By David Melly
July 2, 2025
Who do you want to come to your 50th birthday party?
If your answer to that question includes Yared Nuguse, Faith Kipyegon, Quincy Hall, and Tara Davis-Woodhall, great minds think alike, as the Prefontaine Classic organizers have pulled out all the stops in preparation for the 50th edition of the historic meet hosted at formerly-historic, now-refurbished Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The action kicks off on Saturday, July 5 at 1pm EDT (10am PDT), with the TV window, beginning at 4pm E.D.T. on NBC and Peacock (subscription required). A full schedule of events can be found here, and live results can be found here. It’s hard to compress what might be the most talent-filled meet of the year outside the World Championships into a few key storylines, but we did our best.
The official return of Athing Mu-Nikolayev. Let’s be honest, after the former World and Olympic champ regained her racing legs in mid-5000m tempo runs and B-heat 1500ms, this is her season debut. The last time Mu-Nikolayev (congrats on the wedding!) contested Pre, she set the American record of 1:54.97, the only sub-1:55 clocking by a U.S. athlete to date and the ninth fastest mark of all time. But it’s been nearly a full year since Mu-Nikolayev ran an 800m, after a hamstring tear and fall at Olympic Trials derailed her 2024 campaign. She enters the Pre Classic a largely unknown quantity, against a strong but not insurmountable field.
With Olympic champ Keely Hodgkinson still working her way back from injury, her biggest competition will come from 2023 World champ Mary Moraa and the two fastest women in the world this year, Tsige Duguma and Prudence Sekgodiso. If Mu-Nikolayev is at or near the top of her game, the field shouldn’t be a huge problem. But if she’s still getting reacquainted with pack racing and 1:56 pace, Moraa’s unpredictable racing style may open the door for someone like Duguma, Shafiqua Maloney, or even Raevyn Rogers to capitalize with a well-timed kick.
A ridiculous women’s 100m sets up a Paris rematch. All year, we’ve been watching Julien Alfred and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden lay down fast times on opposite sides of the globe, salivating over the inevitable collision between the Olympic champ and three-time Grand Slam champ. Oh yeah—and Jefferson-Wooden’s training partner, reigning World champ Sha’Carri Richardson, will be there as well, alongside Tia and Tina Clayton. Short of expanding the track to 11 lanes to include Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, this is a dream mid-season, all-star matchup. With a favorable forecast and Hayward Field’s speedy straightaway, a winning time in the 10.6 range feels doable.
Alfred has to be considered the favorite as she’s the reigning gold medalist, has looked amazing all spring, and hasn’t lost all year. But Richardson has the fastest PB in the field, Jefferson-Wooden has clearly leveled up, and Tina Clayton is coming off a scintillating win at Jamaican Trials. Alfred rarely has an off day, but it’s entirely possible that she could run really, really well and still get beat by a stellar performance from a grade-A field.
Another epic Jamaica-USA battle in the men’s 100m. Much like in the women’s event, the headline of the men’s 100m features two stars who’ve been separately red-hot, finally going head-to-head. Kishane Thompson has put a massive target on his back thanks to his performance at Jamaican Trials, but Trayvon Bromell has just as good a chance as Thompson at taking the win and has a good history at Prefontaine, winning the 2022 edition over a field that included Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, Christian Coleman, and Letsile Tebogo. Coleman is also entered in the 2025 field, along with potential contenders like Ackeem Blake and 2023 World medalist Zharnel Hughes, but for all intents and purposes, this is a two-man, two-nation battle for the win.
Sidenote: Tebogo won’t be in the 100m, but he’s facing off with Kenny Bednarek over 200m, and after facing some small injury setbacks earlier in the season, he’ll need to be operating close to 100% to hold off Kung Fu Kenny, who’s already having a season for the ages.
Kenyan Trials, featuring Conner Mantz. Outside the TV window, 12 Kenyans and a smattering of international athletes will circle the track 25 times to help the Athletics Kenya selectors pick a 10,000m team. With race-time temperatures likely around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it certainly could be cooler. Last year, the top six finishers in the men’s race broke 27 minutes and Beatrice Chebet set a world record in the women’s (which isn’t happening this year), so getting under the World standard of 27:00 is certainly in the cards. And that could be why Conner Mantz is dropping down in distance from the marathon to test his mettle against the field. Mantz qualified for Team USA in the marathon but deferred his spot in that event.
With Chicago already on his calendar and the World Championship 10,000m scheduled for September 14th, it’s no guarantee that Mantz would want a spot in the 10,000m should he qualify, but a sub-27 here would at least give him the option. Either way, he’s likely better his 27:25.23 PB, and a spot on the U.S. all-time top-10 (currently 27:07.57 or faster) feels well within reach. Up front, it’ll likely become a Kenya-Ethiopia dual meet.and Ethiopia has the edge going off resumes, with Selemon Barega, Biniam Mehary, and Berihu Aregawi all entered with PBs under 26:40. But keep an eye on Flagstaff-based Edwin Kurgat, who made a bid for the win last year before ending up fourth.
Which events to be on record watch. The meet schedule has been shuffled to put the women’s 1500m last on the program, and with Faith Kipyegon coming off an unofficial 4:06 mile, it would seem a legit possibility that she sets her third world record in the 1500m here. Her compatriot Beatrice Chebet is entered in the 5000m, and after she ran 13:54 on the roads, it feels inevitable that she will one day become the first sub-14 runner on the track—but will that day be Saturday?
Eventually, Mondo Duplantis will run out of space to improve his own world record in the pole vault, but it sure seems like he could still notch up the standards another centimeter or two for the foreseeable future. And he’s got a good track field record at Hayward, where he set WRs at Worlds in 2022 and at Pre in 2023.
Last but certainly not least, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone may still be over a second off the world record in the women’s 400m, but the past few years it’s felt like Sanya Richards-Ross’s 48.70 American record is living on borrowed time. It may be a tall order with neither Marileidy Paulino nor Salwa Eid Naser in the race to push her, but bet against Sydney on the start line at your own peril.
A Jakob-less Bowerman Mile still promises fireworks. Was Azeddine Habz’s performance at the Paris DL a flash in the pan or the arrival of a star? We’ll find out on Saturday when he takes on two-thirds of the Olympic podium in Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, plus 2022 World champ Jake Wightman back on the track where he won his title.
Habz enters with the fastest 1500m PB on the year, but this race could go in any of a dozen different directions, with veterans like Tim Cheruiyot, Olli Hoare and Neil Gourley lined up against rising stars like Tshepiso Masalela, Cameron Myers, and Niels Laros. Plus, Grant Fisher is dropping down in distance for his first mile race in a decade (although he’s coming off a lifetime best in the 1500m indoors). Good luck picking a winner in this one.
There’s about a million more events with top-level talent in this one, so keep an eye on our sibling newsletter over at CITIUS MAG for an even longer preview. So whether you’re celebrating America’s birthday, the Pre Classic’s, or both, this whole long weekend is shaping up to be quite the party.
David Melly
David began contributing to CITIUS in 2018, and quickly cemented himself as an integral part of the team thanks to his quick wit, hot takes, undying love for the sport and willingness to get yelled at online.
