EUGENE, Ore. (May 25) – World champion Sha’Carri Richardson crushed a high-quality field when blazing to 10.83 seconds to win the women’s 100 meters at Saturday’s 2024 Eugene Diamond League – Nike Prefontaine Classic meet, as Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah faded to last place.
Richardson, who was making her season debut in the event, following a pair of 200m races to open her campaign in Europe, underpinned her position as the hot favorite for the title at next month’s U.S. Olympic trials at this same location.
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The 23-year-old American made a blistering start and never looked troubled as Saint Lucian world indoor 60m champion Julien Alfred took second in 10.93 and Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was third in 10.98.
Competing in her first race of the season, Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, who completed a second successive Olympic sprint double in Tokyo in 2021, struggled to keep up with the pace and trailed home last in a shocking 11.30.
Meanwhile, the men’s 100m went American Christian Coleman, who held off a late surge from Kenyan national record holder Ferdinand Omanyala to take victory in 9.95.
The 2019 world champion, who also won in Xiamen last month, edged out Omanyala, who posted 9.98, with another U.S. athlete, Brandon Hicklin third in 10.08.
“I feel in the best shape ever and it’s now about putting it together mentally to deliver on race day,” Coleman told reporters after his victory.
Fast Bowerman Mile at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic
The Bowerman Mile provided a thrilling climax in Eugene as Britain’s Josh Kerr beat his Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen in a national record of 3:45.34.
Kerr pulled clear with 600m to go but had to dig deep in the closing parts of the race as Ingebrigtsen, making his season debut after an Achilles injury, tried unsuccessfully to reel him in. Ingebrigtsen took second in 3:45.60 with American Yared Nuguse third with 3:46.22.
Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson was also in sizzling form as the British star timed her kick to perfection to clock an impressive world-leading 1:55.78 in winning the women’s 800m. Olympic champion Athing Mu withdrew from the event due to a slight hamstring issue.
Elsewhere, world champion Grant Holloway of the U.S. won the 110m hurdles in a world-leading 13.03 seconds, while Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai took the 3,000m steeplechase in a national record of 8:55.09.
