EUGENE, Ore. — Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia beat world record holder Letesenbet Gidey in the 5,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic on Friday night.
Taye surged on the final lap to take a meet and personal best 14 minutes, 12.98 seconds, ahead of fellow Ethiopian Gidney in 14:24.59. Taye’s time was the best ever on American soil and the fifth best ever.
Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda won the men’s 5,000 in 12:57.99.
There were a pair of races that weren’t associated with the Diamond League meet. The men’s and women’s 10,000 meter races were American track and field qualifying events for the World Outdoor Championships scheduled for July at Hayward Field.
Karissa Schweizer, who underwent Achilles surgery in October and just returned to competition last month, won the women’s event in 30:49.56 seconds. Alicia Monson was second and Natosha Rogers was third. All three earn a spot on the US team for the world championships.
Joe Klecker won the men’s 10K in 28:28.71 followed by Grant Fischer and Sean McGorty. Emmanuel Bor fell in the stretch and finished eighth.
The National Weather Service forecast called for rain with gusty winds and the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon on Saturday, prompting organizers to move some of the events to the field.
Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the women’s high jump with a jump of 6 feet 6.75 inches. Armand Duplantis of Sweden cleared 19-4.75 to win the men’s pole vault. Valarie Allman won the discus with a 224-3 throw.
Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba fell just short of a world record in the women’s 2-mile race. Niyonsaba finished in a meet best 8:59.08, half a second off Meseret Defar’s world record.
Caster Semenya was scheduled to compete in the women’s 2-mile race, but pulled out. Semenya is banned from competing at distances ranging from 400 meters to the mile in high-level track competitions in updated testosterone regulations unless she agrees to take testosterone-lowering drugs again. . She declined and hasn’t run an 800m race at a major meet since 2019.
