INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Annually one of the top track and field events on the international circuit, this year’s Nike Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field offers even more intrigue than usual as the best of the best get a look at the stadium that in July will host the first World Athletics Outdoor Championships ever held on U.S. soil. After a trio of world record attempts in distance events Friday evening, Saturday’s schedule is loaded with Olympic and World champions and world record holders competing for Diamond League points.
Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi was fifth in the 10,000m at Tokyo and has the world best of 8:58.58 in her sights. Niyonsaba has a PR of 9:00.75, set at last year’s Pre Classic, and will be challenged by Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m gold medalist Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands. Helen Schlachtenhaufen is the No. 9 all-time American in this event with an indoor best of 9:26.95 last year, and she will be chasing the U.S. best of 9:10.28, set in February 2021 by Elle Purrier St. Pierre.
Two years ago, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey dropped the world record to 14:06.62 in a remarkable solo effort at Valencia, Spain. She earned a silver in the 10,000m at Tokyo behind Hassan, but has not yet competed this year. Fellow Ethiopian Ejgayehu Taye was fifth in the 5,000m at the Games, and Fantu Worku has the fastest time in the field this season at 14:49.64.
Already the holder of world records at 5,000m and 10,000m, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei will try and beat his own global standard of 12:35.36 that he set in Monaco two years ago. Kenya’s Edward Cheserek is a familiar face to the Oregon fans, having won a dozen NCAA titles during his career with the Ducks. Hassan Mead was 11th at the Olympic Trials last year and he and steeplechase Olympian Mason Ferlic will be the top Americans to watch.
Olympic silver medalist and American indoor record holder Chris Nilsen is the last man to have beaten Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, the Olympic champion and world record holder. That win came last August at Lausanne, Switzerland, and Nilsen would like nothing more than to repeat his performance from that day. Duplantis cleared 6.20m/20-4 to win the World Indoor title and break the world record, and he is unbeaten in seven outings this year, including at the Diamond League meet in Doha, where the pole vault was postponed a day and completed indoors due to high winds. KC Lightfoot is another American who has membership in the 6m club and he tied for fourth in Tokyo. Sam Houston State’s Clayton Fritsch qualified for the NCAA Championships at the West Regional Wednesday and brings a collegiate-leading 5.80m/19-0.25 to the table. Jumping in his 13th meet of the year, Trials fifth-placer Jacob Wooten has a lifetime best of 5.90m/19-4.25.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine picked up an Olympic bronze in Tokyo and then mounted the victory podium at the World Indoor Championships in March. Mahuchikh has a lifetime best of 2.06m/6-9 and cleared 2.02m/6-7.5 to win the World Indoor title. Another Ukrainian, Iryna Herashchenko, was fourth at the Games and finished fifth at World Indoors. Vashti Cunningham, the dominant American high jumper since winning the World Indoor title in 2016, was the bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships and improved her lifetime best to 2.02m/6-7.5 last year. She is unbeaten in six meets this season.
Who else do you need in this event apart from Olympic champion and American record holder Valarie Allman and the woman she dethroned as queen of the world discus scene, Sandra Perkovic of Croatia? Allman set her first AR in 2020 and she improved it again last year and then in April she added another foot to it with a 71.46m/234-5 throw that was the best in the world since 1992. Perkovic, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion, has a best of 71.41m/234-3, but that came in 2017 and Allman won the most recent meeting of the two by a meter at the Birmingham Diamond League meet last week. Rachel Dincoff was Allman’s Tokyo teammate and has a best of 64.41m/211-4, while Laulauga Tausaga won the 2019 NCAA title for Iowa and was third at Birmingham last week.
Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica is the second-fastest woman in history with a 10.54 she ran to win last year’s Pre Classic, and she has said she is aiming for the 34-year-old world record of 10.49 this season. Sha’Carri Richardson is the No. 6 woman in history at 10.72 and opened her 2022 campaign with a rain-soaked win at Jacksonville, Florida last weekend. Besides Richardson, last year’s Olympic seventh-place finisher and Trials runner-up Teahna Daniels brings a lifetime best of 10.83 and TeeTee Terry has clocked 10.94 this season to go with a windy 10.77 at the USATF Golden Games in April.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce finished just out of the medals in Tokyo but has run 21.79 in her career. The 35-year-old Jamaican is the owner of seven individual Olympic and World Championships golds in the sprints and leads the world 100m list this year at 10.67. Tokyo semifinalist Jenna Prandini lowered her lifetime best to 21.89 at the Trials and earned Olympic silver on the U.S. 4x100m relay. Tamara Clark was fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials in a lifetime best 21.98, with Dezerea Bryant two places behind her. 2019 World Championships silver medalist Brittany Brown blazed to a wind-aided 10.66 in the 100m last month, while 2021 NCAA double sprint champion Cambrea Sturgis leads the U.S. 100m list at 10.87.
