Bernard Lagat, world 1500 metres and 5,000m champion in 2007, and Abdi Bile, who won world 1500m gold in 1987, opened the second Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) exhibition stand in Oregon ©World Athletics

Bernard Lagat, world 1500 metres and 5,000m champion in 2007, and Abdi Bile, who won world 1500m gold in 1987, opened the second Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) exhibition stand in Oregon today to mark the start of the United States of America Track and Field (USATF) trials for the World Championships, which are set to begin in Eugene on July 15.

The ceremony, which took place within the University of Oregon, followed the launch of a similar display in Portland two months ago.

The two champions were joined for the MOWA opening by Matt Keating, vice-chair of Eugene City Council, Michael Schill, President of the University of Oregon, Vin Lananna, USATF President, Sasha Spencer Atwood, director of athlete experience at Oregon22 and JB Carney, senior director sports of Travel Lane County.

Kenyan-born Lagat, whose unique men’s World Championship double at the Osaka 2007 edition was earned for the United States, has donated to the collection the singlet and competition numbers from his subsequent 3,000m victory at the 2010 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Doha.

"It is a great pleasure to donate my singlet to MOWA," said Lagat, "knowing that it will be treasured in a collection which includes artefacts from middle distance greats like Paavo Nurmi, Jim Beatty, Herb Elliott, Kip Keino, Eamonn Coghlan, Seb Coe, and Hicham El Guerrouj.

"I am very proud that my singlet is part of the exhibit in Eugene and will soon be displayed in MOWA’s online 3D virtual displays."

MOWA's second Track & Field Heritage Exhibition, Oregon22 in Portland opened at the University of Oregon, marking the start of the USATF Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene ©MOWA
MOWA's second Track & Field Heritage Exhibition, Oregon22 in Portland opened at the University of Oregon, marking the start of the USATF Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene ©MOWA

Bile, who won the 1500m world title in Rome in 1987 for Somalia, has lived in the US ever since attending George Mason University.

Bile brought his Rome gold medal with him, helping to recall his brilliant finish in the final, where he ran the last 1,000m in 2min 16.6sec and the last 800m in 1:46.6 to earn an emphatic victory.

Two years later he won the World Cup 1500m title in Barcelona, beating - and it has to be said, jostling - the future World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in the process.

Lagat’s singlet will be on show for the next month in Eugene.

The MOWA exhibit closes on July 24, the scheduled concluding day of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.