Pre Classic Looking to Extend Streak of Brilliant Bowerman Miles 

(The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international 

track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at historic Hayward Field.)

            Eugene, Oregon – Like clockwork, the Bowerman Mile is putting up sub-3:50 miles at a record pace.  The Prefontaine Classic’s signature event now has produced such barrier-breaking times for the sixth consecutive year – a streak longer than any other meet in the world.

            This year’s field could be the best ever, as eight enter with sub-3:50 PRs, including all six of the record-tying group who broke that barrier in last year’s Bowerman Mile.  Since the birth of the IAAF Diamond League in 2010, the Pre Classic has taken worldwide ownership of the men’s mile, now with more than twice as many sub-3:50 miles (16) as any other meet (next most has 6).

            Kenyan rivals Silas Kiplagat and Asbel Kiprop are set to duel again for the fifth straight Bowerman Mile.  One or the other has been ranked No. 1 in the world by Track & Field News each year since 2009 – Kiprop with four and Kiplagat with two, including the most recent.  The year before that streak began, Kiprop won the 2008 Olympic gold at Beijing.  Kiprop also has the most major golds of any Kenyan man in this event, adding the World Championships in 2011 and 2013 (Kiplagat earned silver in 2011).

            Their head-to-head record stands at 17-12 in the mile/1500 and 3-2 mile only (Kiplagat owning the edge each time).  Each has won the IAAF Diamond Trophy, Kiprop in 2010 while Kiplagat has last year’s as well as in 2012.  They have twice broken 3:50 in the same race, both at the Pre Classic (2011 & 2013).  Kiprop is the only three-time winner of the Bowerman Mile, even including before the event was so named in 2000.

            Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti won last year’s Bowerman Mile in a meet record 3:47.32 – the fastest in the world since 2007 and the best by an African since 2001.  He ranked No. 2 in the world last year by T&FN  after a No. 3 in 2013 (behind Kiprop and Kiplagat).  Still just 22, Souleiman won last year’s World Indoor Championships and African Championships 1500 meters.  In 2013, he earned bronze at the 2013 World Championships in the 800 meters, where he has a best of 1:43.63 (second fastest in the field to Kiprop’s 1:43.15).

            Abdelaati Iguider is Morocco’s third-fastest miler in history, trailing only world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj and Said Aouita, former WR holder in the 1500 meters.  Iguider was the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist after earlier winning the World Indoor Championships.  He has a complete set of World Indoor 1500 medals, adding silver (2010) and bronze (2014).  He was fourth last year in the Bowerman Mile with a PR by almost three seconds at 3:49.09.

            Aman Wote was third in last year’s epic Bowerman Mile, setting an Ethiopian record of 3:48.60.  He earned silver at last year’s World Indoor Championships 1500 and ranked No. 5 in the world last year by T&FN, a spot ahead of Iguider.

            The final two members of last year’s sub-3:50 group are Kenyans James Kiplagat Magut (3:49.53) and Collins Cheboi (3:49.56).  Cheboi ranked No. 7 in the world last year by T&FN, while Magut was No. 10.  Magut is a former two-time winner of the Pre Classic International Mile (2012 & 2013).  Magut and Cheboi joined Kiplagat and Kiprop as part of Kenya’s world record-setting 4x1500 team at last year’s inaugural World Relays.

            Americans Matthew Centrowitz and Leo Manzano are looking to make more history.  Centrowitz, a former NCAA champion for Oregon, is a two-time World Championships medalist, taking silver in 2013 after a bronze in 2011 – the only other two-time American medalist in the worlds in this event is American record holder Bernard Lagat (gold in 2007, bronze in 2009).

            Manzano’s legacy is even more rare.  His silver in the London Olympics is the best since Jim Ryun in 1968.  Manzano was a four-time indoor/outdoor NCAA champion while at Texas. At last year's Pre, Manzano was the victor in the International Mile, winning in event-record time (3:52.41).

