They are the “Who’s Who” of world-class athletes.
They’ve won gold medals, earned world-record holding times, and have jumped further and higher than any women before them.
And for the 28th version of the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix, they will come to Eugene as competitors, hoping to energize the Hayward Field crowd.
They are Stacy Dragila, world-record holder in the pole vault; Gail Devers, former Pacific-10 Conference standout and world-renown runner; and Sandie Richards, one of the top high school athletes in the nation.
But then, to make the list of athletes even more impressive, you have one of the world’s most respected and well-known athletes in the world. Marion Jones will return to the Prefontaine to defend her 2001 title in the 100.
Jones will be competing in
her fifth Prefontaine Classic, winning the 100, 200, and long jump twice. Jones has never lost an event she has competed in at the
Prefontaine.
With so many of the world’s finest athletes in so close of quarters, does this sound like the Olympics?
“In terms of the quality of the field, it’s very close,” meet director Tom Jordan said.
First, there’s Dragila, the world record holder in the pole vault. It had been expected that the indoor world record holder Svetlana Feofanova would descend upon Hayward to challenge Dragila, but that has now changed due to the Russian’s inability to stay healthy.
Now, in a field that features four other women who have cleared the 15-foot mark — the required height for entrance into the classic — Dragila is still the woman to beat.
“Any time you have the world record holder, it makes a difference,” Jordan said. “She will push the others.”
But then, the Eugene crowd will have a chance to see one of the most respected, and most successful, athletes in the world.
Devers, former UCLA star and the 2001 Prefontaine Classic runner-up in the 100 hurdles, returns to the field as the best bet in
the event.

But Devers means more to Jordan and the Eugene crowd than just as a competitor. Devers is a living legend, a type of athlete that excels at the highest and most competitive meets, and comes around just once in a while.
“You want to make sure you see an athlete like that,” Jordan said, “because you never know when she might hang ’em up.
“When you figure she’s been competing at the pro levels for 14 years, it’s astonishing.”
If you’re looking for a wild-card at this season’s Prefontaine, Richards would be the one to watch.
The top high school runner in the nation in the 400 (51.68) by more than one second, Richards is attempting to do the same thing that current UCLA runner Monique Henderson did by finishing fourth in the event two years ago as a high school competitor.
But Richards is one-tenth of a second faster than Henderson ran that year, and, according to Jordan, should be given serious consideration at the Classic.
“We try to bring in the best high school athletes,” Jordan said. “Richards has the potential to break the high school record in the 400.”
But to judge the Prefontaine based on just those three would be a mistake.
Suzy Powell headlines a strong list of athletes in the discus throw, a group that includes Aretha Hill and New Zealand’s Beatrice Faumuina.
Joining Richards in the 400 will be some prestigious company. The 2002 record holder, Michelle Collins, will run at fabled Hayward, while No. 4 LaTasha Colander-Richardson will attempt to better Cathy Freeman’s mark of 50.02, set in 1998 and constituting the Hayward Field and Pre Classic record.
Former Oregon star and 1999 Pac-10 champion Marie Davis returns to Hayward after finishing 11th in the 3,000 run in 2001. She will be accompanied Marla Runyan, the 2001 Pre Classic winner, and Great Britain’s Kathy Butler, runner-up to Runyan.
“These are across the board
the best fields we’ve ever had,” Jordan said.
And it all starts at 1 p.m. Sunday.