This is not a Diamond League event at this meet, but still holds strong American interest. Eighth at the Olympic Trials, Colby Alexander improved significantly in the indoor season this year and will be looking to lower his PR of 3:33.65. Sam Prakel and Vincent Ciattei were 9-10 behind Alexander at the Trials, and Hobbs Kessler set an American U20 record last year with a 3:34.36 clocking in Portland. Britain’s Neil Gourley was sixth at the World Indoor Championships in March and a dash of speed will come from Oregon grad Charlie Hunter of Australia, who has been under 1:45 for 800m.
Three of the top four 1,500m finishers from Tokyo will line up here, led by gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya. Both men cracked the 3:30 barrier in that race, as did fourth-place Abel Kipsang of Kenya. Cole Hocker was the top American in Tokyo, placing sixth in a huge lifetime best of 3:31.40, and he is extremely familiar with Hayward Field after winning the NCAA title for Oregon last June. He has an indoor best of 3:50.35 in the mile and is primed to become only the eighth U.S. man ever under 3:50 outdoors. Hocker’s Oregon teammate, Cooper Teare, also has sub-3:50 potential after scaring that mark indoors with a 3:50.17. Teare was fourth in the Trials 5,000m and leads the U.S. list at 1,500m this season with a 3:34.81. Rio 2016 800m bronze medalist Clayton Murphy was the NCAA 1,500m champion in 2016 and has run 3:51.99 for the mile, while 18-year-old Colin Sahlmanbecame only the fourth U.S. high schooler to run under 4:00 indoors with a 3:58.81 at the Millrose Games.
A rematch between Olympic silver medalist Moh Ahmed of Canada and Team USATF’s Paul Chelimo, the bronze medalist, could produce another sub-13:00 clocking. Chelimo, who also earned Olympic silver in 2016, has a best of 12:57.55 from 2018, and Ahmed is the Canadian record holder at 12:47.20. Among the other international luminaries slated to compete are Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia, who set a world U20 record of 12:43.02 in 2018, and Tokyo fifth-placer Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda. Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi, who topped the indoor world list at 3,000m this year with a 7:26.20 that ranks him No. 5 on the all-time world performer list is joined by countryman Samuel Tefera, the world indoor 1,500m champion.
Gold medalist Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and silver medalist Laura Muir of Britain lead a group of four of the top five finishers from the Tokyo Games. Mix in World Indoor gold medalist and world indoor record holder Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia and this is one of the strongest fields in the meet. Elle Purrier St. Pierre won the Trials before taking 10th in the final at Tokyo, and her 3:58.03 lifetime best puts her in the thick of things at the front of the pack. Trials runner-up Cory McGee and fourth-place finisher Shannon Osika are also entered, as is sub-4:00 performer Josette Norris. Sinclaire Johnson was the NCAA champion for Oklahoma State in 2019.
Nigeria’s Ese Brume, the Olympic bronze medalist, has the second best PR in the field at 7.17m/23-6.25 and World Indoor champion Ivana Vuleta of Serbia has gone 7.24m/23-9 indoors in her career. Tara Davis, the double NCAA champion last year for Texas and an Olympic sixth-place finisher, has a best of 7.14m/23-5.25 to rank as the No. 5 all-time U.S. performer. Her Tokyo teammate, Quanesha Burks, won the USATF Indoors title and was fifth at the World Indoors.
The third-fastest man in history, Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos ran 46.72 for bronze in the historic Tokyo race and he won the Diamond League race at Doha two weeks ago in a world-leading 47.24. Turkey’s Yasmani Copello was sixth at the Games in 47.81. Khallifah Rosser is perched at No. 3 on this year’s world list at 48.26 and was fifth at the Trials. 2019 NCAA champion Quincy Hall has run well in the early season and has a 2022 best of 48.51, while CJ Allen won in 49.05 at Jacksonville last week.
