Trayvon Bromell celebrates besting a fast field in the final event of the Pre Classic. Photo by Kevin Neri
In a Prefontaine Classic men’s 100-meter race that was originally supposed to feature the top three medalists from Tokyo, it was the originally uninvited Trayvon Bromell who celebrated as he emphatically crossed the finish line Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field.
Bromell won the race with a time of 9.93 seconds and had a 0.05 second margin of victory over second-place finisher Fred Kerley. Bromell was a surprise entry to the race due to the withdrawal of reigning Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs due to an injury.
“I knew it was a great field of competitors,” Bromell said. “My biggest thing is taking all the heat I got this last year and showing people, man, I’m here to compete just like everyone else.”
Bromell has dealt with repeated injury concerns ever since tearing his Achilles tendon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. His subsequent recovery led to him not appearing on a track for five years as he struggled with years of surgeries.
“One thing that makes me elite is I don’t give up,” Bromell said. “Man, that’s one thing I feel like I’ve always had because I’ve always had the back end of the stick.”
Kerley’s second-place finish comes after finishing second in the men’s 100 at the Tokyo Olympics and in last year’s Pre Classic.
“The race went good,” he said. “I stumbled out of the blocks a little bit, but my top end carried me to the finish line.”
Christian Coleman, the reigning world champion in the men’s 100 meters, finished third in the race just a few months after returning to competition after an 18-month suspension for missing consecutive doping tests.
“I feel like I didn’t really execute my start that well and get on that transition,” Coleman said. “I feel like once I work on that and get on top of it, it will be a lot easier to finish.”
Noah Lyles, the defending world champion in the 200 meters, finished fourth just behind Coleman and ran a season best 10.05 in Saturday’s race.
“I’m here to spoil somebody’s day, and as long as I beat who I’m not supposed to beat, it’s a great day,” said Lyles.
Lyles finished ahead of 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who finished sixth, and defending Pre champion and bronze medalist Andre de Grasse, who finished last.
A field loaded with Olympic finalists and former world champions helped provide a potential preview of what the men’s 100 at the world championships could look like this July.
