Five meet records were set at this year’s Pre, none more thrilling than the titanic battle between Christian Taylor (59.5/18.11) and Will Claye (59-23/4/18.05) who both surpassed the old record held by Taylor. Celephine Chespol broke 9-minutes and set the women’s steeplechase meet record (and Under-20 world mark) of 8:58.78, despite stopping to fix a wayward shoe. Ryan Crouser took down the 7-year-old shot put record with a throw of 73-71/4/ 22.43, Maria Lasitskene previewed her World Championships domination by clearing 6-8/2.03 in the high jump, and Tori Bowie surprised the greatest 200m field ever assembled in the United States with a 21.77 victory that stood up through the season’s end as the year’s fastest time.
The meet will also be remembered as the American track-racing farewell to the sport’s biggest distance star. Great Britain’s Mo Farah capped his string of successes at Hayward Field with a hard-fought 13:00.70 win in the 5000. Brittney Reese leaped over the elusive 7.00 meter mark in the long jump (23-0/7.01), Olympic Champion Omar McLeod set a world-leading mark of 13.01 in the high hurdles, Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi led 3 under 3:50 in Bowerman Mile (3:49.04) and Ashley Spencer of the U.S. ran a world-leader of 53.38 in the women’s 400 hurdles.
This year’s finish for the Prefontaine Classic was the 4th highest score in history for an invitational, and the Eugene IDL meet has now recorded 5 of the top 10 scores of all-time.
The final 2017 All-Athletics.com rankings:
| 1. | Prefontaine Classic | USA | 95523 |
| 2. | Zürich Weltklasse | SUI | 95078 |
| 3. | Bruxelles Memorial Van Damme | BEL | 94695 |
| 4. | Lausanne Athletissima | SUI | 93614 |
| 5. | Monaco Herculis | MON | 93360 |
| 6. | London Müller Anniversary Games | GBR | 93176 |
| 7. | Roma Golden Gala – Pietro Mennea | ITA | 92912 |
| 8. | Doha IAAF Diamond League | QAT | 92692 |
| 9. | Shanghai IAAF Diamond League | CHN | 92686 |
| 10. | Birmingham Müller Grand Prix | GBR | 92574 |
| 11. | Paris Meeting | FRA | 92452 |
| 12. | Rabat Meeting d’Athletisme | MAR | 91523 |
| 13. | Stockholm BAUHAUS Galan | SWE | 90104 |
| 14. | Székesfehérvár Gyulai István Memorial | HUN | 90075 |
| 15. | Oslo Bislett Games | NOR | 90017 |
Fans can follow Pre Classic developments on social media on PreClassic.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Tickets for the 44th annual edition of the Prefontaine Classic, to be held May 25-26, 2018, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., will be available on February 2nd at 9:00 a.m. PT at www.GoDucks.com as well as from 1-800-WEBFOOT.
The Prefontaine Classic is the longest-running outdoor invitational track & field meet in America and is part of the elite IAAF Diamond League of meets held worldwide annually. The Pre Classic’s results score has rated No. 1 or No. 2 in the world in each of the last 7 years by All-Athletics.com. The meet has been sponsored by NIKE continuously since 1984. The Prefontaine Classic is an Oregon Track Club event.
The Oregon Track Club has been a major player for over 5 decades in helping to build the sport. The organization is volunteer-based and governed by an elected Board of Directors. The Club’s impact is wide-ranging: from fitness to community service to youth activities to road racing to hosting the No. 1 ranked invitational meet in the world. www.oregontrackclub.org
