The Prefontaine Classic is a member of the IAAF Diamond League of elite international track and field meets. It is the longest-running outdoor invitational track and field meet in America, and it is held worldwide annually.
Background on Steve Prefontaine
Steve Prefontaine is a track and field legend, as well as one of the most inspirational distance runners in American history. He set a national high school two-mile record while in high school in Coos Bay, Oregon, that is the fastest ever in a national federation-sanctioned race.
While in college, Prefontaine subsequently won three national cross country championships, and four outdoor track championships (in 5000 meters), and he never lost a collegiate track race at any distance, which is a rare feature.
Prefontaine was part of the 1972 Olympic team, where he represented Team U.S.A., where he almost won an Olympic medal, finishing in fourth place in the Olympic Games that were held in Munich. He competed in the 5,000 meter race, when he was 21 years old. After he completed college, Prefontaine kept on setting new personal bests and American records. He passed away tragically on May 30, 1975, at the age of 24, due to an auto accident. That same year was when The Pre Classic began, in honor of the late Steve Prefontaine.
Read More: Digital Journal had the privilege to interview Linda Prefontaine, the sister of Steve Prefontaine, about her brother’s legacy in the sport.
The 2018 Pre Classic
At the 2018 Pre Classic, the upcoming men’s pole vault event in particular, is going to be filled with champions. The following athletes are expected to compete: world record holder and French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, 2016 Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz, 2017 European champion Piotr Lisek (from Poland), 2017 world champion and U.S. pole vaulter Sam Kendricks (and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist), teenage pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis (and world junior record holder), as well as 2013 world champion and German pole vaulter Raphael Holzdeppe, and 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski from Poland.
