The Prefontaine Classic, an annual athletics meeting held in the city of Eugene in the coastal state of Oregon, in the north-west of the United States, and has already announced the headliners for this year's women's 800m and 3000m steeplechase events.

Organisers of the event, which is part of the Diamond League (formerly the IAAF Grand Prix), one of the world's premier athletics competitions, this week unveiled the top athletes in each event for the 25 May event.

The 2024 Women's 800m will be a rematch of the 2023 World Championships medallists and will feature reigning 800m world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya, who ran 1:56.03 to win the title. She returns to the Pre Classic after finishing fourth in 1:57.42 at last year's event, which served as the Wanda Diamond League final.

Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain) is coming off a silver medal in the 800m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where she ran 1:56.34. A month after that performance, Hodgkinson competed at the Pre Classic, where she ran 1:55.19 to set a new national record in the event.

Athing Mu (USA) won bronze at the 2023 World Outdoor Championships with a time of 1:56.61 just a month before setting the American record, event record and world-leading time of 1:54.97 in the 800m at the 2023 Pre Classic. 

Meanwhile, this year's Prefontaine Classic 3000m Steeplechase will feature Bahraini athlete Winfred Yavi, the current world leader and reigning world champion in the women's 3000m Steeplechase after running 8:54.29 at the 2023 World Outdoor Athletics Championships. 

Yavi was crowned champion of the 2023 Diamond League Final at the recent Prefontaine Classic, which served as the Wanda Diamond League Final, in 8:50.66. 

Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya) enters the field as the current world record holder and reigning silver medallist in the event. Her world record of 8:44.32 was set at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in 2018. Chepkoech is currently ranked second in the world in the women's 3000m steeplechase.

Courtney Wayment (USA), a huge talent in the field, is one of the top two in the world. Her personal best of 9:09.91 in the 3000m steeplechase was set at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in 2022.

A bronze medallist at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Wayment was the only American to reach the final of the women's 3000m steeplechase at the 2023 World Outdoor Athletics Championships, where she finished 15th.