Double double [100 & 200m] Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica has been added to the start list in the women’s 100m for Saturday’s Prefontaine Classic [Wanda Diamond League] in Eugene, Oregon.
The five-time Olympic champion [Thompson-Herah], and the fastest woman alive in the history of women’s 100m, and the second fastest alive in the 200m will go head-to-head with reigning world champion – Sha’Carri Richardson of the United State of America.
Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith of Côte d’Ivoire and Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred are also set to feature.
It’s the first time since last September’s Diamond League Final – also held in Eugene – that Thompson-Herah and Richardson will meet in the 100m, with the Jamaican clipping Sha’Carri at the finish line to claim bronze [10.79 to 10.80].
Ta Lou-Smith won the silver at that event.
That 10.79 was a season’s best for Thompson-Herah, 31, while Richardson clocked a 10.65 to win her world title in August in Budapest.
The 2024 Prefontaine Classic will also host the selection events for this year’s Athletics Kenya 10,000m Olympic teams.
The women’s 10,000m will now compete at 10:50 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday, May 25 with the addition of Kenya’s top talent in the distance vying to make the team for this year’s Paris Olympic Games. The women’s field is expected to include 2023 world outdoor bronze medalist Beatrice Chebet, who is currently ranked No. 2 globally in the 5,000m and a two-time world cross country champion; Emmaculate Achol, who placed fourth at the 2024 world cross country championships; and Grace Loibach Nawowuna, who is currently ranked eighth in the world over 10,000m and has a personal best of 29:47.42 over the distance. The Olympic qualifying standard for the women’s 10,000m is 30:40.
The men’s 10,000m will be added to the meet’s program at 12:05 p.m. Pacific time. Those expected to make the field include Daniel Simiu Ebenyo, the 2023 world outdoor silver medalist currently ranked No. 1 in the world over 10,000m; Samwel Chebolei, who has a personal best of 27:10.06 in the event; and Benson Kiplangat, the 2021 world U20 champion and 2024 world cross country bronze medalist. The Olympic qualifying standard for the men’s 10,000m is 27:00.
