Posted: May 19, 2005

Athletics: El Guerrouj Joins Prefontaine Classic 2-Mile Field

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, the Olympic gold medallist in both the 1500 and 5000 meters, has been added to the 2-Mile field at the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix on Saturday, June 4th in Eugene, Ore., organizers announced yesterday. Young American stars Alan Webb and Dathan Ritzenhein were previously announced for the race, marking the event as the meet's highlight for U.S. middle and long distance fans.

El Guerrouj, the world record holder at both the 1500 meters and the mile, has a personal best of 7:23.09 in the 3000 meters from 1999, the second fastest performance ever. The world best in the rarely-run 2-Mile is 7:58.61 set by Kenyan Daniel Komen in 1997. The following year Komen also clocked 7:58.91 over the distance; he is still the only man to break the event's eight-minute barrier. The U.S. record is 8:11.59 by Bob Kennedy, who finished second to Komen during his world best run in Hechtel, Belgium. Two miles is approximately 3218 meters.

El Guerrouj will open his season with a 3000 meter race against reigning world 5000 meter champion Eliud Kipchoge in Hengelo, Netherlands on May 29.

The entry list:

Hicham El Guerrouj, MAR
Alan Webb, USA
Mulugeta Wendimu, ETH
Mark Carroll, IRL
Boaz Cheboiywo, KEN
Dathan Ritzenhein, USA
Luke Kipkosgei, KEN
Daniel Lincoln, USA
Belota Asmerom, USA
Markos Geneti, ETH
Jonathan Riley, USA
Joseph Koskei, KEN
Shadrack Kosgei, KEN