Melissa Jefferson-Wooden at the Prefontaine Classic (© Diamond League AG 
Logan Hannigan-Downs)
World champions Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Cole Hocker are among the first athletes announced for the Prefontaine Classic – the ninth meeting on this year’s Wanda Diamond League circuit – in Eugene on 4 July.
USA’s Jefferson-Wooden returns to defend her 100m title. Her victory at Hayward Field last year formed part of a sensational season for the 24-year-old as she followed her Prefontaine Classic victory with US 100m and 200m title wins and Diamond League victories in Silesia and Brussels before completing a golden 100m, 200m and 4x100m treble at the World Championships in Tokyo.
She improved her 100m PB to 10.65 at the US Championships in Eugene and then to 10.61 in Tokyo to become the fourth-fastest sprinter of all time. She has not been beaten over 100m since the Olympic final in Paris in 2024, when she got bronze behind Julien Alfred and Sha'Carri Richardson.
Jefferson-Wooden will be joined at the Prefontaine Classic by her compatriot and fellow global gold medallist Hocker, who added the world 5000m crown to his Olympic 1500m title in Tokyo.
He will contest the Bowerman Mile in July as part of a field that will also star Australia’s Cameron Myers and New Zealand’s Sam Ruthe.
Hocker ran a PB of 3:47.43 in last year’s Bowerman Mile when he finished fourth behind Niels Laros, Yared Nuguse and Azeddine Habz. Myers was a further two places back in 3:47.50.
Myers has already clinched wins in Boston and New York on the World Indoor Tour this year, clocking a 3:47.57 mile at the latter.
Ruthe, meanwhile, ran an outright world U18 mile best of 3:48.88 in Boston – a performance that saw the 16-year-old selected by fans as the athlete of the month for January.
Duplantis set for Doha, Silesia and Shanghai/Keqiao
Following his announcement for the Novuna London Athletics Meet, world pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis has been confirmed for three more Wanda Diamond League meetings.
The Swedish 26-year-old will start his campaign at the Diamond League season opener in Doha on 8 May before heading to Shanghai/Keqiao on 16 May, London on 18 July and Silesia on 23 August.
As well as working towards another Diamond League title, these meetings will form part of his preparations for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September, for which Duplantis has been announced as the inaugural Ultimate Star.
