The morning before day one of the Prefontaine Classic, Jakob Ingebrigtsen joked that Yared Nuguse only needed to stick with him to break the American mile record.
Those words turned out to be prophetic, as Ingebrigtsen stormed to a 3:43.73 win at the end of the afternoon with Nuguse close on his tail for the third and fourth-fastest miles of all time.
Ingebrigtsen was relatively nonchalant after the victory — and will double back on Sunday in the 3000 meters.
“I wanted to race where I could challenge myself to really set out at a decent pace, somewhat conservative, and then I go as hard as I could the last two laps to try to run as fast as I could,” he said. “So it was very good.”
Ingebrigtsen has broken the 2-mile and 2000m world records this year, and was within a second of the mile record Saturday.
Nuguse (3:43.97) shattered Alan Webb’s American mile record by nearly three full seconds, giving Ingebrigtsen high praise for virtually pacing the race by himself after the pacemakers dropped off 900 meters in.
“I think he pushes all of us to be better,” Nuguse said of Ingebrigtsen. “To have someone like this at the time same time that I’ve come to my peak is just really big, to make me catch things that I didn’t think were possible.”
Nuguse, cheered on by the American crowd and a special section of On Athletics Club supporters, gave an uncharacteristic celebratory jump after he finished.
“I could just feel they’re all cheering for me for once, when I feel like in Europe they’re mostly cheering for [Jakob],” Nuguse said. “That was a true Hayward magic moment.”
The mile capped off day one of running events at the Prefontaine Classic, which serves as this year’s Diamond League final — the first-ever final outside of Europe.
The rest of the races did not disappoint on a scorching September afternoon in Eugene, as fans from 49 states and six countries braved the heat to watch the international spectacle.
The men’s 400m hurdles opened up the afternoon, with American Rai Benjamin chasing down and passing world record holder Karsten Warholm after the final hurdle.
Benjamin had low expectations for the race after securing bronze at the Budapest World Championships last month during a long season in which he’s struggled with a quad injury and COVID.“I just want to go sit down,” he said tiredly after the race.
It was his first win against Warholm when both men were healthy — nonetheless, Benjamin said beating the world record holder “means nothing” to him.“
I didn’t do it at World and I didn’t do it at the Olympics,” he said. “[Warholm] has always consistently been the better man when it’s time to run, so I need to get myself together and really perform when it really matters.”
Benjamin criticized the $30,000 payout for his win, pointing out that the prize money for the same race in 2019 was $50,000.
“How did we take such a far step back between the years?” he asked, saying that he felt $200,000 would be an appropriate amount of prize money. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be making real money here. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Warholm, who had a strong start and took a big lead before Benjamin caught him at the line, praised the American’s performance.
“Nothing happened [to me],” the Norwegian said after the race. “Rai was just running even faster. I always knew he had great potential. Today he showed it well. I don’t know if it’s the Hayward Magic all the Americans are talking about.”
In the women’s 100m, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica triumphed over Sha’Carri Richardson for the first time all year, running 10.70, while Richardson faded to fourth in 10.80“I’m grateful, I’m here, I’m enjoying myself and tomorrow is another competition day,” Jackson said, referring to her 200m race on Sunday.
Richardson was a good sport despite her loss, praising Jackson and her opponents.“What matters is being whole with myself as an athlete, being a great competitor, executing what it is that I know I can after having an amazing season,” she said. “I am not mad at all about my time today.”
In the women’s 1500m, world record holder and several-time world champion Faith Kipyegon easily broke the Prefontaine Classic record, running 3:50.72.
“This was amazing, starting with the World Record and now winning the [Diamond League],” Kipyegon said. “It has been a fantastic year for me.
She plans to take a full month off running when she returns home after the meet.
“I’ll sleep, wake up late and just have fun with my daughter,” she said. “It’s been a long season.”
Christian Coleman held off a late charge by Noah Lyles to equal his world lead in the men’s 100m — 9.83 — and to claim his first Diamond League title since 2018.“
“This year I feel like I had a mental breakthrough to where I’m able to just find my stride and stick to it,” Coleman said. “And I feel like next year, I’ll be able to capitalize.”
Lyles — the world champion in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m this year — did his own victory lap after the race despite being runner-up, signing endless signatures from excited fans.
“This is an exhibition, not a title fight,” Lyles said.
Kirani James took the men’s 400m title in a season’s best of 44.30 weeks after being disqualified at the Budapest World Championships for a lane infringement in the final.
Winfred Yavi of Bahrain won the women’s 3000m steeplechase in a world lead and meet record 8:50. In the men’s steeple, Simon Koech of Kenya held off Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu, 8:06 to 8:10.
