The Most Loaded Prefontaine Classic Ever: Your Complete Guide On What To Watch For

Sponsored by Olipop

All-new OLIPOP Variety Packs are here! Stock up on your favorite fruity and fizzy flavors—now in convenient, pantry-ready packs. Choose the Fruity Fun Pack for bold sips like Cherry Cola and Lemon Lime, or grab the Favorites Pack with classic hits like Root Beer and Cream Soda. No fridge needed—just full-on flavor, anytime you want it. Now available at drinkolipop.com. Use code CITIUS25 for the best deal and to get 25% off all your orders online.

By Chris Chavez and Paul Hof-Mahoney

It’s been a little over a month since I attended a professional track meet and it’s time to get on a plane and head to Eugene, Oregon to fix that as the Prefontaine Classic celebrates its 50th anniversary on July 5th.

If you’re not able to make the trek to Hayward Field, the meet will be broadcast on NBC Sports and Peacock from 4 to 6 p.m. E.D.T.

Below, we break down all the pro events in order (all times E.D.T.):

1 p.m. – Men’s Hammer Throw

While still having put together an incredible season to this point, Ethan Katzberg hasn’t wholly dominated the rest of the world yet this season as he did last year. That allows for some intrigue in his matchup with Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan, fresh off a PB of 81.66m at the European Team Championships. We’ll also see Americans Daniel Haugh and Rudy Winkler—the latter in the midst of one of his strongest seasons to date—attempt to defend their home turf against the world’s best. Keep an eye on Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, who threw a PB of over a meter in this same ring last month to finish third in the best NCAA hammer field ever.

1:50 p.m. – Men’s Discus

World record holder Mykolas Alekna has had three weeks since a frustrating NCAA Championships to prepare for a showdown with his Jamaican archnemeses, Ralford Mullings and Rojé Stona (okay, Jamaican for now). Alekna posited in the mixed zone that he just doesn’t throw well in mid-June, but he sure has thrown well in early July, so history tells us he could be in store for something big Saturday. While most eyes will be on that trio, the elder statesman of the group, defending World champ Daniel Ståhl, has been in the best form recently, breaking 70m twice since June 17th.

2:10 p.m. – Men’s 10,000m

Just like last year, this race will double as Athletics Kenya’s team selection race for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. Kenya has six men who have run under the 27:00.00 qualifying standard and another five men in the World Rankings quota. (Benard Kibet Koech, who was fifth in the men’s 10,000m final at the Paris Olympics, and Kibiwott Kandie have the standard but are suspended for anti-doping violations.) 

Last year, the top three finishers were selected for the Paris Olympics, but it’s typically the top two finishers and then one spot up to Athletics Kenya’s discretion. Ishmael Kipkurui just wrapped his freshman year at New Mexico with an NCAA title in this event on this same track. He’s got the fastest time of the year with his breakout 26:50.21 from The Ten back in March. He’s looking to qualify for his first Kenyan senior team on the track.

There are some Ethiopians that can make it fast as the field also includes Paris Olympic silver medalist Berihu Aregawi, Tokyo Olympic champion Selemon Barega, and Hagos Gebrhiwet all running their first 10,000m of the year.

America has one lone soldier in this race with U.S. half marathon record holder and 2:05 marathoner Conner Mantz making his return to the track. If he were serious about contending for a spot on the U.S. 10,000m team for the World Championships, he can get a good time down at the Pre Classic (maybe the standard is doubtful due to the warm conditions) but will need to run well at the U.S. Championships and get his World Ranking high enough to be in the quota for selection. The 10,000m at the World Championships is Sept. 14th and Mantz is slated to attack the American record at the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12th.

