Kipyegon to headline women’s Mile at 2026 Prefontaine Classic
Three-time Olympic champion also holds the 1500m world record, set at last year's meet
EUGENE, Ore. – For the first time since joining the Diamond League, the Prefontaine Classic will host a women’s Mile. The Hayward Field record for the Mile of 4:21.25 was set at the 1988 Prefontaine Classic by legend Mary Decker. Kenyan Faith Kipyegon set the current Mile world record in 2023 at the Monaco Diamond League meet, clocking 4:07.64. At the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, she set the world record in the women’s 1500m with a time of 3:48.68 at Hayward Field.
Kipyegon is the first woman ever to hold the world records for the 1500m, Mile and 5000m simultaneously. She has dominated World Athletics’ global rankings, holding the #1 spot in the 1500m for 198 weeks and ranking as the world’s top female athlete for 90 weeks. A four-time Olympic medalist, she has won three consecutive Olympic 1500 gold medals (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024).
Faith added a silver Olympic medal in Paris in the 5000m and also holds five World Championship titles. With 29 career Diamond League victories across six distances, she has also remained unbeaten for a decade at the Prefontaine Classic. Three of Kipyegon’s all-time top ten performances in the 1500m have been run at Hayward Field.
The Prefontaine Classic will take place on Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4, 2026.
A Diamond Discipline, the Women’s Mile, is scheduled for Saturday, July 4.
The tentative event schedule windows for each day of competition are: Friday, 6:00 - 10:00pm / Saturday, 12:00 - 3:00pm
The complete women's Mile field will be announced before the Prefontaine Classic.
Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
Birke Haylom (ETH)
Georgia Hunter Bell (GBR)
Tsige Duguma (ETH)
Jessica Hull (AUS)
Nikki Hiltz (USA)
Emily Mackay (USA)
Heather MacLean (USA
Klaudia Kazimiersk (POL)
Tickets, VIP Experience Packages and Accommodations packages are now on sale HERE.
