The Diamond League circuit will finally arrive stateside for the 2024 Prefontaine Classic this weekend. On Saturday, May 25, the best track and field athletes from around the world will descend on Eugene, Oregon, for a must-see competition that could set the stage for many Olympic matchups this summer.
Between the highly anticipated season opener of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a 10,000-meter world record attempt from Gudaf Tsegay, and the return of world champion Sha’Carri Richardson to her signature event, the Prefontaine Classic will bring nonstop action to Hayward Field. The meet, however, will not feature 800-meter star Athing Mu, who scratched with a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast looks mild with projected temperatures in the 60s and cloudy skies later in the day, making for favorable track racing conditions. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s meet.
How to watch the 2024 Prefontaine Classic
To watch the Pre Classic, you can tune in to the NBC broadcast, which begins on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. You can also catch the live stream on Peacock.
USATF.TV will air coverage, including the men’s and women’s 10,000 meters, before the NBC TV window begins, from 1:40 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
Meet schedule (p.m. ET)
1:50—Women’s 10,000 meters (Kenya Olympic Trials)
3:05—Men’s 10,000 meters (Kenya Olympic Trials)
NBC coverage starts
4:04—Men’s 400-meter hurdles
4:12—Men’s 100 meters
4:15—Women’s triple jump
4:18—Women’s 5,000 meters
4:41—Women’s 100-meter hurdles
4:50—Men’s 110-meter hurdles
4:57—Women’s 1500 meters
5:09—Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase
5:12—Men’s shot put
5:27—Men’s 200 meters
5:34—Women’s 800 meters
5:42—Women’s 100 meters
5:52—Men’s Bowerman mile
Meet preview
The men’s 1500-meter rivalry heats up
For the first time since the final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, 1500-meter stars Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Josh Kerr, and Yared Nuguse will finally face off in the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic.
For Ingebrigtsen, the event will be his first race of the season. The Norwegian runner broke the 1500-meter meet record while winning Olympic gold in Tokyo but was upset twice in the event at the last two world championships. Last summer, Kerr of Scotland beat Ingebrigtsen for the title at the world championships in Budapest. The two middle-distance runners have fueled a rivalry in the press ever since, making for a highly anticipated matchup in Eugene.
Nuguse should also challenge the two medalists up front. After finishing fifth in the 1500 meters in Budapest, the Notre Dame alum shattered the American record in the mile (3:43:97) while placing second to Ingebrigtsen, who became the third-fastest miler in history (3:43.73) at the Prefontaine Classic last year.
A fiery matchup in the 100 meters
Just three days before the meet, Prefontaine race organizers announced the addition of Elaine Thompson-Herah to the women’s 100 meters, setting the stage for a fierce showdown. The five-time Olympic champion from Jamaica headlines a field that includes reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson in her first 100-meter race of the season.
For Thompson-Herah, Prefontaine will be her season debut. For Richardson, the event will be a return to her signature event after two rust-buster 200-meter races at Diamond League events in China.
Last summer, Richardson stunned the field when she won gold in 10.65, No. 5 all-time, at the world championships. Meanwhile, Thompson-Herah, the second-fastest 100-meter runner of all time, struggled with injuries throughout the 2023 season. This summer, both athletes will be vying for Olympic gold in Paris, and Eugene could be a preview of what’s to come.
Who will step up in the U.S. women’s steeplechase?
In the last few weeks, two of the best American steeplechasers in history announced season-ending injuries that will keep them out of the Paris Games this summer. On May 2, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Emma Coburn wrote on Instagram she suffered a fracture in her medial malleolus (ankle) during the Diamond League meet in Shanghai. This week, American record-holder and 2021 Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs announced she tore her ACL and meniscus while practicing water jumps.
With Frerichs and Coburn out of contention to make the Olympic team, the U.S. women’s steeplechase will enter a new era. Prefontaine could be the first test to see who fills that gap. The American contingent in Eugene includes Courtney Wayment, Valerie Constien, Krissy Gear, and Kaylee Mitchell. Last year, Wayment finished third at the USATF Outdoor Championships and was the only American to make the final at the 2023 world championships in Budapest, where she finished 15th. Constien competed at the Tokyo Games in 2021, but a steeplechase injury and ACL surgery cut her 2023 season short. So far this year, she’s made great strides with a 9:27 debut at the Track Fest. Mitchell finished a close second to Constien in Los Angeles in her first year running for the Bowerman Track Club. Last year, Gear broke through with a surprise victory at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Prefontaine will be her first steeplechase of the season after running a 4:03 personal best in the 1500 meters at the Track Fest.
Outside of the Americans, a star-studded international field will include reigning world champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain and world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya, among other standouts.
A world record attempt in the 10,000 meters
Fresh off a near-miss at the 1500-meter world record, Gudaf Tsegay will attempt to break another world record in the women’s 10,000 meters. The two-time world champion from Ethiopia is chasing the current world record of 29:01.03 set by Letesenbet Gidey in 2021. Tsegay will need to run at least 4:40 mile pace to break the record on Saturday morning, but she looks poised to do it. On April 20, Tsegay ran 3:50.30, the third-fastest 1500 meters of all time at the Xiamen Diamond League meeting. Last year, she ran 14:00.21, shattering the world record in the 5,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic.
The women’s and men’s 10,000 will also include an exciting showdown for Kenyan runners. Last week, Athletics Kenya, the sport’s national governing body, announced the Prefontaine 10,000 meters will serve as the selection event for the Kenyan Olympic team. In the women’s race, 2023 world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet is expected to contend up front with Tsegay while attempting to make her first Olympic team. On the men’s side, Daniel Simiu Ebenyo is projected to earn the top spot after earning silver in the event at the 2023 world championships.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
