Hunter Woodhall leads Para athletics line-up at 50th Prefontaine Classic

This year’s 50th edition of the traditional Prefontaine Classic, also known as the Eugene Diamond League, will feature more Para athletics races than ever before. Four Para athletics events have been added to the over 30-event programme, which will bring together 98 Olympic and Paralympic medallists on Saturday (5 July) in Eugene, USA.

In addition to the men’s and women’s 100m multiclass races that were held last year, this year’s edition will also include the men’s 200m T62/T64 and women’s 800m T54.
Hunter Woodhall (USA), the reigning Paralympic champion in the men’s 400m T62, returns to Hayward Field as one of the stars of the event. Woodhall also earned bronze in the universal relay at Paris 2024, adding to his medal haul from Tokyo 2020 (bronze) and Rio 2016 (silver and bronze).

Joining him in the men’s 200m T62/T64 is Sherman Guity (Costa Rica), two-time Paralympic champion in the 200m T64 and the reigning 100m T64 gold medallist from Paris.

The other half of the Woodhall’s, Hunter’s wife Tara Davis-Woodhall, will compete in the women’s long jump, in which she claimed Olympic gold in Paris.

The Para athletics programme kicks off with the women’s 100m mixed classification. Ireland’s Orla Comerford returns to defend her title from last year. She is the Paris 2024 bronze medallist in the women’s 100m T13 – her first Paralympic medal.

She will face stiff competition from other three Paris 2024 medallists in the 100m. USA Taylor Swanson finished with silver in the women’s 100m T37 while Brittni Mason (USA) and Anna Grimaldi (New Zealand) grabbed silver and bronze, respectively in the T47 race.

The men’s 100m mixed classification will see a thrilling showdown between last year’s winner Salum Kashafali of Norway against the 2023 Pre Classic champion Noah Malone of USA. Malone is the Paris 2024 gold medallist in the men’s 100m T12 while Kashafali won the same event at Tokyo 2020. 

Wrapping up the Para athletics events at the Eugene Diamond League is the women’s 800 T54, headlined by Tatyana McFadden (USA) – one of the most successful wheelchair racers in history with 22 Paralympic medals. She will be challenged by Belgium’s Lea Bayekula, the reigning T54 double gold medalist from Paris 2024 (100m and 400m).

Soaking in the moment 🙌
 
Orla Comerford 🇮🇪 wins the Women's Para Athletics 100m - Mixed Classification in 12.13s 👏 
 
Presented by @Nike
 
📸 Charlie Townes
 #EugeneDL #PreClassic pic.twitter.com/CJGZz3I3T5

— Nike Prefontaine Classic (@nikepreclassic) May 25, 2024

Prefontaine Classic Entries*

Women’s 100m Mixed Classification

Orla Comerford (Ireland)

Kym Crosby (USA)

Anna Grimaldi (New Zealand)

Beatriz Hatz (USA)

Brittni Mason (USA)

Marissa Papaconstantinou (Canada)

Taylor Swanson (USA)

Men’s 100m Mixed Classification

Jaydin Blackwell (USA)

Salum Ageze Kashafali (Norway)

Derek Loccident (USA)

Noah Malone (USA)

Ryan Medrano (USA)

Zac Shaw (Great Britain)

Felix Streng (Germany)

Jarryd Wallace (USA)

Men’s 200m T62/T64

Fabio Bottazzini (Italy)

Jonathan Gore (USA)

Sherman Guity (Costa Rica)

Olivier Hendriks (Netherlands)

Mitchell Joynt (New Zealand)

Blake Leeper (USA)

Francesco Loragno (Italy)

Hunter Woodhall (USA)

Women’s 800m T54

Lea Bayekula (Belgium)

Shauna Bocquet (Ireland)

Hannah Dederick (USA)

Patricia Eachus (Switzerland)

Tatyana McFadden (USA)

Nandini Sharma (Canada)

*Subject to change

More information about this year’s Prefontaine Classic can be found here.