Taye wins 5K on opening night of the Prefontaine Classic

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia bested world record holder Letesenbet Gidey in the 5,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic on Friday night.

Taye surged on the final lap to win in a meet record and personal best 14 minutes, 12.98 seconds, ahead of fellow Ethiopian Gidney in 14:24.59. Taye's time was the best ever on American soil and fifth-best ever.

Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda won the men's 5,000 in 12:57.99.

There were a pair of races that were not associated with the Diamond League meet. The men's and women's 10,000-meter races were U.S. Track and Field qualification events for the world outdoor championships set for July at Hayward Field.

Karissa Schweizer, who had Achilles surgery in October and just returned to competition last month, won the women’s event in 30:49.56 seconds. Alicia Monson was runner-up with Natosha Rogers finishing third. All three earn a spot on the U.S. team for worlds.

Joe Klecker won the men's 10K in 28:28.71, followed by Grant Fischer and Sean McGorty. Emmanuel Bor fell down the stretch and finished eighth.

The National Weather Service forecast called for rain with wind gusts and the possibility of afternoon thunderstorms on Saturday, prompting organizers to move some of the field events.

Ukranian Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the women’s high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 6.75 inches. Armand Duplantis of Sweden cleared 19-4.75 to win the men's pole vault. Valarie Allman won the discus with a throw of 224-3.

Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi fell just short of a world record in the women's 2-mile race. Niyonsaba finished in a meet record 8:59.08, a half a second off of Meseret Defar’s world best.

Caster Semenya was set to run in the women's 2-mile race, but withdrew. Semenya is banned from competing in distances from 400-meters to the mile at top-level track meets in updated testosterone regulations unless she agrees to again take medication to lower her testosterone. She has refused, and hasn’t run an 800-meter race at a major meet since 2019.