Eugene will host fierce 400m and hurdles field

When the Wanda Diamond League series rolls on to the Prefontaine Classic on May 28 at Eugene’s Hayward Field, some of the world’s best one-lap runners and hurdlers will attempt to make a statement.

In the 400m flat, Michael Norman, Michael Cherry, and Kirani James will compete, while Rai Benjamin and Alison Dos Santos will compete in the 400m hurdles.

Keni Harrison and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn will compete in the 100m hurdles, all in preparation for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, which will be held in the same stadium in July.

Cherry is the current Wanda Diamond League champion, while Norman of the United States won the title in 2019, the same year he set his personal best of 43.45, which ranks him joint fourth all-time in the globe.

Michael Johnson’s meeting record of 43.92 may be threatened by competition from Grenada’s three-time Olympic medalist James, Trinidad and Tobago’s global indoor champion Jereem Richards, and the United States’ Vernon Norwood, Wil London, and Bryce Deadmon.

Two of the fastest ever competitors in the men’s 400m hurdles, Benjamin and Dos Santos, will compete in the event.

Behind Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 world record race, Benjamin of the United States ran 46.17 and Dos Santos of Brazil ran 46.72 to win silver and bronze medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In Eugene, five other Olympic finalists — Kyron McMaster, Abderrahman Samba, Yasmani Copello, Rasmus Magi, and Alessandro Sibilio – will compete alongside Benjamin and Dos Santos, as well as Olympic semifinalist Kenny Selmon and world indoor 400m bronze medalist Carl Bengtstrom.

Then, in the women’s 100m hurdles, its world record holder against Olympic champion Harrison of the United States takes on Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.

Harrison will compete in the Pre Classic for the first time since winning it in 2016, the same year she broke the world record of 12.20 seconds.

Camacho-Quinn, on the other hand, is tied for fourth all-time in the world courtesy to a personal best of 12.26 in the Olympic quarterfinals in Tokyo, where she went on to win gold in 12.37.

They will be joined on the starting line by Nia Ali, the 2019 world champion, Gabbi Cunningham, the world indoor bronze medalist, and multiple NCAA champion Anna Cockrell from the United States, as well as Tobi Amusan, the Olympic and world fourth-place finisher from Nigeria, and Danielle Williams, the 2015 world champion from Jamaica.