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Prefontaine Classic announces crazy 100m start list

Canada's Andre De Grasse to take on Christian Coleman, Marcell Lamont Jacobs and Fred Kerley at Prefontaine Classic in May

The fastest male sprinters in the world will all be in Eugene, Ore. on May 28 to compete in the 100m at the Diamond League’s Prefontaine Classic. Olympic and world indoor champion, Italy’s Marcell Lamont Jacobs, will go up against Canada’s Andre De Grasse and the reigning world 100m champion, Christian Coleman.

All four of the top five finishers from Tokyo 2020 will take to the starting blocks in one of the deepest Diamond League fields ever assembled. The Pre Classic 100m field features all three 100m and 200m Olympic medallists. The winner of this race will certainly be the favourite heading into World Championships later this summer.

Marcell Lamont Jacobs of Italy (2nd from the left) ran a European record 6.41 seconds in the 60m at the 2022 World Indoor Championships.

The Olympic 100m champion, Jacobs, will be the favourite going in, after shocking the track and field last summer by walking away with gold in Tokyo. Eight months later, he made a statement by winning another gold in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia, beating Coleman.

The Olympic silver medallist, Fred Kerley, cannot be ignored, as he opened his 2022 season with a world-leading 19.80 in the 200m last weekend in California. The U.S. sprinter has shown incredible range from 100 to 400m, becoming one of only three athletes to ever break 10 in the 100m, 20 in the 200m, and 44 in the 400m.

Marcell Lamont Jacobs (gold) and Christian Coleman (silver) in the 60m at the 2022 World Indoor Championships

Although De Grasse has only raced Jacobs on one previous occasion, at the Olympics, De Grasse won the 100m at the 2021 Pre Classic. De Grasse beat the likes of Kerley, Justin Gatlin and Ronnie Baker in a wind-aided (+2.9) 9.74 seconds.

The Pre Classic will have large implications this year, taking place at Eugene’s Hayward Field two months before it hosts the World Championships. This historic 100m race will take place in the afternoon on Saturday, May 28.

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