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By Bob Ramsak
Maria Mutola will put her 15-race Prefontaine Classic win streak on the line when she makes her final appearance at the premiere U.S. meet on June 8.
Mutola, now 35, has announced that this will be her final season, and nowhere has she been a more respected fixture than at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, where she lived, attended high school and trained in the late 1980s and 1990s.
"There has never been another competitor like her," said meet director Tom Jordan in a media release. "An Olympic gold, three world championship golds, seven world indoor gold medals-- she has dominated her event like no other athlete."
When she competes for Mozambique at the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, it will mark her sixth Olympic appearance; her first was in Seoul in 1988. After a fourth place finish in Athens four years ago, it appeared her career had begun to wane, but she bounced back by taking the world indoor title in 2006 and more recently, bronze at the World Indoor Championships in March.
The majority of those 15 wins came in the 800m, and it is with that event that organizers have planned her farewell to Hayward Field. She's expected to face Jamaican record holder Kenia Sinclair, who chased her to the line last year, and Americans Alice Schmidt, Nicole Teter and Hazel Clark-Riley.
Organizers have also announced that they will retire the "No. 1" bib Mutola has worn for the past 10 editions of the meet. Instead of being issued to future athletes, the bib will presented to the winner of the Maria Mutola Outstanding Athlete Award, an honor which will be introduced at this year's meet.
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