From left to right: Grant Fisher, Cole Hocker, and Yared Nuguse. Photo by Mollie **Handkins.**

By Owen Murray, TrackTown USA

With the 50th edition of The Prefontaine Classic set for Saturday, some of the world’s best athletes made their media rounds ahead of competition. The men’s sprinters, pole vaulters, milers, shot putters and men’s para athletes spoke at a panel Thursday and Friday — and we’re selecting the best moments.

Men’s sprints say that Hayward Field is ripe for rewriting the record books

From left to right: Kishane Thompson, Quincy Hall, and Matthew Hudson-Smith. Photo by Howard Lao.

A talented group of sprinters were the first to appear at the press conference — and they all had the same idea.

“You come up here for specific reasons — to get the job done,” two-time defending Pre Classic 100m champion Christian Coleman (USA) said. “I guess there’s something in the air.”

Kishane Thompson (JAM), fresh off a 9.75-second win at the Jamaican National Championship, agreed — “Anything is possible”, he said. “I won’t jinx it, but I just have to go out there, execute, and do my best.”

The 100m stars weren’t the only ones with their eyes on records, though.

”Records are meant to be broken,” 400m Olympic silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith (USA) said. Hudson-Smith hasn’t run at The Prefontaine Classic since 2022, but said that meet “set the trajectory upwards for my career” and that while his life has changed off the track — since he broke the British record at Pre in 2022, he’s married his wife and welcomed a child — his performance level hasn’t diminished on it.

He was in the race where the current Pre Classic record was run by Michael Norman in 2022 — 43.60. “It was a great run, but records are meant to be broken, and we have the top three in the Olympics.”

In his way is the reigning OIympic 400m gold medalist Quincy Hall, who returns to Hayward Field to hear his name called as an Olympic champion for the first time.

“It’s going to be a great test,” Hall said. “It’s always a good feeling. I’ve been working on my craft, and I can’t wait for Saturday.”

The men’s 100m is scheduled for 1:12 p.m. PT on July 5. The men’s 400m is scheduled for 1:43 p.m. PT.

Men’s pole vaulters talk connection, life beyond the sport

From left to right: Ersu Sasma, Mondo Duplantis, and Sam Kendricks at the men’s pole vault panel at the press conference for the 50th Prefontaine Classic. Photo by Howard Lao.

Athletes define their careers at The Prefontaine Classic. "My life has changed several times here at Hayward Field," said reigning Olympic pole vault silver medalist Sam Kendricks (USA). It’s also a place where lasting connections are made.

“The pole vault is different than any other event. We stay out on the track for three or four hours,” said 2024 European Championships bronze medalist Ersu Sasma (TUR). “They’re like good friends,” he said of his competitors. “They’re like a family.”

The athletes, though, are defining their lives off the track, too. Kendricks founded the Refuge Training Center, a pole vault facility in Mississippi because, he said, “It’s my obligation to build something lasting.”

“I thought, what better way than a training center?” Kendricks said. “Let’s eat together, let’s train together, let’s sweat together and let’s make a new future.”

Mondo Duplantis (SWE), the world’s premier pole vaulter, keeps his mind off the runway with his golf game and a budding music career — “I like to keep myself busy,” the world record holder and three-time defending Pre Classic event champion said.

“I used to play a lot of golf — I hang out in Sweden too much now, and it’s super cold, so I’m not really able to do that any more,” Duplantis said. “I always had a passion for music — my best friend growing up in Louisiana is the lead singer of a band. I always wanted to do it — and I love anything that can take me away from that life. I can really just be in the moment.”

That doesn’t mean they’re not looking forward to jumping at Hayward Field. Duplantis broke the world record twice on Agate Street, while Sasma holds the Turkish national record and Kendricks has won at Pre twice before, in 2017 and 2018.

“It’s a really good place to jump — I’ve jumped really high the last two times I’ve been here, so I guess that I’ve proved that,” Duplantis said. “Sometimes you can’t really explain it. The track is fast, the poles move really well. I don’t look into it that much. I just take it as it is and enjoy it.”

The men’s pole vault begins at 12:30 p.m. on July 5.

Bowerman Mile stars highlight return to Hayward Field after successful seasons

**Reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 1500m, Cole Hocker, speaks during the Bowerman Mile panel at the press conference for the 50th Prefontaine Classic.** Photo by Mollie **Handkins.**

The last time Cole Hocker (USA) ran at Hayward Field, he qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Upon his return at The Prefontaine Classic, he can call himself an Olympic champion. Hocker’s stunning win last summer in the 1500m race thrust the University of Oregon alumni into the global spotlight. He still sees Pre, though, as central to his world.