2:25 p.m. - Women’s Hammer Throw

This is the kind of field that throws fans dream of. The five Americans in the field are all inside the top ten in the world this year, led by Brooke Andersen, Rachel Richeson, and DeAnna Price who sit 1-2-3. Defending World and Olympic champion Camryn Rogers is ranked fourth in the world, but she has already beaten all of her American rivals except Price this year and came out on top of a similarly stacked field at the 2024 edition of this meet. Despite turning 40 next month, Anita Włodarczyk is still here and still a force to be reckoned with, going out to 73.34m last week in Madrid. 

3:27 p.m. - Women’s Shot Put

The hunt for the first 21m throw by a woman since July 17, 2012, could finally reach its end in Hayward this weekend. Chase Jackson is the most obvious culprit, seeing as she just produced the best mark in over a decade with her first-round 20.95m heave at the Iron Wood Classic over the weekend. Three of Jackson’s eight best career marks have come in Eugene, including her prior PB of 20.76m. For the first time in two months, Jackson will be pushed by both Jessica Schilder (20.69m PB) and Sarah Mitton (20.68m PB). We’ll also see the pro debut of NCAA champ Mya Lesnar.

3:30 p.m. - Men’s Pole Vault

Mondo Duplantis is back on a runway that’s seen him break the world record twice. The field is unfortunately not as strong as some we’ve seen on the European circuit, but it could serve as an enticing preview of the U.S. champs, with Sam Kendricks, KC Lightfoot, and Austin Miller entered. Like Włodarczyk in the hammer, Renaud Lavillenie is still one of the very best in the world now even 13 years removed from his sole outdoor global title. The French icon is coming off back-to-back fourth-place finishes in Oslo and Stockholm.

3:38 p.m. - Women’s Long Jump

This field closely resembles the lineup from Stockholm, which produced five women over 6.70m with Tara Davis-Woodhall winning in 7.05m. She now prepares to take center stage at her new sponsor Nike’s biggest meet, and there’s no reason to believe she won’t live up to expectation. We’re basically seeing a test run of USA Champs about a month before these women will line up again with trips to Tokyo on the line. World Indoor champ Claire Bryant has proved her title in Nanjing was anything but a fluke,  jumping at least 6.90m on three occasions since. Her training partner and double Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Moore is also in the mix, as well as NCAA indoor champ and outdoor third-placer Alexis Brown.

3:44 p.m. – Women’s 100m Hurdles

This lineup has the caliber of a World Championship or Olympic final. Olympic champion Masai Russell returns to action after withdrawing from the Philly Grand Slam with a minor injury. The last time she raced, she broke the American record in 12.17. Tia Jones, Ackera Nugent, and Keni Harrison, who pushed Russell to the finish line in Philly, are also slated to race in Eugene. World record holder Tobi Amusan returns to the site of her breakout performance from 2022. She’s been in good form with a 12.45 victory at the Rabat Diamond League, a 12.24 season’s best and runner-up finish at the Paris Diamond League and then another 12.45 win at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet.

4:04 p.m. – Men’s 400m Hurdles

We’re getting another round of a classic Rai Benjamin vs. Alison Dos Santos matchup—their 13th head-to-head race. Benjamin holds the 10–2 lifetime edge. An intriguing challenge could come from Nathaniel Ezekiel, who just blasted a 47.49 to win the NCAA Outdoor title, putting him at No. 5 in the world behind the three Tokyo/Paris medalists and Abderrahmane Samba. Benjamin and Ezekiel raced in the heats of the 2022 World Championships but the Nigerian was just 19 years old at the time. We’ll see if he can pose a threat to the Big Three in his first major professional competition of the year. Benjamin enters as the world leader and favorite, thanks to his 46.54 from the Stockholm Diamond League.

4:12 p.m. – Men’s 100m

A win here could cement Kishane Thompson’s claim as the gold medal favorite in the men’s 100 meters right now. Last weekend, he ran 9.75 to win the Jamaican National Championships and became the sixth-fastest man in history. That was also the fastest 100m performance since Fred Kerley’s victory at the 2022 World Championships. At a time when Olympic champion Noah Lyles has more podcast and panel appearances than races on his schedule and pulled out of an April meet due to an ankle injury, there’s some level of concern as to where he’ll be when he presumably returns to action at the London Diamond League in less than three weeks. Last year, Thompson was firing on all cylinders after Jamaican champs as well but only raced once between then and the Olympics. We’ll see how he follows up in Eugene and what Lyles will have to respond to.

