A dream men’s pole vault tops the first field announced for the 2019 Prefontaine Classic, which also brings the IAAF Diamond League to California for the first time.
General
Eugene/Stanford: 6-Meter Club Set to Convene at Pre Classic
It is not a dream. Every active member of the 6-meter (19-8¼) club is prepared to vault, including the world record holder, the last two Olympic gold medalists, and every Diamond Trophy winner ever and every No. 1 world ranker by Track & Field News since 2010.
American Sam Kendricks, 26, is the reigning world champion, winning the first major vault gold for the U.S. since 2007. In 2018 he repeated as the world’s No. 1 in the T&FN world rankings, the first American vaulter to be back-to-back No. 1 since Bob Seagren in 1968-69. In ’17 he won the Diamond League title, ending a 7-year streak by Renaud Lavillenie.
Kendricks earned Olympic bronze in Rio – the first Olympic vault medal by an American since 2004. It also made him the youngest American Olympic medalist since Jan Johnson’s bronze in 1972 at age 21. He has won every U.S. championship he’s entered and is the two-time defending Prefontaine Classic champ.
The highest vault in the world last year came from Mondo Duplantis as an 18-year-old who won the European Championships at 19-10¼ (6.05). That clearance also equaled the highest outdoor vault since the turn of century, which came at the 2015 Pre Classic. As a 17-year-old, Mondo became the youngest-ever male vault finalist at the London World Championships, competing for mom Helena’s Sweden.
Now 19, Mondo has torn into the collegiate records as a freshman at LSU, raising the collegiate standard to 19-5 (5.92) en route to winning the 2019 NCAA Indoor title. Mondo’s dad, Greg, won the 1992 Pre Classic.
Renaud Lavillenie, 32, won last year’s World Indoor Championships, the most recent of his achievements as one of the event’s best ever. The 4-time Pre Classic champ is the world record holder (20-2½/6.16) and owner of the best outdoor vault in America, 19-10¼/6.05, set at the 2015 Pre Classic.
Known on social networks as Air Lavillenie, his appearances in the U.S. are always special. At last year’s Texas Relays he topped a field that saw three over 19-5 (5.92) for the only time on U.S. soil besides the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Timur Morgunov, 22, is the newest member of the 6-meter club, joining minutes after Mondo at last year’s European Championships in Berlin. While Mondo climbed a bar higher that day, Morgunov showed he had more in the tank, winning the Diamond League Trophy a month later. This will be his first competition in the U.S.
Brazil’s Thiago Braz, 25, won the 2016 Olympic gold, becoming the first from his country to claim Olympic track gold since 1984, when Joaquim Cruz won the 800 in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Poland’s Piotr Lisek, 26, was ranked No. 2 in the world in 2017 by T&FN and earned the 2017 World Championships silver medalist after a bronze in in 2015. He won the February indoor gathering in France at Clermont-Ferrand, a vault favorite hosted by Lavillenie.
Shawn Barber is Canada’s only member of the 6-meter club. He won the 2015 World Championships in Beijing as a 20-year-old. Born in Texas, Barber won three NCAA titles while at the University of Akron.
Men’s Pole Vault
Personal Best
Renaud Lavillenie
France
20-2½
6.16m
Mondo Duplantis
Sweden
19-10¼
6.05m
Thiago Braz
Brazil
19-9¼
6.03m
Shawn Barber
Canada
19-8¼
6.00m
Sam Kendricks
USA
19-8¼
6.00m
Piotr Lisek
Poland
19-8¼
6.00m
Timur Morgunov
ANA
19-8¼
6.00m
Tickets for the 45th annual edition of the Prefontaine Classic, to be held June 30 at Cobb Track & Angell Field in Stanford, Calif., are available now by clicking here or at gostanford.com/tickets. Tickets can also be ordered by calling 1-800-STANFORD.
……………………………. Prefontaine Classic
Where to watch Shanghai 2025
The 2025 Wanda Diamond League season continues in Keqiao, China this Saturday.
The meeting will be streamed in a number of territories on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube page , as well as via broadcasters around the world.
For information on where to watch in your territory, select the country you are in from the dropdown menu.
The list is subject to change. Please consult local TV schedules for definitive information.
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