            Ronald Kwemoi of Kenya is the only runner in the field who has yet to run a mile race.  Last year as an 18-year-old, he ranked No. 4 in the world by T&FN and obliterated a 12-year-old World Junior record with 3:28.81 in the 1500 meters, which is the equivalent to well under 3:50.  He is also the reigning Kenyan champion and last summer earned bronze in the African Championships (behind Souleiman and Kiprop in a close finish) and silver in the Commonwealth Games (to Magut).  This will be his first race on U.S. soil.

            Two others making their U.S. debuts are Homiyu Tesfaye of Germany and Kenya’s Vincent Kibet.  Tesfaye, born in Ethiopia, was a finalist  for Germany as a 19-year-old in the 2013 World Championships, taking fifth.  Earlier in 2013, Tesfaye won the German national title at 10,000 meters.  Kibet ranked No. 9 in the world last year byT&FN as the fifth Kenyan – the fifth straight year Kenya has had at least half of Top 10 spots in this event.

            Johan Cronje is the only South African to earn a major medal in the men’s 1500 meters, claiming the bronze at the 2013 World Championships.  He is a seven-time South African champion in the 1500 and owns national records at both 1500 and the mile.

            Bethwell Birgen of Kenya is the fastest non-sub-3:50 miler in the field at 3:50.42.  He has twice ranked among the world’s Top 10 by T&FN.  Birgen made Kenya’s powerful team for 2013 World Championships, reaching the semifinals.  He was top finishing Kenyan at last year’s World Indoors, taking 8th.

            Henrik Ingebrigtsen is the Norwegian record holder at both 1500 and the mile.  He added a pair of national records indoors at the European Indoor Championships in March by taking bronze in the 3000 a day before a sixth in the 1500.  Ingebrigtsen was 2012 European Championships gold medalist before claiming the silver last year.  He was a finalist at the 2012 Olympics (5th) and 2013 World Championships (8th), recording the best-ever finishes by a Norwegian at both majors.

            For a complete listing of all sub-4 minute miles run at the Prefontaine Classic, go to www.preclassic.com.

Brittney Reese heads the field for the Prefontaine Classic women's long jump

Stars Take Center Stage for Pre Classic Women’s 400 

(The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international 

track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at historic Hayward Field.)

            Eugene, Oregon – Sanya Richards-Ross and Allyson Felix. The two iconic superstars of the long-sprints will race each other as well as a field intent upon moving the spotlight onto themselves.

            Sanya Richards-Ross is the American record holder and only American woman with two major gold medals in this event (2012 Olympics, 2009 Worlds).  She has won twice as many U.S. outdoor titles (6) as any other woman and has been ranked No. 1 in the world five times by Track & Field News – no other American has more than one.  Richards-Ross has won this event five times at the Pre Classic, the only athlete with more than two.

            Allyson Felix owns four major gold medals – all at 200, including the London Olympics.  She ranked No. 1 in the world last year at 200 meters by T&FN – her seventh, equaling the most in history in that event.  Yet Felix’s career shows incredible versatility, earning silver at the 2011 World Championships in the 400 – the best by an American this decade – and also making the 2012 London Olympic 100-meter final (5thin a PR 10.89).  Felix owns the distinction of being the only IAAF Diamond League winner in two events (400 in 2010, 200 in 2010 & 2014).

            Jamaica’s Novlene Williams-Mills is not only the current IAAF Diamond Trophy winner, she is also the first from Jamaica to rank No. 1 in the world since 1970.  Williams-Mills is a warrior in another sense, having battled breast cancer in 2012.  She has won eight of the last nine Jamaican national titles and is the  reigning Pre Classic champion.

            America’s Francena McCorory was ranked No. 2 in the world last year by T&FN, the highest by an American since 2012.  She won the World Indoor title last year and became the first to combine that with a sweep of U.S. indoor and outdoor crowns since Richards-Ross in 2012.  McCorory took the baton from Felix and handed it to Richards-Ross at the London Olympics in the 4x400 for gold.  She won her first national title at Hayward Field for Hampton in the 2010 NCAA Championships.

