WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND: Prefontaine Classic | Athletes, Storylines to Follow on Saturday

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Today’s newsletter is guest-written by CITIUS MAG contributor David Melly.

By this time tomorrow, Team USA will feature six new members as the top finishers from tonight’s 10,000m championship will [likely] have secured their spots to return to Hayward Field in July for the 2022 World Championships. They’ll join the multi-eventers who made the team earlier this month in shifting to preparation mode for the biggest meet of the year while their compatriots in shorter events gear up for the USATF Track and Field Championships in June.

This weekend of racing is just getting started, however. The Prefontaine Classic kicks into high gear tomorrow with the bulk of the Diamond League program featuring the world’s best sprinters, jumpers, and throwers, many of whom rarely compete in the United States. You can find a full schedule and live results here, and below we highlight the top storylines of Saturday’s program. The meet is so stacked that two events featuring world record holders (the women’s 100H and the men’s pole va) don’t even make our top 10.

Follow along with CITIUS on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for updates and behind-the-scenes exclusives on all the activity in Eugene this weekend. You can already catch an inside look into how the pros are getting ready for the meet with this video featuring Olympians Elle Purrier, Shadrack Kipchirchir, Joe Kovacs, Raven Saunders, and more. And tonight, you can join me, Dana Giordano, and Mac Fleet for a special edition of After The Final Lap live from Eugene.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 stories to follow on day 2 of the Pre Classic:

10. Can Valarie Allman Keep The Momentum Going?

Since winning gold in the discus in Tokyo, Olympic champion and American record holder Valarie Allman has been on a tear. She finished off her 2021 season and started 2022 with a pair of 71+ meter throws, the latter of which puts her at No. 15 on the all-time list. Given that every mark ahead of her on the list was set between 1980 and 1992 by Chinese and Eastern bloc athletes, some argue that she is the clean world record holder in the event. She enters Pre undefeated on the season, and although Sandra Perkovic of Croatia gave her a scare with her last throw at the Birmingham Diamond League meet, she’s favored to win here as well.

NOTE: Due to forecasted inclement weather, the women’s discus, along with the men’s pole vault and women’s high jump, have been moved to Friday evening’s program.

9. Will Michael Norman Put It Together This Year?

When Michael Norman ran 43.61 in the 400m at the 2018 outdoor NCAA championships, we collectively dubbed him the crown prince of the long sprints. While he’s shown flashes of true greatness, running 43.45 for the #4 all-time mark and joining the rare sub-10/sub-20/sub-44 club (which features only three men total), an individual global title has so far eluded the 24-year-old. Could this be the year?

Norman hasn’t raced much yet this season, winning his 400m debut in 44.62 and notching another sub-20 200m at the USATF Golden Games, running 19.83 for second behind Fred Kerley. This will be his first real test at his specialty distance, as Michael Cherry enters with the fastest season’s best at 44.28 and two other sub-44 men, Isaac Makwala of Botswana and Kirani James of Grenada, will toe the line as well. A strong performance at Pre would set him up for redemption after a disappointing 5th-place finish in Tokyo. Hayward Field has been good to Norman in the past, so here’s hoping he can keep the magic going all summer.

8. Can Anyone Challenge Kipyegon In the Women’s 1500?

If anyone has proven they can deliver the goods when it counts, it’s Faith Kipyegon. Last summer, the two-time Olympic champion successfully defended her 1500m title from Rio five years (and one childbirth) later, while also clocking the #4 all-time mark of 3:51.07 in the event in Monaco. Anyone who routinely outkicks Sifan Hassan is an all-time great in the middle-distance events.

Her biggest challengers in the women’s 1500m will likely be Gudaf Tsegay, Laura Muir, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, and Elle Purrier St. Pierre. Tsegay is the world indoor record holder and reigning World Indoor champion who’s coming off an undefeated season, and she and Muir are the only other athletes entered with PBs under 3:55. With wind and rain in the forecast, we probably won’t see a time that far under 4 minutes, but it will be interesting to see if Kipyegon is seriously challenged in the final lap of the race.

