Prefontaine Basic 2025: The highest storylines to look at at historic observe and subject meet

It’s a giant weekend of racing on the sports activities calendar. There’s the beginning of the Tour de France, the System 1 British Grand Prix in Silverstone, and the fiftieth version of the Prefontaine Basic at Hayward Subject in Eugene, Oregon. Named in reminiscence of the legendary American long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine, the Prefontaine Basic has develop into one of many premier annual international observe and subject meets and doubles as the one American cease on the Diamond League circuit.

Should you cherished observe and subject ultimately yr’s Olympics, you’re in for a deal with. There are over 60 Olympic and Paralympic medalists from the Paris Video games, with 5 full podium rematches on faucet. This meet is so loaded that an excellent ladies’s 100-meter hurdles isn’t within the two-hour tv window. Let’s have a look at a number of the high storylines and athletes to look at this Saturday.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone assessments herself within the 400 meters

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McLaughlin-Levrone is certainly the GOAT of the ladies’s 400m hurdles, however her versatility is exceptional. She’s one of many 12 quickest 400m flat runners ever and even beat eventual Olympic champion Gabby Thomas in a 200m race final yr. The 25-year-old was scheduled for the 200m/400m double at (the ill-fated?) Grand Slam Monitor in Los Angeles earlier than the meet was cancelled.

We gained’t see Dominican Olympic champion Mareiledy Paulino or Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, the highest two 400m runners proper now. It’s however an excellent subject that features People Alexis Holmes and 2025 NCAA champion Aliyah Butler, plus 2023 NCAA champ Rhasidat Adeleke of Eire. McLaughlin-Levrone has the quickest private greatest and solely must shave 0.05 seconds off that to eclipse Sanya Richards-Ross’ 19-year-old American file of 48.70.

A Paris podium rematch within the ladies’s 100 meters

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That is the primary showdown for this trio since Paris. Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred’s historic gold made her the Caribbean nation’s first ever Olympic medalist. Sha’Carri Richardson took silver earlier than profitable gold because the USA anchor leg within the 4x100m relay. Her compatriot Melissa Jefferson-Wood has been very good, boasting the quickest time in 2025 at 10.73 seconds, making her one of many high 10 quickest ladies ever.

Sha’Carri may be the most important star however her solely race this yr was a fourth-place exhibiting in Tokyo. On present kind, the favorites are Alfred and Jefferson-Wood, but when Richardson brings her greatest then we’ll have a thriller. Alfred’s coaching associate Dina Asher-Smith of Nice Britain and Jamaican champion Tina Clayton are among the many athletes who might pull a shock.

Kishane Thompson, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt successor?

The powerfully constructed Thompson simply booked his spot on this September’s World Championships in Tokyo by operating 9.75 seconds within the Jamaican championships, a time solely 5 others have achieved.

Thompson avenging his slender Olympic defeat to Noah Lyles must wait, however on paper he’s the category of this race, which could have former world champion Christian Coleman, fellow American Trayvon Bromell, plus Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake.

Center-distance Magic: Religion Kipyegon within the 1500m, Athing Mu-Nikolayev within the 800m, and a stacked Bowerman Mile

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Kenyan icon Religion Kipyegon unsuccessfully tried changing into the primary girl to run a sub-4-minute mile in final week’s particular Nike-orchestrated time trial. I suppose she’ll need to accept solely having the ladies’s mile and 1500m world information, plus three Olympic and World Championship 1500m golds. Rescheduled because the meet’s remaining race, Kipyegon is aiming to decrease her 3:49.04 1500m WR towards a stacked subject that features American Nikki Hiltz, Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, in addition to Paris medalists Jess Hull of Australia and Britain’s Georgia Hunter-Bell.