            Natasha Hastings  is a consummate American relay runner, with only Richards-Ross and Felix having earned more than her four major medals.  But she is clearly legitimate in the solo race, too, coming in as the top American in the 2013 T&FN world rankings at No. 4.  Hastings is now a three-time U.S. champ, including the recent indoor 300-meter title in Boston.  She is a former World Junior and World Youth champion.

            Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson, last year’s Commonwealth Games champion, was ranked No. 4 in the world by T&FN.  She was Jamaica’s best at the 2013 World Championships, taking 4th at 49.99 as the highest finisher for Jamaica.

            Libania Grenot is the 2014 European champion.  She has won multiple national titles for two countries, her current Italy (3) and former Cuba (2).

            Phyllis Francis is a two-time NCAA champ for Oregon.  The collegiate indoor holder, her most memorable moment yet came with a torching anchor to give Oregon victory in the 2014 NCAA Indoor 4x400.

From Around The Globe: Pre Classic Men’s 800 

(The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.)

            Eugene, Oregon – Reigning champions from four continents lend the men’s 800 meters at the Prefontaine Classic a United Nations feel.  Or maybe it's a World Championships feel, as the last two No. 1-ranked runners are headliners.    

            All but three racers in the field are current continental or national champions – the other three are merely the current gold medalists from the World Championships and World Junior Championships at 800, plus the reigning Olympic 1500-meter gold medalist.

            Nijel Amos of Botswana, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist at age 18, is the  African Champion.  At 20, he won the IAAF Diamond Trophy last year and also was No. 1 in last year’s Track & Field News world rankings.  Amos is the world’s 4th-fastest ever at 1:41.73 – and at 18 the fastest ever by anyone under 20.  He won last year’s Pre Classic in 1:43.63 in his first-ever U.S. appearance.

            Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia is the World Championships gold medalist, winning in 2013 at Moscow while a 19-year-old.  He is also a two-time World Indoor gold medalist (2012 & 2014).  Aman ranked No. 1 in T&FN’s world rankings in 2013, which was sandwiched between No. 2s last year and in 2012 (then just 18).  In a sign of how truly global this field is, Aman competes for Oregon Track Club Elite based in Eugene.

            Two more current continental champs are Poland’s Adam Kszczot (Europe) and Qatar’s Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla (Asia), a pair of 1:43 racers.  Kszczot also has World Indoor medals from 2014 (silver) and 2010 (bronze), as well as European Indoor golds in 2011 & 2013.  Balla won the most recent Asian Championships in 2013.  The 2015 world indoor leader (1:45.48), Balla will be making his first U.S. appearance.

            American Duane Solomon is the two-time reigning U.S. champion.  His 4th-place finish in the London Olympics was the highest by an American since Johnny Gray’s bronze medal in 1992.  Solomon was also a 2013 World Championships finalist.

            Ferguson Cheruiyot is the National Champion from Kenya, the country which has produced four of the last six Olympic gold medalists.  He ranked No. 4 in last year’s T&FN world rankings. 

            Alfred Kipketer of Kenya won last year’s World Junior Championships as a 17-year-old in Eugene.  His winning time of 1:43.95 is the fastest at Hayward Field by anyone outside of  last year’s Pre Classic.  Even at 17, Kipketer was a member of Kenya’s winning 4x800 at the inaugural World Relays last year.  In 2015, he is still eligible for Junior records and has already clocked 1:45.0 at altitude in March.

            Taoufik Makhloufi won Olympic gold in London.  That distance was 1500, matching Algeria’s most famous miler, Noureddine Morceli (1996).  Makhloufi, the most recent African 800 Champ (2012) since Amos, has twice ranked among the world’s T&FN top 10, a level Morceli never reached in this event.