In the meantime, Thompson will face off against Trayvon Bromell, the Lazarus of track and field who has resurrected once again and clocked a 9.84 to win the Rome Diamond League on June 6th, his fastest time since 2022. Another good result could put him in the driver’s seat as the favorite for the U.S. Championships. 2019 World champion Christian Coleman, who has yet to run faster than his 10.06 season opener from April, is also seeking a confidence boost.

One potential wild card is South Africa’s 19-year-old Bayanda Walaza, the 2024 World U20 Championships gold medalist, who will make his Diamond League debut and boasts a season’s best of 9.94.

4:20 p.m. – Women’s 5000m

The track and field world loves barriers being broken, and doesn’t need to wait long for another attempt at a big one. Faith Kipyegon came up short in her sub-four minute mile push last week, but now we could see the first woman to break 14 minutes for 5000m on the track as Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet gives it a go. She hinted that it would be coming soon after she closed hard off a (relatively) conservative pace to run 14:03.69 and win the Rome Diamond League last month. The world record is currently 14:00.21 by Gudaf Tsegay (who will be running the 1500m at this meet). Chebet is clearly capable of it given her 13:54 on the roads and her closing splits in Italy of 5:31.49 for the last 2000m and 61.88 for the last lap. 

4:43 p.m. – Men’s 400m

We’ll see an Olympic rematch with all three medalists from Paris in action. After an eighth place showing in his opener in China and then a third place finish in Rabat, Olympic champion Quincy Hall put together his best race of the year with a 44.22 to win the Rome Diamond League. Khaleb McRae (43.91 SB), Jacory Patterson (43.98), and Chris Bailey (44.17) have run faster than him this year and are in the field. Patterson beat Hall in Rabat. Kirani James has won this race at the Pre Classic four times and is looking to tie LaShawn Merritt’s five 400m victories in Eugene.

4:46 p.m. – Women’s Discus

At times, it seemed like Valarie Allman’s win streak was about to end in Rome and Paris, but alas she survived, and has won 25 straight meets since a silver in Budapest. For anyone not named “Allman,” taking a win over this field would be a Herculean task. Yaimé Pérez has been consistent as ever this year, Jorinde van Klinken seems to be knocking on the door of a truly massive breakthrough, and four-time global champ Sandra Elkasević has still been producing solid marks, though not quite as strong as years previous. Keep an eye on Lagi Tausaga-Collins, fresh off her best performance since breaking 70m in Ramona, as well as NCAA call-ups Cierra Jackson and Jayden Ulrich.

4:51 p.m. – Women’s 400m

With the cancellation of the LA Grand Slam meet, fans were disappointed to miss out on a Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone vs. Marileidy Paulino vs. Salwa Eid-Naser clash. However, coach Bobby Kersee still wanted a 400m opportunity for his star pupil and Prefontaine Classic organizers were happy to oblige, adding a 400m race as a non-Diamond League discipline to the schedule for McLaughlin-Levrone to make her Prefontaine Classic debut. Her next attack on Sanya Richards-Ross’s 48.70 American record from 2006 is imminent. 

McLaughlin-Levrone is the second-fastest American woman in history with her 48.74 from the 2023 U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships on this same track. 2023 was the year that she was planning to go all-in on the 400m but withdrew from the World Championships due to injury. Last year, she ran a nearly-identical 48.75 in New York City, further cementing the perception that Richards-Ross’s record is living on borrowed time. This season, she jogged 50.32 and 49.69 to win her event group at Grand Slam Track’s stops in Kingston and Miami, respectively. No one else in those fields broke 51 seconds. Now she’ll have some push from NCAA outdoor champion Aaliyah Butler (49.26 SB), NCAA indoor champion Bella Whittaker (49.58 SB), a resurgent Lynna Irby-Jackson (49.82 SB), and World Indoor champion Amber Anning (49.96 SB).