7. Should We Worry About Ryan Crouser?

The short answer is, probably not. The reigning Olympic gold medalist and indoor and outdoor world record holder in the shotput is already the GOAT of his chosen discipline and he enters the meet with the world-leading mark of 22.75m. However, he did suffer the rare loss this indoor season, when Brazil’s Darlan Romani snuck a World Indoor victory out from under him in Belgrade. After the competition, Crouser mentioned that his indoor season had been impacted by nagging injuries, although he did not specify their nature.

Romani is not here, but Crouser’s fellow American and longtime rival Joe Kovacs has also been throwing well so far this season and should give him a good battle as usual. Veteran Tomas Walsh of New Zealand will likely be a factor as well, and keep an eye out for fan-favorite Nick Ponzio’s colorful competition outfits.

6. Who Wins The Tokyo Rematch In The Men’s 5000?

With Olympic champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei racing tonight in a world record attempt exhibition, you’d think the men’s 5000m on Saturday would be a boring rehash of the prior day’s competition. However, all the other heavy hitters from Tokyo are entered in this race instead, the “official” Diamond League 5000m. Tokyo silver medalist Moh Ahmed and bronze medalist Paul Chelimo reignite their Canadian-American rivalry, and both have proven to be entertaining racers in the past. Chelimo has the slight edge over Ahmed head-to-head at the distance, with 7 wins to Ahmed’s 6, but Ahmed has the faster personal best at 12:47.20.

They’ll be joined by Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega, who also has the #5 all-time 5000m mark with a PB of 12:43.02. Don’t expect the race to go that fast with tomorrow’s weather, but the kicks should be something special. Keep an eye out for Getnet Wale, the Olympic 4th-placer in the steeplechase who also has a 12:53.28 PB, to mix things up near the front as well. We’re also getting a rematch between Geordie Beamish and Luis Grijalva, who placed a friendly wager on a 1500m at The Ten in March that Beamish won handily, but the 5000m is a distance that suits Grijalva better.

5. Who Is the Top American Steeplechaser These Days?

For the last 6 years, Team USA has been lucky to have its two greatest women steeplechasers in their respective primes at the same time. Rio bronze medalist Emma Coburn and Tokyo silver medalist Courtney Frerichs have been a lethal 1-2 punch on the international circuit for years, most memorably in 2017 when they finished 1st and 2nd at the World Championships in London.

Coburn has a lifetime edge of 18-2 against Frerichs with 9 national titles in the steeple, but those two losses were big ones. The first was in Monaco in 2018, when Frerichs ran 9:00.85 to break Coburn’s American record by two seconds, and the second was in Tokyo, where Coburn had a rare bad day that she described as a “total failure” and Frerichs took the silver medal. While the two have always been great examples of sportsmanship and women supporting women, it had to have stung a little for Coburn when Frerichs reset her American record and became the first U.S. woman under 9 minutes in the steeple later that summer, running 8:57.77 at the 2021 Pre Classic.

While both women should factor for the win in Pre, neither is necessarily the favorite as the race features defending Pre Classic champ Norah Jeruto of Kazakhstan (formerly Kenya), who ran 8:53.65 here last August, and surprise Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, who shocked the world in Tokyo by taking down a stacked field to win the gold while knocking 6 seconds off her personal best. This early in the summer most steeplers have not raced much yet, so it’s anyone’s guess as to who enters the race fittest.

4. How Will Coleman Fare Against A Stacked Field?

There hasn’t been much time to see how 2019 world champion Christian Coleman matches up to the up-and-comers in the men’s 100m over the last two years, as his 18-month ban for drug-testing whereabouts violations prevented him from attempting to make the Tokyo Olympic team. Since coming back, he put together a strong indoor campaign, finishing second to Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs in the 60m in Belgrade.

The two were supposed to get a rematch this weekend, but Jacobs announced earlier this week that he would have to withdraw with an injury. The field is still stacked, with Andre DeGrasse, Noah Lyles, Trayvon Bromell, and Fred Kerley lining up. In fact, the only runner in the field without a sub-10 PB is high school phenom Erriyon Knighton, who very well could become the first high schooler ever to break 10 seconds in the 100m after his astonishing 19.49 200m performance in April. 

With DeGrasse and Bromell coming back from injury over the last few years and Kerley and Knighton coming into their own as short sprinters, most of these guys have not matched up head to head with Coleman very often over 100 meters. That all changes tomorrow.

