Speedy Stars Set for 100m Sprint Supremacy at 2026 Prefontaine Classic
The entire field for the Men’s 100m are Olympians and hold a combined 19 World Championship medals.
The fastest race of the year is set to take to the starting blocks on the 4th of July at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon! The Men’s 100m race at the 2026 Prefontaine Classic will feature seven of the top ten-ranked sprinters in the world in the discipline. The average personal best of legal times for the eight men in the race is 9.83.
Oblique Seville (Jamaica) is the reigning world champion from Tokyo, where he ran a personal best of 9.77 to capture his first individual global medal. This will be Oblique’s first Pre Classic appearance and second at Hayward Field after finishing fourth in the 100m at the 2022 World Championships. Last week, he ran a world-leading 9.82 in the Jamaican national championships.
Kenny Bednarek (Rice Lake, Wisconsin) is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and two-time Diamond League Final winner. Kenny’s personal best non-wind-aided time is 9.79, run at Hayward Field last year to win the US national championship. Bednarek was previously announced to run in the 200m at this year’s Pre Classic and will now drop down to the 100m.
Gift Leotlela (South Africa) became the youngest South African to compete in an individual athletics event at the Olympics at the age of 18. His personal best in the 100m came at last season’s World Championships with a time of 9.87 in the event’s final. Gift won the 100m race at last month’s Diamond League meet in Shaoxing/Keqiao, China with a 9.97.
Trayvon Bromell (St. Petersburg, Florida) had enjoyed great success at Hayward Field, winning the NCAA title in 2014, the US national title in 2021, and the Prefontaine Classic in 2022. His personal best of 9.76 ties him for the sixth fastest man in history. At the 2026 World Indoor Championships in Poland, Trayvon won a bronze medal in the 60m.
Kayinsola Ajayi (Nigeria) captured the NCAA title in the 100m earlier this month at Hayward Field as a junior for Auburn University with a time of 9.84, the second fastest in collegiate history behind Christian Coleman. Ajayi was also part of the NCAA record-breaking 4x100m relay team, where he and his Auburn teammates completed one lap around Hayward Field in just 37.75.
Christian Coleman (Atlanta, Georgia) has won the Prefontaine Classic three times, including the 2023 event that also served as the Diamond League Final. He holds the NCAA record in the 100m and the world indoor record in the 60m. Christian is a six-time world indoor and outdoor champion and swept the 100m and 200m NCAA titles at Hayward Field in 2017.
Ackeem Blake (Jamaica) won the 2024 Diamond League Final in Belgium, where he held off Christian Coleman at the finish line. In May, Blake was part of Jamaica’s Mixed 4x100m relay team that won gold at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana. He holds two additional global medals with a bronze from the 2023 World Championships in the 4x100m relay and a bronze from the 2024 World Indoor Championships in the 60m.
Lachlan Kennedy (Australia) won the 2026 Australian national title in April with a time of 9.96, his personal best and fastest ever run on Australian soil. Lachlan is a silver medalist in the 60m from the 2025 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China. This will be his second Prefontaine Classic and Hayward Field appearance after competing in the event last year.
The Prefontaine Classic will take place on Friday, July 3rd, and Saturday, July 4th, 2026.
The Men’s 100m race is scheduled for Saturday, July 4th.
The tentative event schedule windows for each day of competition are: Friday, 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. / Saturday, 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Tickets, VIP Experience Packages, and Accommodations packages are now on sale.
Those interested in volunteering at The Prefontaine Classic can learn more here.