FACTS
The Prefontaine Classic is the premiere track & field meet in the United States, and the only stop in North America on the prestigious World Athletics Tour. Since 2000, it has been ranked first among all annual track & field meets outside of Europe by the IAAF, the international governing body for the sport.
Athletes must be ranked in the Top 50 in the world in their events to be eligible to compete in this elite track & field showcase.
The meet is named for the legendary Steve Prefontaine, America’s greatest distance runner at the time of his death in 1975 at age 24. Pre’s remarkable life was the subject of two major motion pictures, “Prefontaine”, released by Disney in January 1997 (two “thumbs up” from Siskel & Ebert), and “Without Limits”, released by Warner Bros. in September 1998 (and picked in the Top 10 films of 1998 by Time magazine and the New York Times).
The 2007 meet on Sunday, June 10th, was the 33rd annual Prefontaine Classic, with NIKE providing title sponsorship since 1978.
Each year, the meet has featured some of the greatest athletes in the world.
Attendance at the meet, held each year at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, has traditionally been the largest in the United States. Each of the meets for the past ten years has seen standing-room-only sell-out crowds.
The Prefontaine Classic has been carried on television for ten consecutive years. This year’s telecast will be aired live on NBC for two hours.
LINKS
• Eugene '08: 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials
• IAAF
• USA Track & Field
• Oregon Track Club
• Prefontaine Memorial Run
• Visit Lane County, Oregon
• Prefontaine Productions LLC
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