3. Without Athing Mu, Who Will Reign Supreme In The Women’s 800m?

The quality of the women’s 800m right now is so high that even the withdrawal of the reigning Olympic champion Athing Mu doesn’t take much away from the hype of this race, where world indoor champion Ajee’ Wilson takes on 19-year-old Olympic silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, fresh off a comfortable 1:58.63 victory in Birmingham last week. Hodgkinson ran a remarkable 1:57.20 in February, the fastest indoor mark in 20 years, but she scratched from the world indoor championships so we’ve had to wait until now for her to throw down with Wilson.

Plenty of other athletes in this race will keep things interesting from start to finish, as Jamaica’s Natoya Goule loves to front-run and Tokyo bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers always finishes like a freight train. Hodgkinson’s compatriot Jemma Reekie, who has a 1:56.90 PB and finished fourth in Tokyo, should be a factor as well.

2. Can Sha’Carri Put Some Walk Behind Her Talk?

Perhaps the most controversial figure at the Pre Classic is American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, known as much for her blazing times as her showboating style and aggressive Twitter presence. A much-anticipated showdown between Richardson and the top Jamaican sprinters in Tokyo was derailed by a one-month suspension for a positive test for THC that caused Richardson’s Olympic Trials mark to be disqualified, leaving her off the Team USA roster. At the last running of this meet, Richardson looked rusty after a month off racing and finished last in the race in 11.14 which generated this instant-classic meme.

After withdrawing from several early-spring meets in a row with no explanation, Richardson looked decidedly beatable in her season opener at the American Track League meet in Jacksonville last weekend, running 11.37 for 4th place in rainy conditions and then coming back to win a bizarre second running of the race (with some competitors missing) in 11.27. Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah enters the race undefeated with three sub-11-second clockings so far in 2022, and although her compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is entered in the 200m, the third Jamaican medalist from Tokyo, Shericka Jackson, joins her in this race. They should get a good challenge from American Twanisha Terry (10.94 SB) and Brit Dina Asher-Smith, as well as Richardson if she can put her money where her mouth is on race day.

1. Which Rivalries Flare Up In The Bowerman Mile?

The Bowerman Mile is the marquee distance event of the Pre Classic and arguably the most well-known one-mile race in the world. It’s one of the rare meets where multiple sub-3:50 marks is a semi-regular occurrence, and this year, the field is as stacked as ever. It’s a testament to the quality of this race that the undercard 1500m featuring Colby Alexander, Neil Gourley, Hobbs Kessler, and more would still be a huge deal at any other meet.

The hype this year is all about rivalries - it doesn’t even matter how fast they run. Gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen has a lifetime 2-13 record against Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, but one of those two victories came in the final in Tokyo. Similarly, Ingebrigtsen is 12-2 against Ethiopian Samuel Tefera, but one of Tefera’s wins came in the World Indoor Championship in Belgrade this past spring. Unfortunately, Tefera has withdrawn from the mile (he’s entered in the 5000m), but Ingebrigsten and Cheruiyot are throwing down again. Another name to keep an eye on is Abel Kipsang, the world leader in the 1500m at 3:31.01. Kipsang hadn’t been on anyone’s radar much before this year, but after a bronze medal at World Indoors and an undefeated start to the outdoor season, he’s no dark horse anymore.

The other big rivalry to follow is Olli Hoare versus Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker. Although Teare jokingly alluded to a rivalry between himself and Ingebrigtsen, the beef between the Coffee Club podcast hosts of On Athletic Club and the Oregon pros has simmered just under the surface all spring. Hoare often references the Nike boys’ propensity to dodge competition, instead running glorified time trials, but they’re all showing up to the same starting line on Saturday. Hoare recently ran 3:35.76 for third in the Birmingham Diamond League meet and Teare looked strong setting a new 800m PB at the USATF Distance Classic, but Hocker’s 1500m at the same meet didn’t go as smoothly, finishing third in that race in 3:36.24. All three men have personal bests of 3:50 in the mile, so it’s anyone’s guess as to who ends up on top.

Another exciting storyline to follow in this race is high schooler Colin Sahlman vs. history. The Newbury Park (CA) senior became the 13th U.S. high schooler ever to break 4 minutes in the mile, running 3:58.81 indoors, and he’s entered with the big boys to try to move up from his current spot at #6 on the list. The record is Alan Webb’s 3:53.43 from this race in 2001.

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