Within the newly named Mutola 800 meters (in honor of Mozambican 800m nice Maria Mutola), Athing Mu-Nikolayev returns to the scene of her heartbreaking fall in final yr’s US trials, which value her a spot in Paris. The long-striding Tokyo Olympic champ hasn’t raced an 800 this yr, as a substitute competing in 1500 and 5000m races. She advised SB Nation on Thursday that she had deliberate to run within the NYC Grand Prix final month earlier than it was cancelled, so this can be a vital take a look at for her. Key contenders right here embody Kenya’s Mary Moraa, Paris silver medalist Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, and reigning world indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa.

A Prefontaine Basic custom is the Bowerman Mile, named after celebrated observe coach and Nike co-founder Invoice Bowerman. Cole Hocker shocked the world in 2024 by besting Norwegian phenom Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Britain’s Josh Kerr (neither of whom is on this race) for an sudden American gold within the 1500 meters. The robust American contingent consists of Olympic bronze medalist (and former indoor world file miler) Yared Nuguse, 5k/10k double Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher, and younger star Hobbs Kessler. French nationwide file holder Azeddine Habz, a late bloomer at 31, has 2025’s quickest 1500m time. Hocker, Nuguse, and Habbz are among the many high contenders, however this thrilling period of middle-distance racing may be very unpredictable.

One other world file (and $100,000) for Mondo Duplantis?

The lads’s pole vaulting GOAT is all the time reaching new heights. The American-born Swede surpassed Renaud Lavillenie’s world file in 2020 at 6.17m (20 ft, 2 ³⁄₄ in) and has since set a brand new high mark 11 extra occasions on his technique to 6.28m (20 ft, 7 in) in Stockholm.

Every new world file earns the ex-LSU star a $100,000 bonus from World Athletics, so this strategy has netted Duplantis over $1 million. Count on a 6.29m attempt on Saturday from… Carmy Berzatto?

Daughter of former WWE and UFC famous person goes professional

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Mya Lesnar—sure, the daughter of former NCAA wrestling, WWE, and UFC champion Brock Lesnar—is popping professional after closing her embellished Colorado State profession with an NCAA shot put title. Her latest private greatest 19.60m (64 ft, 3 ³⁄₄ in) throw would’ve gained bronze in Paris. Don’t count on a win towards elite competitors like German Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye or America’s two-time world champion Chase Jackson (who simply improved her American file to twenty.95m final week), however Lesnar is a critical expertise who will look to make Crew USA’s World Championship roster later this month.

4 different notable occasions to look at

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• Males’s 200 meters: Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and USA’s Kenny Bednarek went 1-2 in Paris, over Noah Lyles. ‘Kung Fu’ Kenny swept the 100 and 200 in all three Grand Slam Monitor meets, whereas Tebogo’s season has been considerably disrupted as a consequence of damage.
• Males’s 400 meters: Kansas Metropolis’s Quincy Corridor is must-watch for his inconceivable comebacks, most notably towards Nice Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith within the Olympic remaining. That is their first assembly since that epic end, with Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga making it a full podium rematch.
• Males’s 400-meter hurdles: Olympic champion and American file holder Rai Benjamin has shaped a gripping rivalry with Brazil’s Alison dos Santos and Norwegian world file holder Karsten Warholm. Rai beat each in Stockholm, however Warholm gained’t be on this one.
• Girls’s 5000 meters: The Kenya vs. Ethiopia rivalry is renewed between double Olympic champ Beatrice Chebet and two-time world champion Gudaf Tsegay. Chebet set the 10k world file in final yr’s Prefontaine Basic, whereas Tsegay has the 5k file, however the Kenyan is sizzling on her heels after her No. 2 all-time run within the Rome Diamond League.

What time is the 2025 Prefontaine Basic?

The Prefontaine Basic airs stay on NBC and Peacock on Saturday, July 5 at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT, with USATF.television broadcasting preliminary occasions at 1 pm ET/10 am PT. SB Nation shall be offering on-site protection from Eugene. Right here’s the timetable for the entire competitions.