McLaughlin-Levrone would not be doing this race if she and Kersee didn’t know something special may be on the horizon. This is a must-watch.

4:55 p.m. – Men’s Shot Put

Oregon’s favorite son Ryan Crouser unfortunately pulled out of Pre, delaying his season opener even more, but we’ve still got an awesome lineup. On the 2025 top lists, the lowest-ranked of the eight men in this field is four-time Pre Classic winner Joe Kovacs, whose 21.59m SB slots him at tenth. The 22m barrier has proven a tough one to crack this season, as only Leo Fabbri and Payton Otterdahl have bettered the mark to date. However, it feels like that dam could fully break this weekend. Tripp Piperi threw 21.96m his last time out, Olympic bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell is starting to return to his 2024 form, plus Kovacs and Tom Walsh are threats to hit that mark any time they step in the ring.

5:58 p.m. – Women’s 800m

Unfortunately, Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson has scratched from the race as she continues to work her way back from a hamstring injury. She also pulled out of the Stockholm Diamond League last month but is still scheduled to race the London Diamond League in a few weeks. Judging from her social media, she’s been back to training but perhaps Eugene (and the travel required) was a bit much so soon.

The race still features reigning World champion and Paris Olympic bronze medalist Mary Moraa, Olympic silver medalist Tsige Duguma, and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu-Nikolayev. Mu-Nikolayev will be the one that most people will be watching closely, since it’s been nearly a full year since she last raced an 800m and has had an odd start to the season. She ran 3000m of a 5000m race at a low-key meet at Mt. SAC in April and then clocked two 1500m races—including one at a Division II meet hosted by Cal State Los Angeles. Most recently, she ran a season’s best of 4:10.70 for second in the third heat of the 1500m at Sound Running’s Track Fest last month. This will be her first 800m race since a sub-par 2:00.29 in Gainesville, Florida last July.

Coach Bobby Kersee has been methodical about getting Mu-Nikolayev back into a high-caliber race environment given her injuries in 2024 and the massive disappointment of her fall in the final of the Olympic Trials. Even while injured at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Mu ran 1:58.84 in the semifinals. The first step toward a return to the World stage would be securing the 1:59.00 standard to then focus on just finishing top three at the U.S. Championships.

5:07 p.m. – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase

The women’s steeplechase is already fast in 2025, with Faith Cherotich and Peruth Chemutai going 8:53.37 and 8:54.41 at the Paris Diamond League. This race has gone 8:55 or faster in the last four years that it’s been run in Eugene. Chemutai won last year’s race in 8:55.09. The 20-year-old Cherotich is stringing together quite the 2025 campaign that may give her the slight nod as the best in the world right now over Olympic champion Winfred Yavi, who she beat at the Doha and Oslo Diamond League stops. Cherotitch has bronze medals from the Olympics and 2023 World Championships but could look to become the youngest World champion later this year.

For the Americans, this will serve as the closest thing to a U.S. Championships trial run. We’ll get a clear picture of the top American woman in the event as four of the five women with the World Championships qualifying standard (9:18.00) are entered:

– Gabbi Jennings is the fastest American woman of the year with her 9:08.05, fourth-place showing at the Paris Diamond League.

– Lexy Halladay-Lowry, who ran 9:08.05 to finish runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, will test herself against professionals.

– Courtney Wayment, who has made every U.S. team since 2022, enters with a season’s best of 9:08.88.

– Val Constien is the only one of the bunch whose World standard did not come in 2025. She pocketed it with her 9:04.92 at the 2024 Rome Diamond League. She has a season’s best of 9:32.87.

– Olivia Markezich (who is in the World Rankings quota) and Kaylee Mitchell are also in the mix and will try to secure the standard.

