Prefontaine Classic

Last updated

Prefontaine Classic
2006Pre200m.jpg
Start of the 200m during the 2006 edition
DateMay – September
Location Hayward Field
Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Event type Track and field
World Athletics Cat. GW /DF [1]
Established20 June 1973;52 years ago (1973-06-20)
1975 as Prefontaine Classic
Official site Diamond League Eugene
Athletics current event.svg 2025 Prefontaine Classic
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Hayward
Field
class=notpageimage|
Location in the United States
Logo Prefontaine Classic logo.svg
Logo

The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and is now part of the Diamond League. The meet is one of the few international competitions to host the imperial distances of the Mile run (Bowerman Mile) and 2 Mile run.

Contents

History

The first Prefontaine Classic was held in 1975. The meet had its genesis with the Hayward Restoration Meets of 1973–74. The Hayward Restoration meets were launched to help replace the deteriorated wooden West Grandstands at Hayward Field. It was to become the "Bowerman Classic" in 1975 to honor longtime University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman, and was scheduled for June 7. [2] With the unexpected death of University of Oregon distance runner and Olympian Steve Prefontaine in an automobile accident on May 30, the Oregon Track Club changed the name, with Bowerman's approval, on June 1; [3] [4] the first "Pre Classic" was held six days later. [5] Nike has been the primary sponsor since 1978. The 2019 edition moved to Stanford's Cobb Track and Angell Field, Palo Alto, California because of restoration of Hayward Field in anticipation of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2021. [6] The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7]

In 2023, the Prefontaine Classic was held as the Diamond League Final for the first time. [8]

Editions

World records

Over the course of its history, nine world records have been set at the Prefontaine Classic.

World records set at the Prefontaine Classic
YearEventRecordAthleteNationalityRef.
1975 220 yard dash 19.92 Don Quarrie Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica
1982 5000 m 15:08.26 Mary Decker Slaney Flag of the United States.svg United States
2011 30 km (track)1:26:47.4 Moses Mosop Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya [41] [42]
25 km (track)1:12:25.4+ Moses Mosop Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya [41] [43]
2023 Pole vault 6.23 m Armand Duplantis Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
5000 m 14:00.21 Gudaf Tsegay Flag of Ethiopia.svg Ethiopia
2024 10,000 m 28:54.14 Beatrice Chebet Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya [44]
2025 1500 m 3:48.68 Faith Kipyegon Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya [45]
5000 m 13:58.06 Beatrice Chebet Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya [45]

Other notable performances and records

2001: Alan Webb's high school mile record

At the 2001 Prefontaine Classic, Alan Webb competed against elite international runners, in a field that included world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj, and the 2000 Sydney Olympics 1500m bronze medalist Bernard Lagat. [46]

Webb ran 3:53.43 in the Bowerman Mile and broke Jim Ryun's national high school record that had stood for 36 years. This was also the fastest mile by an American in three years.

1993–2008: Maria Mutola in the 800 m

Maria de Lurdes Mutola won 16 consecutive (1993–2008) women's 800 m races at the Pre Classic.

2023: Jakob Ingebrigtsen's mile & 3000m double

In the 2023 Prefontaine Classic & Diamond League Final, on September 16, Norwegian athlete Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the Bowerman Mile, in a time of 3:43.73, with the aid of pacing lights and pacemakers Erik Sowinski & Cameron Myers.

Ingebrigtsen missed Hicham El Guerrouj's mile world record by .60 seconds, still having run the fastest mile in 24 years and the third fastest mile in history at the time.

Ingebrigtsen was closely followed by Yared Nuguse, who finished in an American record time of 3:43.97, breaking Alan Webb's former American mile record of 3:46.91 by almost three full seconds and running the fourth fastest mile in history at the time.

The race was reminiscent of El Guerrouj's 1999 world record run in Rome, where El Guerrouj won in 3:43.13, but was being closely tracked by Kenyan athlete Noah Ngeny, who came in second place at 3:43.40. El Guerrouj and Ngeny still hold the first and second fastest mile times respectively as of 2023.

These four men (El Guerrouj, Ngeny, Ingebrigtsen, Nuguse) remain the only ones in history to have run a mile under 3:44.00 as of 2024, with the #5 fastest miler of all time being Noureddine Morceli, with his 1993 time of 3:44.39. [47] [48] [49]

The next day, Ingebrigtsen would go on to win the 3000 m, in a time of 7:23.63, beating Yomif Kejelcha by only one hundredth of a second. At the time, this ranked Kejelcha at #4 all time and Ingebrigtsen at #3 all time, behind Hicham El Guerrouj's 7:23.09 and Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67. [50]

