is 3:50.35 indoors from February 2022 at Chicago.) Hocker, 22, would be coming off a senior season of college, had he not turned pro.

Pole vault: Mondo, plus women’s gold rematch

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis capped the 2022 World Championships by vaulting to a world record of 20-4.50 (6.21m) at Eugene. The 23-year-old Swede has raised that to 20-5 (6.22m), and he is coming off a close miss at 20-5.25 (6.23) in Brussels.

All four Budapest medalists are entered: Duplantis, Ernest John Obiena of The Philippines, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, with K.C. Lightfoot and Sam Kendricks joining Nilsen as Americans in the final.

In the women’s vault, Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy, who shared gold in Budapest, will have another rematch following the one won by Kennedy at Zurich.

Ryan Crouser: Always on record watch

World records are infrequent in this sport. And yet shot putter Ryan Crouser persistently challenges them.

He set one at the 2021 Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in his home state, had another annulled indoors at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho, and broke his own mark May 27 with a distance of 77-7.75 (23.56m) at Los Angeles. Then he nearly broke it again in Budapest with a last-round distance of 77-1.75 (23.51m), despite two blood clots in his leg.

“By the sixth round, I had as close to a perfect throw as I’ve ever had, considering the physical preparation that I’ve had and the physical capabilities I had tonight,” he said in Budapest.

Crouser estimated his condition cost him about 30 centimeters, or about a foot.

World silver and bronze medalists, Leonardo Fabbri and Joe Kovacs, plus two-time Olympic bronze medalist Tom Walsh buttress the field.

Faith Kipyegon ending historic year

Faith Kipyegon has won 20 successive 1,500 or mile races, dating to June 10, 2021, when she was beaten by Sifan Hassan in Italy. Kipyegon’s 2023 has been a season for the ages, featuring gold medals at 1,500 and 5,000 meters and three world records (1,500, mile and 5,000) in a 50-day span.

The 29-year-old Kenyan is in a 1,500 in which 12 of 13 women (all but Cory McGee) have sub-4:00 season bests. U.S. champion Nikki Hiltz opted to end their season after the Fifth Avenue Mile, so Sinclaire Johnson and McGee are the American entries.

Addy Wiley, 19, is coming off an all-dates collegiate record of 3:59.17 at Brussels. She is not in the Pre 1,500, but was chosen for the Oct. 1 mile in the World Road Running Championships at Riga, Latvia. Kipyegon also entered the Riga mile.

Women’s hurdles: Never a certainty

Improbably, Danielle Williams won world gold after entering the final with a season record of 2-15 in the 100-meter hurdles. The 30-year-old Jamaican has subsequently finished first at Zurich and Berlin.

Williams enters Pre with the seventh-fastest season best, 12.43. Keni Harrison, bronze medalist at Worlds, has the world lead with 12.24 from a Budapest heat. Next on the 2023 list are U.S. champion Nia Ali (12.30), who stumbled over the first hurdle in the Budapest final; Olympic champion Jasmaine Camacho-Quinn (12.31), and Tobi Amusan (12.34).

Amusan, a 26-year-old Nigerian, appealed to race at Budapest after a suspension for three whereabouts failures and finished sixth. She set a world record of 12.12 in Eugene last year.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007