The 2010 Prefontaine Classic began on Saturday with the women’s hammer throw competition, which had seen Poland’s world-record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk withdraw from the event Wednesday afternoon after aggravating a back injury. It didn’t seem to affect the event as Russian Tatyana Lysenko and German Betty Heidler went back and forth, breaking the record on American soil five times, with Lysenko’s final throw of 75.98 meters besting Heidler’s final throw of 74.87 meters.
The hammer throw meet record was one of seven women’s records set at Hayward Field on Saturday. Others included season-leading times in the 100 meters and 800 meters, 400-meter hurdles, 5,000 meters, triple jump and javelin.
In the 100 meters, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown won the race in 10.78 seconds, beating the season-best time by .06 seconds and the meet record by .16 seconds. The competition for Campbell-Brown included fellow Jamaican and 2008 Olympic 100-meter gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser and American Carmelita Jeter, who recorded the top 100-meter time in 2009, who finished second and third, respectively.
“It was a great field,” said Campbell-Brown, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 meters. “I know that in order to come out here and run very well, you have to be very competitive.”
In the 800 meters, Russian runner Mariya Savinova set 2010’s best time with a 1 minute, 57.56 second-performance and beat Prefontaine Classic legend Maria Mutola’s meet record by .01 seconds. Mutola won 16 consecutive 800m races at the Classic between 1993-2008 and was the 2000 Olympic gold medalist at the distance.
Savinova, who held the previous season best at 1:58.11, finished fewer than two-tenths of a second ahead of Kenya’s Nancy Langat, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 meters. Pamela Jelimo, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the 800 meters, finished last in the event.
In the 400m hurdles, American Lashinda Demus took a smooth victory in 53.03 seconds. Only Jamaican Kaliese Spencer was within two seconds of Demus’s time.
Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba won the 5,000 meters in 14:34.07, 15 seconds ahead of American Shalane Flanagan. Dibaba won gold medals in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters in 2008 and holds the world record at 14:11.15. Flanagan had held the record on American soil at 5,000 meters until Dibaba broke it at the Classic.
The triple jump was won by Russian Nadezhda Alekhina, who jumped 14.62 meters, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova, who jumped 14.45 meters.
In the javelin, Kara Patterson set the meet record with a throw of 65.90 meters, one week after setting the national record of 66.67 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships. Former Oregon athlete Rachel Yurkovich finished fourth, throwing 58.42 meters.
“I’m just having a little bit of an off year,” Yurkovich said of her performance. “I’m going to take this as a growing year and improving the best that I can.”
Yurkovich was not the only women’s athlete with ties to Oregon to compete at the Prefontaine Classic. Former Oregon thrower Britney Henry finished fifth in the hammer throw at 68.94 meters.
Oregon senior sprinter Keshia Baker also participated in the 400 meters, where she finished last, 1.33 seconds off of American Allyson Felix’s winning time.
“The goal was just to come out here and do the best that I can. I ran faster than I ran in nationals. It was just a blessing and an honor to come out and compete with these women.” Baker said. “I’ve got to be realistic with my body, though. They’re just starting their season; I’ve had a long, intense one.”
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