            Just this April, Andre Olivier won his third-straight South African title.  He will be making his first appearance in the U.S.  Olivier just missed a medal at last year’s World Indoors, taking 4th.

            A sign of the quality of this global field—all but one of the competitors has run under 1:44-flat.

Powerful U.S. Contingent in Women’s 800 at Pre Classic 

(The 41st Prefontaine Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.)

            Eugene, Oregon – The women’s 800 meters at the Prefontaine Classic will feature a strong quartet from Team USA, although they will face formidable opposition from a pair of tough Kenyans.

            The youngest of the Americans is precocious Ajee’ Wilson, who will turn all of 21 on May 8. She was ranked No. 2 in the world by T&FN last year, after sweeping the  U.S. indoor and outdoor titles, the youngest to do so since a 15-year-old Mary Decker in 1974.  As a 19-year-old, Wilson was a finalist in the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, where she set the American Junior record of 1:58.21.  Her international experience also includes gold medals at the 2012 World Juniors and 2011 World Youth Championships – she is the only American to win either title.

            Brenda Martinez is the only American to have ranked twice in the world’s top 4 the last two years (No. 3 in ’14, No. 4 in ’13).  She anchored USA’s winning 4x800 team at last year’s inaugural World Relays, receiving the baton from Wilson before blitzing a 1:57.2 split to extend the lead on Kenya, which was anchored by Eunice Sum.  Martinez has some history of making history – at the 2013 World Championships she earned bronze, the first World outdoor medal of any kind for an American in this event.  And in the 1500, she is America’s No. 10 ever at 4:00.94.

            After four straight years of making a major world final (longest streak ever by an American in this event), Alysia Montano took a year off from racing in 2014.  Well, almost – she was seven months pregnant running the heats of last June’s U.S. outdoor championships.  Montano, known also for racing with a decorative flower in her hair, gave birth to daughter Linnea on August 15.  Mom, the first American this century to win a major 800 medal (2010 World Indoor bronze), has already added to her U.S. title collection, capturing the 600 meters indoors this winter (she now has five U.S. titles in all events).  Montano anchored the previous American record 4x800, accompanied by Martinez and Wilson at the 2013 Penn Relays.

            Chanelle Price is the reigning World Indoor gold medalist, becoming the first-ever American to win a major world gold in this event.  She is also the defending Pre Classic champ, and her memories of Hayward Field date back to a U.S. junior title in 2009 as a Tennessee freshman.  Price ran the leadoff leg on America’s record-setting 4x800 last year in the Bahamas.     

            Eunice Sum of Kenya has led the Track & Field News world rankings the last two years while becoming the only two-time IAAF Diamond Trophy winner in this event.  The reigning World champion, Sum started her international career in the 1500, making her country’s powerful Olympic team in 2012.  While she flirted with a sub-4 in last year’s Pre Classic (4:01.54), the world has seen her best fit in the 800.  In 2014, she won four straight Diamond League races (most in one year), then claimed the African Championships and Commonwealth Games.

            Janeth Jepkosgei was the first Kenyan to win a major gold and rank No.1 in the world, doing both in 2007.  She owns the fastest PR in the field (1:56.04) and is the only runner in the race with more than four T&FN top 10 rankings – she’s at nine and still counting since 2006.  Only Maria Mutola—a Pre Classic legend-- has more with a staggering 18 (9 at No. 1).

            Jepkosgei and Sum will face this new wave of Americans, boasting their best depth since perhaps 1998 (when the US world ranked 2-4-6).  The U.S. 2-3 last year was its best top-end ever showing.

            Three Europeans who ranked among the world’s top 7 last year add to an incredible field worthy of a World Championships final.  Each has set her PR on big stages.  Lynsey Sharp of Great Britain was the 2012 European gold medalist but ran her PR 1:58.80 earning silver last year.  Russia’s Yekaterina Poistogova was 2012 Olympic bronze medalist with her PR 1:57.53 and a finalist in the 2013 Worlds.  Marina Arzamasova of Belarus won the European Championships last August with her PR 1:58.15 after earlier taking the bronze medal at the World Indoors.

