Pre Classic 10k Races Selected As Ethiopian Trials

Eugene—The Ethiopian Athletic Federation has designated the men’s and women’s 10,000-meter events at the Prefontaine Classic as Ethiopia’s selection races for this summer’s World Championships.

Dube Jillo, the Federation’s Sport Development & Competition Director, announced that “the 2013 Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Eugene Oregon [will] host the Ethiopian National 10,000m trials for both the Men and Women, on the 31st May 2013. The race will host the best of our Ethiopian 10,000m athletes and will serve as the platform for all selection for our 10,000m teams for the IAAF World Championships held in Moscow, Russia in August 2013.”

This is the second year running that the Prefontaine Classic has been accorded the honor of staging another country’s trials race. Last year’s thrilling 10k for men selected Kenya’s team to the London Olympic Games. This year’s “Distance Night In Eugene” on Friday, May 31^st, will feature 10k races for men and women, and will also be open to athletes from nations other than Ethiopia.

With the World Championships limiting entrants to 3 per country, and with the depth of talent from Ethiopia, Kenya, and the United States among others, both trials races at this year’s Eugene Samsung Diamond League meet will be the deepest in quality of the year. The events on Friday night, including the trials races, will again be free of charge to the public thanks to title sponsor Nike.

In the coming weeks, the Ethiopian Federation will designate those athletes eligible to compete for their World Championships 10k teams in Eugene, and the names of entrants from other countries will be released by the meet.