“This race is the pinnacle in my mind of the Hayward experience and the Oregon environment,” Hocker said. “I’ve had a lot of my best races in Hayward — as a Duck, it’s natural that you’ll have the crowd behind you, but I really think everyone feeds off that.”

Also in the field is Paris 1500m bronze medalist Yared Nuguse (USA), who broke the American mile record (fourth-fastest ever) at last year’s edition of The Prefontaine Classic with a 3:43.97, second-place finish.

“It was really a magical time,” he said. “I really got to experience this meet for what it was. This is a really cool atmosphere, and it’s one of the best meets in the U.S., for sure”

Grant Fisher (USA) hasn’t run an official mile since 2015, but the 1500m specialist will join the field on Saturday looking to compete with the world’s best at a meet he loves.

“This is always an incredible field,” Fisher said. “Everyone thinks of a few people who transcend sports — Steve Prefontaine is one of them. For all three of us, he’s one of the first pro runners you learn about.”

Fisher is the world record holder in both the short track 3000m and 5000m, and the American record holder in the 3000m, two mile and 10000m. In a shorter race, he’ll look to take down his 3:59.38 personal-best set more than a decade ago.

“All three of us had a dream year last year," Fisher said. “But that’s last year. All three of us are firing on all cylinders right now.”

The Bowerman Mile starts at 2:32 p.m. PT on July 5.

‘We’re a speed event’: Men’s throws talk technique

From left to right: Leonardo Fabbri, Joe Kovacs, and Raijindra Campbell. Photo by Mollie **Handkins.**

The Prefontaine Classic welcomes stacked fields across the board — and their knowledge of technique is one of the reasons they get there. The men’s shot putters made a new claim at their press conference.

“We’re a speed event,” said two-time Pre Classic defending champion Joe Kovacs (USA).

Kovacs, also a two-time world champion (2015, 2019) in the event, argued that rapid movement is just as important to the shot put as strength — “Besides the angle of release,” he said, “everything else comes down to speed.”

“Even though we’re not out on the track, in that ring we’re turning to go as fast as we can.”

Raijindra Campbell (JAM), the reigning Jamaican national champion and Olympic bronze medalist, agreed. Describing his own technique, he said, “You have to be flexible, be fast and punch hard.”

He estimated that he could run a 4.8-second 40-meter dash — and that he has to squeeze that speed into a two-second spin-and-throw. It’s working for him: he owns the last two Jamaican national titles and has his eye on a first-ever Pre Classic win.

Also in the field is reigning Diamond League shot put champion Leonardo Fabbri (ITA), who said that his technique “at the moment is very confident”.

Both he and Kovacs called the ring at Hayward Field one of the best in the world, too — ”This ring is special,” Fabbri said. They’re joined by reigning three-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser, who owns four career Pre Classic titles.

The men’s shot put begins at 1:55 p.m. PT on July 5.

Para athletes focus on storytelling on the international stage

Paralympics gold medalist Hunter Woodhall will compete in the Men’s Para Athletics 200m T62/T64 event at the 50th Prefontaine Classic on July 5. Photo by Mollie **Handkins.**

Also competing at The Prefontaine Classic are several para athletes, and their press conference discussed the value of their races gaining visibility at the meet.

Reigning Paralympics 100m champion Noah Malone (USA) is set to run on Saturday — ”It’s really about the fact that we’re all top, elite athletes like anyone else,” he said. Malone, a T12 category athlete, is visually impaired.

There’s not many greater platforms than the one Hunter Woodhall (USA) has. Alongside his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall (also competing at the Pre Classic), the double amputee documents his journey as a T62 category para athlete to hundreds of thousands of social media followers.

“I think one of the biggest things happening in our sport is the storytelling of the sport — introducing the audience to the stories of these athletes and the struggles and trials,” Woodhall said. “I think that the great thing about the Paralympics is the stories that come along with it,” Woodhall said. “It’s the hardships that athletes have to go through just to get to the line.”

He’s run at Hayward before — but the last time was at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Since then, he’s won a Paralympic T62 400m gold medal (in 2024) and a bronze in the same event at Tokyo 2020.

“I felt like I maybe didn’t belong there, then,” he said of his last experience at Hayward Field. “Now I have a place.”

Also a proponent of the collegiate system is Malone, who attended Indiana State University.

“It’s huge,” Malone said of the college system. “My college coach was so important in my journey to become a para athlete — he was on the plane in Tokyo, in Paris. It really set the standard — he’s educating all the people and coaches he’s meeting, I’m doing the same. It all matters.”

The Men’s Para Athletics 100m Mixed Classification startsat 12:07 p.m. PT, and the Men’s Para Athletics 200m T62/T64 at 12:24 p.m. PT.

The 50th edition of The Prefontaine Classic is scheduled for Saturday, July 5, at Hayward Field. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. PT, with competition beginning at 10:00 a.m. PT.