Prefontaine Classic to include HS miles, 200s

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The Nike Prefontaine Classic is adding four high school events to this year's meet in Eugene, May 29-30. 

On Friday, May 29, there is a window between 7 and 9 p.m. that will include elite high school races for boys and girls in the mile and the 200 meters, according to Nike spokesperson Haley Bakker. 

The final schedule, and lineups for these events, are both a work in progress. 

The Prefontaine Classic is an IAAF Diamond League event and the nation's premier annual track meet, attracting fields that are comparable to the Olympics.  

One of the most iconic moments in high school track and field history happened at the 2001 Prefontaine Classic when Alan Webb broke the mile record with a stunning 3:53.43 in a race that included Olympic gold medalist Hicham El Guerrouj. Other high school athletes have participated in the meet over the years, including Lukas Verzbicas, who set the high school 2-mile record at Pre in 2011 (8:29.46).

Great Field Makes Pre Classic 400 Hurdles A Tossup 

            Eugene, Oregon – The last two athletes to have earned No. 1 world rankings in the men’s 400-meter hurdles are just the beginning for the Prefontaine Classic.

            The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.

            All told, the hurdle field includes athletes who have won six major gold medals, four of five possible IAAF Diamond Trophies, and nine No. 1 world rankings by Track & Field News.  So deep is the talent, fans will need a crystal ball to pick a favorite.

            Javier Culson of Puerto Rico has the most recent world No. 1 ranking by T&FN(as well as 2012’s).  Culson is the only two-time IAAF Diamond Trophy winner in this event (2012 & 2013), but he has yet to win a major international gold medal – owning World silvers in 2009 & 2011 as well as a 2012 Olympic bronze (the first Olympic track medal for Puerto Rico).

            Jehue Gordon of Trinidad & Tobago ranked No. 1 at age 21 in 2013, the same year he won the Moscow World Championships – his time of 47.69 is the world’s fastest in the last two years.  Gordon first jumped on the world stage as a finalist at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, where he finished 4th in a world age-17 record 48.26. 

            American Michael Tinsley is the reigning IAAF Diamond Trophy winner.  He was a tick away from having a gold of his own, outleaned by Gordon at the 2013 Worlds.  He also owns silver from the 2012 Olympics, where he first broke the 48-second barrier.  Tinsley was ranked No. 2 in the world by T&FN in each of the last two years.

            The two hurdlers with the fastest lifetime bests in the field are known as Superman and Batman.  Their true identities are Felix Sanchez and Bershawn Jacksonand they are the only winners of this event at the Pre Classic in this century.

            Sanchez is known by several nicknames, but Superman may be appropriate –  the two-time Olympic gold medalist (2004 & 2012) also has two World Championships gold medals (2003 & 2011).  At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, he finished 5th – his seventh World Championships final.  Sanchez's stretch of excellence began in 2001, when he earned the first of four straight No. 1 T&FN world rankings.

            Jackson is the sport’s most famous Batman.  He is also among America’s best ever in this event, winning four U.S. titles – only Hall of Famer Edwin Moses, with five, has more in the post-World War II era.  Jackson was not only fast enough in this event to win World gold (2005), but also to make gold medal-winning teams for the traditionally powerful U.S. 4x400 (2007 & 2011 Worlds, 2010 World Indoors).  He is the Pre Classic’s only two-time winner in this event, and his 2010 No. 1 T&FN world ranking is the last by an American.

            Johnny Dutch, the third fastest in the field, is the reigning U.S. Champion who won the NCAA title for South Carolina in 2010.  The previous two seasons he clocked PRs at the 2009 USA Championships and the 2008 Olympic Trials.

            Kariem Hussein of Switzerland and Rasmus Magi of Estonia finished as the gold and silver medalists in last summer’s European Championships.  Hussein is 26, while Magi is a 22-year-old who will turn 23 on May 4.  Each ranked in T&FN’s world top 10 last year (Hussein at No. 4, Magi at No. 8) and each will be making his first appearance in the U.S.

