Now with the colliegate season almost out of the way and the DI NCAA Championship being the only race left its now time for the pros to shine.  This weekend will be packed full of action with two major track events taking place, the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and the Bislett Games in Oslo.  Though these two events are thousands of miles apart from each other they both have one thing in common and that is the potential for world records to be broken.  These two meets have brought together some of the greatest fields ever assembled to try a shot at breaking men and women's world records.  However, the meet to be looking out for in my opinion the most is the Pre Classic.

Almost every event is packed full of world leading talent and that makes way for records to be broken whether they are meet records or world records.  The Pre Classic is the third of four track meets in the Visa Championship Series with the Olympic Trials rounding it out.  You can follow the series by going to the USATF website and joining the Pick and Win contest.  

I am sure that you have heard about the world record attempt by Bekele this Sunday at Pre and if you haven't then now is the time to listen.  The meet directors have purposely moved the men's 10k to the morning for a shot at breaking the world record. Many think that it is impossible to break a distance record in the United States but can Bekele prove the critics wrong? The men's 10k is not the only event to watch live this sunday on NBC at 4-6 p.m., the men's 800, mile, 2 mile, women's 800, 1500, and 5000 will also be packed full of competition.  The start lists for the Pre Classic has been posted at www.preclassic.com/2008startlists.html. Just check out the field for the men's mile and 2 mile you pick a winner cause I can't!  If you can't watch it live make sure to check out the results, photos, and news at flotrack.com!  Flotrack will also have the latest results and news of the Bislett Games in Oslo.

Basically, if the world's top track athletes are not at the Pre Classic they can be found at the Bislett Games.  The Bislett Games will actually take place before the Pre Classic this Friday, June 6.  Their meet director claims that there will be a chance that three world records will be broken on Friday and they are the women's 5000, steeple, and the high jump.  With less than 3 months away from the Olympic Games, athletes are now coming into their own and world records being broken is not out of the picture.  A classic example of this was last weekends record breaking by Usain Bolt of Jamica in the 100 meters.  With athletes by the names of Jeremy Wariner, Pamela Jelimo, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, Bernshaw Jackson, Periklis Lakovakis, Tirunish Dibaba, Lolo Jones, and David Rudisha anything is bound to happen. For more news about the Bislett Games go to www.bislettgames.com/english/ to find out the latest schedule and start lists.

Who do you think will come out on top this weekend?

Good luck to all the teams/individuals competing this weekend- be safe and run fast! Always make sure to check out the News and Results on the Flotrack Website for any extra information!


Nathan Haskins
“News and Results Guy”