Blockbuster Fields, 22 Olympic Gold Medalists, World Record Aspirations Arrive In Eugene For Pre Classic

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The 46th Prefontaine Classic, coming back to Eugene on Friday and Saturday at Hawyard Field, will be both a late-summer post-Olympic showcase of the world's top track and field talent and also a teaser for the 2022 World Athletics Championships. 

Twenty-two Olympic gold medalists from the recent Tokyo Games are expected to compete this weekend at Hayward Field as the United States' only Wanda Diamond League meet returns to Eugene for the first time in 1,183 days. 

It's a stunning collection of Olympians and near-Olympians that will be included in Friday night's Distance Night In Eugene and Saturday's main event, which starts at 12:20 p.m. 

A ticket for Saturday's meet is also good for Friday's session. 

Although the meet is not expected to sell out, the largest crowd to date at the new Hayward Field is expected. Tickets are still available.

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It figures to be an amazing show and there has never been a Pre Classic quite like it. For the first time, it's situated in the wake of an Olympic Games. 

Here are 10 Storylines To Follow at the 46th edition of the Prefontaine Classic. 

Sifan Hassan Going For World Record In The 5,000 Meters

At this point, would anyone bet against Sifan Hassan when she sets her mind to something? 

Hassan, of The Netherlands, took on the incredible challenge of tripling the 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters – and made the podium three times and heard her anthem twice. 

Hassan is going for the world record in the 5,000 meters Friday night. The target is 14:06.62, which is the record set by Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey in October in Valencia, Spain. 

Hassan has run 14:22.12 and is the 13th-fastest woman in history over the 5,000-meter distance. 

The Pre Classic record, also the fastest ever run in North America, is 14:19.76 by Genzebe Dibaba in 2015. 

Hassan's extraordinary range could find a sweet spot in the 5,000. She is already the world record holder in the mile and the one-hour run. 

As of Wedneday, Gidey is entered in the 2-Mile at the Pre Classic and may be a bystander as her record is threatened.

Ryan Crouser Returning To World Record Ring

Oregon native Ryan Crouser's last throw at Hayward Field was a long-awaited world record mark of 76-8.25 (23.37m) at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. 

Crouser won his second Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, where he launched the No. 2 mark in world history, with 76-5.50 (23.30m). 

Coming back home, Crouser believes there is more to be had in the tape measure. With more rest, familiar surroundings, and an enthusiastic crowd behind him, another world record is feasible. 

Joe Kovacs and New Zealand's Tomas Walsh, the two medalists behind Crouser in 2016 and 2021, ensure that the men's shot put will be one of the marquee events of Saturday's program. Darrell Hill, aced out of an Olympic team berth at the Trials, is back in the mix as well. 

Sha'Carri Richardson Gets Her Chance

For U.S. 100-meter champion Sha'Carri Richardson, the Prefontaine Classic is her Olympic Games. 

After serving a brief suspension following the Olympic Trials for a positive drug test triggered by cannabis, Richardson was forced to stay home and watch the meet unfold in Tokyo without her. 

Could Richardson have prevented a Jamaican sweep in the women's 100 meters? We'll never know. But she will have a chance to prove her mettle against Jamaican legends Elaine Thompson-Herah, the Olympic record-breaker, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, in the 100. 

As a bonus, Richardson is also racing in the 200 meters against Olympic bronze medalist Gabrielle Thomas, 2019 world champion Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain, and 11-time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix. 

Encore Performance For Athing Mu

Athing Mu won the NCAA 400 meters at Hayward Field a little more than two months ago, won the U.S. Trials in the 800 after that, and then won the Olympic gold medal in the 800 at Tokyo. 

She will return to more fanfare at the Pre Classic as one of the boldest breakout stars of 2021. 

Mu, who also anchored the winning U.S. 4x400 relay team, smashed the American record in the 800 in Tokyo with 1:55.21. That made her the 11th-fastest woman in world history and it might not be an indication of what she is truly capable of with some rest and some energy from the crowd. 

The silver medalist, Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, and bronze medalist, Raevyn Rogers, are also on the entry list to help keep the pace – and competition – hot. American Ajee' Wilson, the two-time World Championships bronze medalist, will also be motivated to run fast after missing out on qualifying for the Olympic final. 

Intrigue In The Men's 100 

Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley proved all the doubters wrong when he made the head-scratching decision to leave the 400 meters for the 100. 

Has that move caught the attention of another 400-meter star? 

Michael Norman, who won gold on the 4x400 relay but finished fifth in the 400-meter final, is going to line up with Kerley and a talented field of sprinters in the 100 meters. 

And training partner Rai Benjamin, for one, offered this hot take.

Kerley ran 9.85 in the Olympic final, employing his strength to navigate the grueling rounds. He suddenly appears to be the favorite in his new event. U.S. champion Trayvon Bromell, a non-qualifier for the Olympic final, is now looking to get his mojo back. 

Canadian Andre DeGrasse, the Olympic champion in the 200 and bronze medalist in the 100, performed as well as any sprinter in Tokyo. 