World record holder Keni Harrison and Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico meet for the sixth time, with Harrison holding a 4-1 edge in wins. Camacho-Quinn has the fastest time in 2022 at 12.39, but Harrison’s WR of 12.20 is .06 ahead of the Puerto Rican’s lifetime best. Gabbi Cunninghamwas sixth at Tokyo and picked up a bronze in the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships, and Anna Cockrell won the 100H/400H double for USC at last year’s NCAA Championships seven weeks before making the Tokyo 400H final. Reigning world champion Nia Ali notched a PR 12.34 at Doha for gold and has run 12.59 this year, and Tonea Marshall ran her lifetime best of 12.44 in 2021.
Grenada’s Kirani James won the 2011 World Championships and followed up with a 2012 Olympic Gold in London. James added Games silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021 and has a best of 43.74. The man who finished right behind him at Tokyo, Michael Cherry, went on to win the Diamond League title last year and clocked a PR 44.03. Cherry has already run 44.28 this season, the second fastest time in the world thus far. Fifth at Tokyo, Michael Norman is the fourth-fastest man in history at 43.45 and won the Trials last summer. Trials fifth-placer Vernon Norwood picked up Olympic gold on the Team USATF 4x400m with Norman and Bryce Deadmon and has gone 44.59 in 2022. Deadmon comes in with a best of 44.81 this year.
Returning to the site of his massive world record throw at the Trials in 2021, two-time Olympic champion and indoor and outdoor world record holder Ryan Crouser once again takes on Joe Kovacs and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh, the men who placed second and third behind him in Tokyo and at the 2016 Games at Rio. At the 2019 World Championships, Kovacs came out on top by one centimeter over Crouser and Walsh, and the titanic trio always provide quality entertainment in the ring. Darrell Hill was fifth at the 2019 Worlds and can never be counted out.
Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson picked up silver at Tokyo in 1:55.88 and ran 1:57.20 indoors earlier this year, but will have all she can handle with Raevyn Rogers, the bronze medalist from Tokyo and World Championships silver medalist in 2019. Rogers’ likeness appears prominently on the Bowerman Tower at Hayward Field after winning five NCAA 800m titles for the Ducks. Former American record holder Ajee’ Wilson won the World Indoor title in March and has run 1:55.61 in her career, while Allie Wilson has improved to 1:58.18 in 2022. Michaela Meyer was fourth at the Trials and boasts a best of 1:58.55. Sage Hurta dipped under 2:00 for the first time with a 1:59.76 to win the Penn Relays.
Current American record holder Courtney Frerichs and former AR holder Emma Coburn face formidable competition in the form of Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai, the Olympic champion, and world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya. Tokyo silver medalist Frerichs last year became only the sixth woman ever to run under 9:00, setting her AR of 8:57.77 in finishing second at the Pre Classic. Coburn won the 2017 World Championships gold and recorded her lifetime best of 9:02.35 when she earned silver at the 2019 Worlds. Last year’s NCAA bronze medalist, Katie Rainsberger, is seeking her first sub-9:30 clocking.
An event that alone is worth the price of admission, this features the silver and bronze medalists from Tokyo, the reigning world champion, the reigning world 200m champion, the Olympic 200m silver medalist, the Olympic 200m fourth-place finisher and U20 world record holder, and the newly-minted 100m U20 world record holder. Fred Kerley has become one of history’s best all-around sprinters from 100m-400m and took silver at the Games ahead of Canada’s Andre De Grasse, who also claimed gold in the 200m. Kerley is tied atop the yearly U.S. list at 9.92 with Trayvon Bromell, but both men will have to keep an eye out for Christian Coleman, the world indoor 60m record holder and winner of the 2019 World Championships. Coleman ran 9.76 to win the world title at Doha, a time that ties him for the No. 6 spot with Bromell on the all-time world performer list. Kenny Bednarek was fourth in the 100m at the Trials last year in a lifetime best 9.89 before earning silver at double the distance in Tokyo, and Noah Lyles brings in a career best of 9.86 to go with the 200m gold he won at Doha in 2019. Erriyon Knighton, still a high schooler at age 18, shocked the track world with a 19.49 200m earlier this spring, moving to No. 4 on the all-time world performer list. He will be trying to drop under 10 seconds for the first time and is the only man in the field yet to do so. Former Oregon Duck Kyree King has run 9.98 this season, and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana zipped to a 9.96 last month to better the world U20 record. Friday’s events will be webcast on USATF.TV+ starting at 10:00 p.m. ET. NBC and CNBC coverage of Saturday’s action will begin at 4:00 p.m. ET. Fans can view start lists here and live results will be available here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.