Oblique Seville and Kenny Bednarek Among Big Tests Awaiting On-Form Trayvon Bromell at Prefontaine Classic

Hayward Field is gearing up for what promises to be the fastest race of the year, as the Men's 100m at the 2026 Prefontaine Classic is scheduled for Saturday, July 4.

The elite lineup features seven of the world's top 10 sprinters, with the eight competitors boasting an incredible average personal best of 9.83 seconds.

Leading the pack is Jamaica's Oblique Seville, the reigning world champion from Tokyo. Seville captured his first individual global title with a personal best of 9.77. He arrives in Eugene in peak form, having just clocked a world-leading 9.82 at the Jamaican national championships. This will be his debut at the Pre Classic, though he previously finished fourth in the 100m at the 2022 World Championships held at the same venue.

American standout Kenny Bednarek, a two-time Olympic silver medalist from Rice Lake, Wisconsin, will also be a major contender. Bednarek, who has twice won the Diamond League Final, set his personal best of 9.79 at Hayward Field last year to claim the U.S. national title. Originally slated for the 200m, he has now shifted his focus to the shorter sprint.

The field also includes South Africa's Gift Leotlela, who made history as his country's youngest Olympic track and field competitor at just 18. Leotlela ran his personal best of 9.87 in last season's World Championships final and recently won the Diamond League 100m in Shaoxing/Keqiao, China, with a time of 9.97.

Trayvon Bromell of St Petersburg, Florida, has a history of success at Hayward Field, having won NCAA, U.S and Prefontaine Classic titles there. His personal best of 9.76 ranks him as the sixth-fastest man ever. Bromell is coming off a bronze medal performance in the 60m at the 2026 World Indoor Championships and a won at the Paris Diamond League last weekend.

Atlanta's Christian Coleman is no stranger to victory at this event, having won the Prefontaine Classic three times, including the 2023 Diamond League Final. A six-time world champion, Coleman holds the NCAA 100m record and the world indoor 60m record.

Ackeem Blake, another Jamaican star, enters as the 2024 Diamond League Final champion, where he narrowly defeated Coleman. Blake recently anchored Jamaica's Mixed 4x100m relay team to gold at the World Athletics Relays and holds bronze medals from the 2023 World Championships and 2024 World Indoor Championships.

Rounding out the impressive lineup is Australia's Lachlan Kennedy. He secured the 2026 Australian national title in April with a personal best of 9.96, the fastest time ever recorded on Australian soil. Kennedy, a silver medalist in the 60m at the 2025 World Indoor Championships, will be making his second appearance at the Pre Classic.

The Prefontaine Classic is scheduled for Friday, July and Saturday, July 4 with the highly anticipated Men's 100m race taking place on the final day.