Maria Mutola of Mozambique wins 13th Prefontaine's 800m (© Kirby Lee)
Going for her 14th consecutive win at the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix - part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour - at Hayward Field on 28 May 2006 will be ‘local girl’ Maria Mutola of Mozambique, who lived and trained in Eugene-Springfield for a decade.
For the first time since Mutola ran in the meet as a high-schooler in 1991, the 33-year-old does not come into the race with the fastest time in the field from the previous year. That mark goes to Hazel Clark of the U.S., who ran 1:57.99 to Mutola's 2005 outdoor best of 1:58.96. Add in Jamaica's Kenia Sinclair (1:58.88), who finished behind Mutola's record seventh World Indoor title win this winter, Americans Alice Schmidt (1:59.29) and Jen Toomey (1:59.96), plus China's Qing Liu (1:59.74), and you have the makings of the greatest challenge ever to Maria's Hayward Field dominance.
A similar confrontation is likely to occur in the women’s 1500m race, which boasts by far the best field in the 31 years of the meet. Led by Maryam Jamal of Bahrain, who was the fastest in the world last year (3:56.79), and double World champion Tatyana Tomashova of Russia, the race also features Hind Dehiba of France, and the recently crowned World Cross Country short race champion Gelete Burka of Ethiopia.
America's best from last year, Treniere Clement, is in the race, as is Eugenean Marla Runyan, who is returning from maternity, and Australia's Sarah Jamieson, holder of the fastest time in the world this year (4:03.51).
Tom Jordan for the IAAF