South African Akani Simbine and American Ronnie Baker were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Tokyo final. 

And 39-year-old Justin Gatlin, who was in tears after missing out on the Olympic team in June, is back to mix it up at least one more time with some of the fastest men on Earth. It's worth remembering he won the Olympic 100 meters in Athens in 2004.

Ingebrigtsen Versus Cheruiyot Versus Centro

The Bowerman Mile features a sensational rematch of the super-quick Olympic 1,500-meter final, where Norwegian prodigy Jakob Ingebrigtsen defeated Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot for the first time in 13 tries for the gold medal. 

Ingebrigtsen, who rolled to a European record 3:28.32 on the way to the Olympic crown, may have what it takes to chase down Hicham El Guerrouj's legendary world record in the mile (3:43.13 in 1999), according to five-time Olympian Nick Willis. 

He might not get there this year, depending on his level of general fatigue after at the Olympic Games. But someday. 

And another chance to race the gold and silver medalists may bring something meaningful out of 2016 Olympic 1,500-meter champion Matthew Centrowitz, who ran a solo 3:49.26 mile in Portland a couple of days before boarding his flight to Tokyo. 

Centrowitz didn't have it in the Olympic Games, but lives to fight another day. That day is Saturday. 

Nageotte Aiming Sky-High In Pole Vault

For Katie Nageotte, the Prefontaine Classic serves as the first chance to go somewhere and vault and be introduced as Olympic champion. 

The Ohio native is entered Saturday and is part of a field that includes British bronze medalist Holly Bradshaw and 2016 Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece. 

After Nageotte out-dueled Russian athlete Anzhelika Sidorova with a second-attempt clearance at 16-0.75 (4.90m) to win the gold, she celebrated her win. And then she went back to the meet officials and took one half-serious look at 16-5.25 (5.01m). 

Only one woman has gone 5.01m or higher: Yelena Isinbayeva. And nobody has done that in 12 years. 

Nageotte cleared a lifetime best 16-2.75 (4.95m) to win the U.S. Trials in June. If she is prepared to take legitimate attempts at bars five meters and above she can truly set herself apart as one of the best vaulters of all-time. 

Kipyegon-Muir Rematch In 1,500

The women's 1,500 features yet another gold vs. silver rematch from Tokyo. 

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon stamped herself as one of her country's all-time greats, as well as the world's, with an Olympic Games record 3:53.11 to win the 1,500 meters. At age 27, she is already a back-to-back Olympic champion and the No. 4 performer of all-time. 

Great Britain's Laura Muir enjoyed her career-best day in the Olympic final as well, securing a hard-earned siliver medal with a time of 3:54.50. 

Kipyegon and Muir are the only only two women in the Olympic Games who can can say they beat Sifan Hassan. That's no small task. 

On Saturday, they will be joined by American Josette Norris, who is enjoying the summer of her life after peaking post-Trials. It's an incredible opportunity for Norris to test her limits in her first career Diamond League race. 

Silver Medalist Frerichs Gets Another Shot

The bold move by American Courtney Frerichs to surge away from the field in the Olympic finals of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase nearly paid off as she hung on for dear life. 

Frerichs broke everyone except for Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, who sped past on the last lap and won the gold medal. Frerichs held on for the silver. 

Frerichs will have another chance at Chemutai, and perhaps a chance to break her own American record, in a race where the stakes aren't quite so high and the clock is the main rival. 

Cheptegei Versus Barega

Yet another gold-silver rematch comes in the men's 2-mile, and that could tilt the advantage away from 10,000-meter gold medalist Selemon Barega of Ethiopia and toward Ugandan superstar Joshua Cheptegei. 

In Tokyo, Barega beat Cheptegei by less than half a second to win the 10,000 gold medal. Cheptegei, however, won the 5,000 in 12:58.15. 

The shorter distance favors Cheptegei, who will also have contend with American Paul Chelimo, the bronze medalist in the 5,000. 

But also, look out for Nike Bowerman Track Club duo Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid, who were double booked in Tokyo in the 5,000 and 10,000. Fisher, in particular, took a big step forward this summer with a fifth-place finish in the Olympic 10,000 final and ninth place in the 5,000 – in stifling conditions. 

No. 11 - Bonus Gold Medalists

Ten storylines isn't enough to encapsulate the depth of achievement in this meet. 

Gold medalist Pedro Pechardo from Portugal, the men's triple jump champion, will take on top Americans Will Claye and Donald Scott and Burkino Faso bronze medalist Hugues Fabrice Zango. 

The greatest overall female athlete in the world, Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam of The Netherlands, is entered in the high jump and will take on U.S. champion Vashti Cunningham, who was sixth in Tokyo, and Ukranians Iryna Geraschenko, who was fourth, and Yulia Levchenko, who was eighth. 

The men's 800 meters gold medalist, Emmanuel Korir of Kenya, who spent time at UTEP, is competing in a high quality race against silver medalist Ferguson Rotich and U.S. Olympians Bryce Hoppel, Clayton Murphy and Isaiah Jewett.