2017 Prefontaine Classic

Tori Bowie & A 16-Year-Old Sub-4 Miler Steal Show On Day 2 At Pre Classic

Tori Bowie & A 16-Year-Old Sub-4 Miler Steal Show On Day 2 At Pre Classic

Tori Bowie stars at the 2017 Prefontaine Classic

May 27, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
Tori Bowie & A 16-Year-Old Sub-4 Miler Steal Show On Day 2 At Pre Classic

The 2017 Prefontaine Classic, the only IAAF Diamond League event on American soil, concluded after two days of exciting competition from Olympic and world champions. Read the live blog here and check out the Day 1 recap here. Below is a summary of the top moments on Day 2.


Tori Bowie shocks Olympic champions Elaine Thompson, Shaunae Miller-Uibo


The most shocking result in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday was in the penultimate event, the women's 200m, as Olympic bronze medalist Tori Bowie of the United States took down two of the winningest sprinters in the world in the past year: Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, the 400m Olympic champion, and Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, who scored double Olympic gold in the 100m and 200m last summer.


Bowie sprinted to a world-leading mark of 21.77 (+1.5) as Miller-Uibo clocked 21.91 and Thompson ran 21.98. Olympic silver medalist Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands took fourth in 22.30 while Allyson Felix was fifth in 22.33 for her season's debut.


Bowie was the defending champion at Pre, where in 2016 she set her prior best of 21.99 (+1.9). Her time is the fastest in world history before the month of June.



Before today, Thompson was undefeated in races under 400m this season and Miller-Uibo was undefeated in every event except for one early excursion in the long jump.


Sixteen-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen becomes youngest-ever sub-four minute miler


The 2017 Prefontaine Classic Invitational Mile, held 52 minutes before the iconic Bowerman Mile, will go down in the record books as being the more historic of the two men's races, as sixteen-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway became the youngest sub-four minute miler in history by blasting through the barrier in 3:58.07. The prior world best for a sixteen-year-old was 4:06.7, achieved by Barrie Williams in 1972.



He was just one-third of the Ingebrigtsen clan competing on Saturday, as oldest brother Henrik (26) took third in the same section in 3:53.79, and middle brother Filip (24) was eighth in the Bowerman Mile in 3:53.23. They are likely the first trio of family members to break four minutes on the same day.


Brazil's Thiago Do Rosario Andre won the Invitational Mile in 3:51.99 and Great Britain's Chris O'Hare was runner-up in 3:53.34.


An American teenager, D.J. Principe of La Salle Academy in Rhode Island, also competed. The Stanford commit placed 13th in 4:00.73, an improvement on his 4:00.97 indoors. 2017 is so ripe with prep milers that Principe's time only ranks No. 3 this season; both Cooper Teare of California (4:00.16) and Sam Worley of Texas (4:00.61) have flirted with the barrier this year as well.


Americans Murphy, Blankenship PB In Bowerman Mile As Kwemoi Stars


The Invitational Mile stole the historical thunder, but the Bowerman Mile delivered on in-race drama as always. The Kenyan quartet of Ronald Kwemoi, Elijah Manangoi, Timothy Cheruyoit and Vincent Kibet led the front pack as pacers took the group through 400m in 56.26 and 800m just over 1:55. 2015 World indoor 1500m champion Ayanleh Souleiman was a casualty just before the bell lap, as he was innocuously knocked to the ground while American Ben Blankenship charged up the side to the front. Blankenship, a 2016 Olympian for 1500, was not able to hold his position past the bell signaling the final lap as the Kenyan quarter again took control and Kwemoi won in 3:49.04.


Americans Clayton Murphy (fifth, 3:51.99) and Blankenship (seventh, 3:53.04) both set PBs. Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz was a late scratch on Friday after falling ill.



Sir Mo Farah Gets Revenge From 2013


The premier distance runner of our time, two-time double Olympic champion Mo Farah, has not lost a 5K or 10K race since the 2013 Prefontaine Classic, when he took runner-up honors to Edwin Soi while battling a stomach virus. Today, he looked as good as ever in taking down the field with a final time of 13:00.70. Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia stayed with the Briton as long as possible, but managed just 13:01.21 for second. Farah's time is the fastest in the world this year.


Farah revealed before the event that the 2017 Prefontaine Classic will be his last track race on American soil, as he plans to pursue the marathon soon.


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Teen phenom Mondo Duplantis takes fourth in first Diamond League pole vault competition


In what is surely the first of many Diamond League appearances, 17-year-old Mondo Duplantis more than held his own. He ended the day in fourth overall with a final mark of 5.71m/18-8.75, though he actually led the competition after clearing that height because he was the only athlete who had yet to miss.


American Sam Kendricks, the Olympic bronze medalist, beat out world record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France for the win with a top clearance of 5.86m/19-2.75. 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz no heighted.


However, Duplantis is still the world leader with his world junior record of 5.90m/19-4.25 from the Texas Relays. And now, with the top men in the world having competed this weekend in Eugene, there's no excuse about Texas Relays being "too early" in the season for a No. 1 ranking to be meaningless.


Of note: the Louisiana native also eked out a win over Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany, the world junior record holder before Duplantis' banner season.


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