The Prefontaine Classic’s signature event, the Bowerman Mile, is returning for its 25th edition, and the 2025 field is headlined by Olympic medalists Cole Hocker, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse.

Here’s what you need to know:

The Headliners

🇳🇴 Jakob Ingebrigtsen

– Currently ranked No. 1 in the world at 1500m by World Athletics

– Olympic Golds: 1500m (Tokyo), 5000m (Paris)

– World Records: 2000m, 3000m, mile (indoor), 1500m (indoor)

– Mile Personal Best: 3:43.73 (2023) – meet record and No. 3 all-time

Jakob returns to the Pre Classic for the seventh time in his career. He won the 2023 edition of the race but then, in 2024, lost in one of the most anticipated duels with 2023 World champion Josh Kerr. Ingebrigtsen was returning from an injury that wiped out his 2024 indoor campaign and still managed to take second in 3:45.60. Ingebrigtsen has never lost to Hocker or Nuguse over the full mile.

🇺🇸 Cole Hocker

– Reigning Olympic Champion in the 1500m (Paris, 3:27.65)

– Mile Personal Best: 3:48.08 (Pre Classic 2023)

– Bowerman Mile best finish: 5th in 2022

Back on his college track, Hocker will be introduced to the Hayward Field faithful as “Olympic champion” for the first time. This will be his first mile race since his breakout in Paris. This past indoor season, he opted to race the 3000m at the Millrose Games, where he ran the second-fastest time in history 7:23.14 behind Grant Fisher. Hocker is looking for his first Diamond League victory over Ingebrigtsen, and his first Bowerman Mile victory over Nuguse, where he’s been beaten by his fellow American each of the last two years.

🇺🇸 Yared Nuguse

– American Record Holder in the mile: 3:43.97

– Ranked No. 2 in the world at 1500m by World Athletics

– Former Indoor mile world record holder: 3:46.63 (2025 Millrose Games)

– Olympic Bronze Medalist (1500m, Paris)

Nuguse was undefeated during the indoor season over the mile. He ran his 3:46.63 indoor mile world record at the Millrose Games, only to lose it less than a week later to Ingebrigtsen. Early in March, he attempted to take it back in a time trial at Boston University but fell short in 3:47.22. Nuguse memorably took Ingebrigtsen to the finish line in the 2023 edition of the Bowerman Mile, where he ran his outdoor American record to finish second. Nuguse was third in last year’s Bowerman Mile. He outkicked Ingebrigtsen in the homestretch of the Paris Olympics final for the 1500m bronze medal and then beat him again at the Zurich Diamond League. Ingebrigtsen closed out the year on top with the win at the Brussels Diamond League 1500m final. Nuguse also has an 11-5 record head-to-head against Hocker in mile/1500m races, but Hocker went 3-2 during the 2024 season.

Where is the reigning champion?

Last year, Josh Kerr made his Prefontaine Classic debut in dramatic fashion, winning the Bowerman Mile over his primary rival. Historically, Kerr and his coach Danny Mackey are selective about their race schedule, and he’s already committed a good chunk of his spring season to Grand Slam Track. He was slated to run in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games but scratched on race day due to illness. He opened up his 2025 racing with a 1:50.68 for 800m (8th place) and 3:35.61 (5th place) in the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston last weekend. Kerr later told LetsRun.com that he has been dealing with hip discomfort in training over the past few months.

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