5:23 p.m. – Men’s 200m

It’s been a while since we got to see Kenny Bednarek on the track post-GST Philly, but the extra month of training could be a good thing as he lines up for what could be his biggest test of the year: a matchup against Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo. Bednarek went six-for-six in his Grand Slam short sprint races to earn himself Racer of the Year honors. His 0.55-second margin of victory in Philadelphia was impressive, but this field’s spread may be tighter. Tebogo’s current status is a bit of an unknown, as he’s coming off an injury following the Rabat Diamond League. Jereem Richards could pose a threat since he ran 19.86 out of the long sprints group at the Miami Slam, which was topped by Bednarek a day later. Ultimately, this may be the hardest test of the season so far for Bednarek as he continues to try and strengthen his case as the best overall sprinter.

5:31 p.m. – Men’s Bowerman Mile

This was easily THE EVENT of the meet in 2024 as Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr met for the first time following months of barbs in the media in the aftermath of the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. The race itself lived up to the hype, with Kerr taking the victory in 3:45.34—0.15 seconds ahead of Ingebrigtsen. Yet, it was still an impressive performance by the Norwegian star since he had spent months recovering from an Achilles injury, and built even more excitement for the eventual thriller that was the Paris Olympic final. (Editor’s note: Cole Hocker was seventh in last year’s Bowerman Mile in 3:48.95, which goes to show that not every race is indicative of where these guys will stack up come Worlds.)

However, an Achilles injury in the other leg has forced Ingebrigtsen to scratch from this year’s Bowerman Mile. He also withdrew from a 1500m that he was slated to run in Ostrava last month, and while he’s posted that he’s back to full training, his return date remains unclear. Kerr has also decided to skip out on defending his title at the Pre Classic. Ingebrigtsen and Kerr are still slated to race over 1500m on July 19th in London—for now.

This is all good news for Yared Nuguse, who has come close to the win at Pre the last two years. If he succeeds, he’d become only the second man to win the Wanamaker Mile and Bowerman Mile in the same year. (Bernard Lagat accomplished the feat in 2003 and 2006.) Part of thee reason why it hasn’t happened much in the years between is because three-time champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, two-time champion Timothy Cheruiyot, four-time champion Asbel Kiprop, and two-time champion Ayanleh Souleiman, and some of the other Kenyans who have won in the years since don’t head to New York in the winter.

Even in the absence of Ingebrigtsen, the recent 1500m races on the Continental Tour and Diamond League have gone fast. 10 men have already run under 3:30 for 1500m this outdoor season and six of them are in this field, including world leader Azeddine Habz. If everyone is running fast, it becomes more about who you beat to cement yourself as a legitimate medal contender. Habz has already beat Cheruiyot, Stefan Nillessen, Festus Lagat, Olli Hoare, and Abel Kipsang (who are all in this race) at some point this season. But now he gets a shot at the likes of Nuguse and Cole Hocker to try and prove how dangerous he could be in Tokyo.

5:44 p.m. – Women’s 100m

Just like 2021, the full Olympic 100m podium meets again for the first time outside a championship at the Prefontaine Classic. 

Olympic champion Julien Alfred is undefeated in 2025, including going two-for-two in her 100m races this season with a season’s best of 10.75 from last month’s Stockholm Diamond League.

Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has been one of the brightest stars of 2025 with her profile boosted by her success on the Grand Slam Track stage. She was named the Racer of the Year after her three Slam titles, which was built upon victories in five of her six races. Jefferson-Wooden is the current world leader with her 10.73 from the Philadelphia Slam. It was validation of her fitness after a wind-aided 10.75 in Miami.

Olympic silver medalist and reigning World champion Sha’Carri Richardson always brings some intrigue to where she’s at when it comes to the Prefontaine Classic. She won last year’s race 10.83 to set the tone for her success in the championship portion of the season. That said, she is the only woman in the field who has yet to run under 11 seconds this season. Her only performance of the year thus far is her 11.47, fourth-place showing from her opener in Tokyo on May 18th. No injury has been reported and she was spotted training in Philadelphia during the Grand Slam weekend so maybe there has not been as much of a rush to her year as the reigning World champion with the bye. Saturday will be an indicator of where she’s at.

