Adam Nelson motivates himself before the final throw (© Getty Images)
Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania and American Adam Nelson, the reigning World champions in the Discus Throw and Shot Put, lead their respective fields at the 32nd Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix on 28 May in Eugene, Oregon, USA, which is part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2006.
Alekna is the two-time defending World and Olympic champion in the Discus Throw, and the event's most dominant force for nearly a decade. In Eugene, he will face Estonian Aleksandr Tammert and Ian Waltz and Jarred Rome, the top Americans in the event. Both Alekna and Tammert have displayed solid early season form. Tammert produced a world-leading 70.82 at a competition in Denton, Texas, in mid-April, while Alekna has a season's best 69.08 to his credit, the second farthest in the world this year.
After claiming runner-up finishes at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and 2001 and 2003 World Championships, Nelson finally notched his first major title at the World Championships in Helsinki last summer. In Eugene, he'll face compatriot Reese Hoffa, the recently-minted World Indoor champion, Olympic bronze medallist Joachim Olsen of Denmark, and American Christian Cantwell, the early-season world leader after his 22.10m effort at last weekend's Drake Relays.
The women's Hammer Throw competition will appear for the first time on the meet's programme. Erin Gilreath, the U.S. record holder with a 73.87m throw from last year, will face Ivana Brkljacic and Jennifer Joyce, respectively the Croatian and Canadian national record holders.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