Barshim Aiming Higher at Pre Classic 

            Eugene, Oregon – Mutaz Essa Barshim will return to the Prefontaine Classic, where he set the high jumping world on fire in 2013.

            The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.

            In his last visit to Eugene, the Qatari star fired up a packed crowd with what was at the time both the world’s highest clearance in this century and the highest ever on U.S. soil, an unforgettable Pre Classic victory at 7-10½ (2.40).  He has since scaled even higher and is now on the brink of the formidable 8-foot  barrier (2.44).  Barshim, still only 23, has also improved his medals.  One of three Olympic bronze medalists in 2012, he earned silver at the 2013 World Championships and gold at the 2014 World Indoor.  Many called 2014 the “Year of the High Jump,” and Barshim’s finishing touch in winning the IAAF Diamond League Trophy was jumping 7-11½ (2.43) – higher in history than all but world record holder Javier Sotomayor, who scaled 8-½ (2.45) back in 1993, when Barshim was 2 years old.

            Ivan Ukhov is third among the world’s highest-ever jumpers, clearing his best of 7-11¼ (2.42) last year.  The London Olympic gold medalist won the first IAAF Diamond League Trophy in this event in 2010.  A former Pre Classic champ, Ukhov has twice ranked No. 1 in the world by Track & Field News – an honor still eluding Barshim.  The Russian record holder has a complete set of medals at the World Indoor Championships – gold (2010), silver (2014) and bronze (2012).

            Olympic medalists Derek Drouin and Erik Kynard will have no problem renewing their rivalry.  American Kynard and Canadian Drouin were 2-3 in that 2013 Pre Classic matchup, just a week before their final NCAA duel – where Drouin won his fifth NCAA indoor or outdoor title for Indiana over Kynard, whose career at Kansas State included a pair of such crowns.  A summer earlier, Kynard was the Olympic silver medalist in London, while Drouin was a bronze medalist alongside Barshim.  Drouin matched his bronze at the 2013 Worlds, where Kynard was “only” 5th.

            American Jesse Williams has won many times at Hayward Field, but none more memorable than his 2011 U.S. title at 7-9¼ (2.37) – it stood as the field record until Barshim’s 2013 clearance.  Williams is a two-time Olympian (2008 & 2012) who won gold at the 2011 World Championships.  He collected four NCAA indoor or outdoor titles while competing for the University of Southern California.

            Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine will be making his first appearance at the Pre Classic.  He was bronze medalist at last year’s World Indoor Championships after making the final in the 2012 London Olympics.  Also making a first appearance is 22-year-old Russian Daniil Tsyplakov, who won the European Indoor gold in March.  Chinese indoor record holder Guowei Zhang was only 21 when he finished 5th in the incredibly deep 2013 Pre Classic.  He has been a finalist in each of the last two World Championships and World Indoor Championships, and just cleared a world-leading 7-7 ¾ (2.33) on April 3rd.

            Note that every competitor in the Prefontaine Classic/IAAF Diamond League high jump has a lifetime best of 7-8 (2.34) or higher.

Discus Giants Ready to Unleash at Pre Classic 

            Eugene, Oregon – The two longest throwers of the last 15 years highlight a world-class men’s discus field at the Prefontaine Classic.

            The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.  The Pre Classic is an American track tradition and this year will be a major stop as the planet's top pros prepare for the World Championships in Beijing, China.

            Longest in the field are Estonia’s Gerd Kanter and Poland’s Piotr Malachowski.  The two have combined to win four of the IAAF Diamond League’s five Diamond Trophies in this event.