Tia and Tina Clayton will make up the Jamaican representation in this race—it’s the first Prefontaine Classic 100m race without Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, or Elaine Thompson-Herah since 2017. Tina Clayton is coming off the 10.81 win at the Jamaican National Championships last weekend while her sister ran a strong 10.86 semifinal but pulled up in the final with an injury.

5:50 p.m. – Women’s 1500m

On Wednesday afternoon, organizers announced a change to the meet schedule and shifted the second half of the program to have the women’s 1500m as the final event. It’s a smart move on the heels of the starpower and attention brought by Faith Kipyegon’s sub-four-minute mile attempt.

At a press event the day after running 4:06.91 for the mile, Kipyegon told reporters that she had the confidence to run under her 3:49.04 world record and would go for it in Eugene. It’s estimated she hit 1500m in 3:48.5 during the mile run. Even with a strong field assembled, this one will likely come down to Kipyegon vs. the pace lights.

If you haven’t had a chance to read Keenan Baker’s feature from his trip to Paris to witness and cover Breaking4, do so here.

Olympic silver medalist Jess Hull and Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Hunter Bell could also look to lower their own national records. Hull went 3:58.36 for a season’s best in Philadelphia but was beaten by Diribe Welteji (who is also in this race). Hunter Bell owns a season’s best of 3:58.06 from the Paris Diamond League. In Paris, she teased the idea of going all-in on the 800m this season for the championships since she ran 1:58.99 in Philadelphia and then 1:57.66 in Stockholm. You’d have to think there’s a chance her performance in Eugene could add any weight to whatever she eventually decides to prioritize.

On the American side, this will be a preview of the U.S. Outdoor Championships: 

– Olympic finalist and reigning U.S. champion Nikki Hiltz has a season’s best of 4:00.54 from Grand Slam Track: Philadelphia. Hiltz has stamped themselves as the best American 1500m runner with their consistency over the past two seasons. They dealt with a little hamstring flare-up in Philadelphia but have the chance this weekend to prove they haven’t lost a step.

– Heather MacLean, who is now sharing a coach with Hiltz in Juli Benson, actually has the fastest time by an American woman so far this year with a 3:59.71 from the Rome Diamond League last month.

– Sinclaire Johnson, who was sixth in the World Indoor Championships final and then dealt with some knee tendonitis in April, showed she’s back in form with a 4:01.46 win at the Portland Track Festival.

– Shelby Houlihan returns to the Prefontaine Classic for the first time since 2019 after serving a four-year suspension for a positive test for Nandrolone. At the U.S. Championships, she could attempt to make the team in two events by tackling the 1500m and 5000m double. Following her silver medal in the 3000m at the World Indoor Championships, she ran two 1500m races with a season’s best of 4:04.76 but also went to Rome and secured the 5000m World Championship standard in 14:45.29. She still holds the American record with her 3:54.99 from the 2019 World Championships in Doha, but if Kipyegon drags the field to fast times here and Houlihan isn’t the top American, that could change.

– 2024 U.S. Olympian Emily MacKay, who also recently departed Team New Balance Boston and is now working with Pete Julian in Boulder, has a season’s best of 4:03.33. She has the World Championship qualifying standard from her 3:59.63 at last summer’s Games.

– Sage Hurta-Klecker, who is qualified for Worlds in this event as well as the 800m via her 4:19.89 mile at last year’s Sir Walter Miler, is in her first Diamond League 1500m since the 2021 Prefontaine Classic.

The stage is set for one of the most anticipated Prefontaine Classic meets in recent memory. CITIUS MAG will be on-site to bring you interviews from media day on Friday and then mixed zone interviews and live coverage on Saturday.