Meeting records

Men

Women

Notes

  1. ↑ by Athletics Weekly source; 3:28.9 by official 1 Mile Run Race Analysis

References

  1. ↑ "Events Calendar Diamond League Meetings". World Athletics. 2024.
  2. ↑ Newnham, Blaine (April 25, 1975). "A great season". Eugene-Register Guard. p. 1D.
  3. ↑ "Moore: I knew he was happy". Eugene-Register Guard. June 4, 1975. p. 1D.
  4. ↑ Newnham, Blaine (June 4, 1975). "The Pre Classic". Eugene-Register Guard. p. 1D.
  5. ↑ Moore, Kenny (June 8, 1975). "Pre's peers pay tribute". Eugene Register-Guard. (New York Times). p. 2B.
  6. ↑ Brian Russell (June 28, 2019). "Quality clashes at every turn in Stanford – IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Wanda Diamond League announces updates to 2020 calendar". IDL Diamond League. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020.
  8. ↑ "2023 Diamond League season: Full list of disciplines and results for each World Athletics track and field top tier event".
  9. ↑ Hollobaugh, Jeff. "1973 Hayward Field Restoration: Prefontaine takes on Wottle" . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  10. ↑ Lindstrom, Sieg (August 10, 2020). "The Pre Chronicles — Part 15, The '74 Outdoor Season". Track & Field News. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "ALL-TIME PREFONTAINE CLASSIC SUB-4:00 MILE LIST 1975—2017" (PDF). Track & Field News .
  12. ↑ "1996 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  13. ↑ "1997 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  14. ↑ "1998 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  15. ↑ "1999 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  16. ↑ "2000 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  17. ↑ "2001 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  18. ↑ "2002 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  19. ↑ "2003 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  20. ↑ "2004 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  21. ↑ "2005 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  22. ↑ "2006 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  23. ↑ "2007 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  24. ↑ "2008 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  25. ↑ "2009 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  26. ↑ "2010 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  27. ↑ "2011 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  28. ↑ "2012 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  29. ↑ "2013 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  30. ↑ "2014 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  31. ↑ "2015 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  32. ↑ "2016 Results". worldathletics.org. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  33. ↑ "2017 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  34. ↑ "2018 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  35. ↑ "2019 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  36. ↑ "2021 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  37. ↑ "2022 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  38. ↑ "2023 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  39. ↑ "2024 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  40. ↑ "2025 Results". dl.all-athletics.com. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  41. 1 2 3 4 Dave Martin (June 4, 2011). "Mosop rips apart World records for 25,000 and 30,000m in Eugene – Samsung Diamond League". IAAF . Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  42. ↑ "30000 Metres Results" (PDF). www.diamondleague-eugene.com. June 3, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  43. 1 2 3 "30000 Metres Results with 25000m Intermediate Time" (PDF). www.diamondleague-eugene.com. June 3, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  44. ↑ "Beatrice Chebet breaks 10,000m world record at Pre Classic". NBC Sports. May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  45. 1 2 "World records for Chebet at 5000m and Kipyegon at 1500m in Eugene". World Athletics . July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  46. ↑ Alan Webb Mile High School Record – 2001 Prefontaine Classic, July 31, 2023, retrieved March 8, 2024
  47. ↑ Wright, Andy (September 17, 2023). "Bowerman Mile 2023 – Eugene Mile Madness". Meta Endurance. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  48. ↑ LetsRun.com (September 16, 2023). "Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:43.73) Tops Yared Nuguse (3:43.97) in Epic 2023 Bowerman Mile". LetsRun.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  49. ↑ "One Mile – men – senior – outdoor". worldathletics.org. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  50. ↑ "3000 Metres – men – senior – outdoor". worldathletics.org. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  51. ↑ "100 Metres Results" (PDF). www.diamondleague-eugene.com. June 4, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  52. ↑ Dave Martin (June 5, 2011). "Oliver and Jeter shine on a day when world leading marks dominate in Eugene – Samsung Diamond League". IAAF . Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  53. 1 2 3 "Prefontaine Classic 2021 Complete Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. August 21, 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  54. 1 2 Cathal Dennehy (May 29, 2022). "Norman reigns in fierce 400m clash with record run in Eugene". World Athletics. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  55. ↑ "800m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  56. ↑ Steve Smythe (September 19, 2023). "Cairess top European in Copenhagen Half – overseas round-up". athleticsweekly.com. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  57. ↑ "Mile Run Race Analysis" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 16, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  58. 1 2 3 4 "Ingebrigtsen and Yavi shine as records fall on day one of Diamond League Final | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  59. ↑ "3000m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  60. 1 2 "Prefontaine Classic 2021 Complete Results".
  61. ↑ "Pole Vault Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  62. ↑ "Triple Jump Results". IAAF. May 27, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  63. ↑ "Men's Promotional - Hammer throw results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  64. ↑ "Javelin Throw Results". flashresults.com. May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  65. ↑ "200m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 17, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  66. ↑ "800m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 17, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  67. ↑ "Women's Diamond - 1500 metres results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  68. ↑ Brian Russell (July 1, 2019). "Hassan takes historic 3000m victory in Stanford – IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  69. ↑ Cathal Dennehy (May 28, 2022). "Mahuchikh and Taye triumph on opening night in Eugene". World Athletics. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  70. ↑ "Women's Diamond - 5000 metres results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  71. ↑ "Beatrice Chebet breaks 10,000m world record at Pre Classic". NBC Sports. May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  72. ↑ "Prefontaine Classic 2021 Results".
  73. ↑ "400m Hurdles Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. September 17, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  74. ↑ "Women's Diamond - 3000 metres steeplechase results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  75. ↑ "High Jump Results". flashresults.com. June 30, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  76. ↑ "Women's Diamond - Shot put results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  77. ↑ "Women's Diamond+ - Discus throw results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  78. ↑ "Women's Promotional - Hammer throw results" (PDF). Diamond league. July 5, 2025. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  79. ↑ "Javelin Throw Women Results" (PDF). Diamond League . Omega Timing. May 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2025.

44°02′31″N123°04′16″W / 44.042°N 123.071°W / 44.042; -123.071

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.