            Kanter is history’s No. 3 ever at 240-9 (73.38).  He won Olympic gold at Beijing in 2008 as well as the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.  He has ranked among the top 3 in the prestigious Track & Field News world rankings every year since 2005, and his war chest also includes a pair of World silvers (2005 & ’11) as well as three bronze medals (Olympics in ’12, World in ’09 & ’13).  Kanter also owns the longest throw on U.S. soil at 236-3 (72.02).

            Malachowski is history’s No. 5 ever at 235-8 (71.84).  A former Pre Classic champion, he has silver medals from the 2008 Olympics as well as the 2009 and 2013 World Championships.  He has ranked No. 2 in the T&FN world rankings five times, with four behind 2013 Pre Classic winner Robert Harting, who is still recovering from knee surgery performed last October.

            The Kanter-Malachowski rivalry dates back to 2006, with Kanter leading 39-31, but since 2013, Malachowski owns a 15-4 advantage.

            The elite field also includes the remaining top eight available athletes from theT&FN world rankings, and among the most decorated is Ehsan Hadadi of Iran with Olympic silver from 2012 and bronze from the 2011 Worlds.  He also owns golds from the Asian Games (3) and Asian Championships (4).

            Cuban Jorge Fernandez, Robert Urbanek of Poland, and Viktor Butenko of Russia earned their first T&FN world rankings last year.  Fernandez, at No. 4, was the highest for his country since 1989.  No. 5 Urbanek only beat Malachowski once last year – but that was for bronze at the European Championships.  Butenko was a World Championships finalist in 2013 at age 20.

            Two Martins round out the field:  Martin Kupper of Estonia owns the early 2015 world lead with his personal best 218-8 (66.67) winning the European Cup winter throwing competition in March; and Martin Wierig of Germany was ranked No. 6 in the world by Track & Field News in 2014.

Pre Classic Full of Aces in Steeplechase 

            Eugene, Oregon – Every fan loves a winning hand, and that's what the Prefontaine Classic is dealing in the men's Steeplechase--the best in the world in a field that includes the gold, silver, and bronze medalists from the most recent Olympics Games and World Championships. 

            The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.

            Jairus Birech of Kenya and American Evan Jager own the two top spots as rated by All-Athletics.com, the official data partner of the IAAF Diamond League, as well as the top 2 in the 2014 world rankings by Track & Field News. 

            Birech, 22, has been on the fringe of making the dominant Kenya team for the Olympics and World Championships – if he competed for any other country, he would already have two such appearances.  Last year Birech finally broke through, dominating the IAAF Diamond League with a record six wins.  His 7:58.41 was fastest in the world by almost 5 seconds.

            Jager is also coming off a breakout year.  He broke his own American record by running 8:04.71, and impressively finished the year No. 2 in the T&FN world rankings – highest by an American since 1985, going back to Hall of Famer Henry Marsh (a 7-time winner at the Pre Classic).  Jager owns the five fastest times ever by an American – all under 8:10 (the only American with more than one).  At last year’s Pre Classic, with this event not on the menu, Jager set a 3:53.33 mile PR.

            With no shortage of talent, drama will surely make a return.  Ezekiel Kemboi is the reigning Olympic and World champion and owns five career major gold medals (2004 & ’12 Olympics and Worlds in ’09, 11 & ’13).  His attempt to win a second Pre Classic title in 2013 was a finish to remember...or perhaps forgotten.  Judges disqualified Kemboi for shoving, as Kenyan countrymate Conseslus Kipruto (then only 18 years old) set a meet record.

            Two months later, that duo went 1-2 at Moscow’s World Championships, Kemboi with his last victory to date over Kipruto, who is now 6-3 career over Kemboi.  Kipruto’s fast finish at Moscow was 0.36 seconds short of completing a career World Youth/Junior/Senior sweep of golds, something he can still achieve later this summer at the Beijing World Championships.  Still, Kipruto finished the ’13 season with the Diamond Trophy and ranked No. 1 in the world by T&FN.

