Eugene, Oregon – Brittney Reese of USA leads a high-profile women’s long jump field confirmed for the 2016 Prefontaine Classic – IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 28 May – meeting organisers announced on Monday (28).
Reese, the recently crowned IAAF World Indoor champion in Portland, is back to full fitness after struggling with a back injury last year and she will be using the Prefontaine Classic as part of her preparations to defend her Olympic Games title at Rio 2016.
The American, who has won seven major championships titles, including three each at the IAAF World Outdoors and World Indoors, will have her hands full on home soil, with the field listing four other women who have gone over 7-metres and two with marks better than 6.90m.
The 2016 Prefontaine Classic field also includes Tianna Bartoletta, the gold medallist from last year’s world championships in Beijing, China.
Bartoletta, 30, who also won gold at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, and the 2006 World Indoor Championships in Moscow, has a lifetime best of 7.14m.
The American pair will be joined by France’s Eloyse Lesueur, the 2014 World Indoor Championships gold medal winner and two-time reigning European champion, who owns a lifetime best of 6.92m.
She missed the last year’s outdoor season because of a knee injury.
Listed as well are Great Britain’s Shara Proctor, the silver medal winner at last year’s Beijing World Championships, Canada’s 2015 Pan-American Games champion Christabel Nettey, Ivana Spanovic of Serbia, a bronze medallist in the last two outdoor World Championships, as well as the 2014 World Indoor and a silver at the World Indoor Championships in Portland.
USA’s Janay DeLoach, the winner of a silver medal at the 2012 World Indoor Championships and bronze at the 2012 London Olympic Games, is also already confirmed for the internationally recognized outdoor meeting.
The IAAF Diamond League schedule kicks-off on May 6 in Doha.
| Women’s Long Jump | Personal Best in Metres | |
| Brittney Reese (USA) | 23-9½ | (7.25) |
| Tianna Bartoletta (USA) | 23-5¼ | (7.14) |
| Shara Proctor (Great Britain) | 23-2½ | (7.07) |
| Ivana Spanovic (Serbia) | 23-2½ | (7.07) |
| Janay DeLoach (USA) | 23-¾ | (7.03) |
| Christabel Nettey (Canada) | 22-11¼ | (6.99) |
| Eloyse Lesueur (France) | 22-8½ | (6.92) |
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar
6 May – Doha, QAT
14 May – Shanghai, CHN
22 May – Rabat, MAR
28 May – Eugene, USA
2 Jun – Rome, ITA
5 Jun – Birmingham, GBR
9 Jun – Oslo, NOR
16 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
15 Jul – Monaco, MON
22-23 Jul – London, GBR
25 Aug – Lausanne, SUI
27 Aug – Paris, FRA
1 Sep – Zurich, SUI
9 Sep – Brussels, BEL