            After Kemboi, France’s Mahiedine Mekhissi is the next most decorated runner in the field, with a pair of Olympic silver medals (2008 & ’12) and World bronzes (2011 & ’13).  He was famously DQed last summer after winning his third straight European title – for taking off his jersey in celebration before crossing the finish line.  He is the only non-Kenyan to have won an IAAF Diamond League race in this event in the circuit’s 5-year history.

            Fastest in the field is Kenya’s Paul Koech at 7:54.31.  He has ranked in T&FN’s top 10 every year since 2002 – a streak shared with Kemboi.  Koech has the world’s most sub-8:00 races in history with nine and twice won the Pre Classic (2007 & ’09).  He was Olympic bronze medalist in 2004, and won the first 3 IAAF Diamond League titles in the event.

            Abel Mutai of Kenya is another Olympic medalist in the field, owning bronze from London.  He is just one of several Kenyans in the field to have world age gold medals.  Mutai won the World Youth gold in 2005, as did Hillary Yego in ‘09.  Both Mutai and Yego have already been ranked four times in T&FN’s top 10 world rankings, including last year.

            While Youths run the 2000-meter steeple, Juniors have progressed to the full 3000 meters.  Barnabas Kipyego of Kenya won last year’s World Junior gold at Hayward Field.  Jonathan Ndiku is also from Kenya – he is the only 2-time World Junior gold medalist in this event (2008 & ’10) and earned his first T&FN world ranking last year.

            North Americans Dan Huling and Matt Hughes add talent to the field.  Huling is a 3-time member of USA’s World Championships team, while Canadian record holder Hughes – a 2-time NCAA champion while at Louisville – was 6th at the Moscow World Championships.

            Noteworthy is that 9 out of 10 of the top steeplers in the world on the T&FN annual rankings list are set to compete at the Prefontaine Classic.

Air Lavillenie Ready to Fly Again at Pre Classic 

            Eugene, Oregon – Renaud Lavillenie should have his own runway.  The dominating pole vault world record holder and Olympic gold medalist is returning to the Prefontaine Classic.

            The 41st Pre Classic, a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track & field meets, will be held May 29-30 at the historic Hayward Field.

            Renaud Lavillenie has a rendezvous with the Pre Classic on May 30th.  But this one is no secret.  He is the only 5-time Diamond Race winner in any event and reigns as the Men’s Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News.  His fourth European Indoor title this month in Prague gives him twice as many as any other in the event.

            His stature in the pole vault is legendary – he has been ranked No. 1 in the world every year since 2010 by T&FN, a streak of years exceeded only by former world record holders Sergey Bubka of Ukraine and American Bob Richards, the event’s only 2-time Olympic gold medalist.

            Lavillenie, who has set Diamond League meet records in 11 of the circuit’s 14 meets, achieved – 19-6¼ (5.95) – in his first Pre Classic victory in 2013.  If he’d like to scale over 6 meters (19-8¼), Hayward Field is welcome territory – it is the only American site with more than one such clearance.

            Only an injury and countback on misses has kept Lavillenie from a major international gold since the London Olympics.  Konstantinos Filippidis of Greece won gold when Lavillenie was sidelined with an injury at last year’s World Indoor Championships.  Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany won the 2013 World Championships gold as Lavillenie also cleared the same height.

            Sam Kendricks is the newly crowned U.S. indoor champion.  He has twice won in Eugene, taking the NCAA crowns for Mississippi in 2013 and ’14.  He also has a gold from the 2013 World University Games.

            More world-class talent is part of the Pre Classic field, which consists of nothing but 19-footers:

• • Piotr Lisek, 22, has equaled the best-ever from Poland.  He has flown higher than former world record holder Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz (the last WR setter before Bubka or anyone from France).

  • Aleksandr Gripich, 28, is fresh off his best at the European Indoor Championships, earning silver.  His next best effort (also over 19 feet) was achieved winning the Russian title in February.

  • Augusto Dutra, 24, is aiming for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.  As a Brazilian, he can call it home.  In 2013, he became the first from his country to make the T&FNworld rankings in this event.