Lilian Odira among star-studded 800m contingent confirmed for Prefontaine Classic
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 25.02.26. | 15:00
Ranked fourth globally, Odira will be chasing her first Diamond League win of 2026, buoyed by the confidence of having beaten the Olympic champion on the biggest stage
Reigning World 800m champion Lilian Odira will renew her rivalry with Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell and Keely Hodgkinson when the trio headline a mouth-watering showdown at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on Saturday, 4 July.
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The clash reunites the entire podium from last year’s World Athletics Championships, where all three dipped under 1:55 in a dramatic final.
Odira, Hunter Bell, and Hodgkinson will meet again at Hayward Field in a race named in honour of 800m great Maria Mutola, promising another high-octane showdown at the Eugene leg of the Wanda Diamond League.
Reigning Olympic champion and two-time Diamond League winner Keely Hodgkinson arrives with history in her sights.
The Briton has set her sights on the women’s 800m world record of 1:53.28, a mark set by Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 and the longest-standing world record in track and field.
After clocking a world indoor record of 1:54.87 in Liévin last week, Hodgkinson said she has “never felt closer” to reeling in the elusive standard.
Hodgkinson has already shown a knack for rewriting record books. In her most recent Diamond League outing, she smashed a 23-year-old meet record at Athletissima, a race in which Odira finished second before turning the tables with a stunning victory over the Briton in the Tokyo world final.
Ranked fourth globally, Odira will be chasing her first Diamond League win of 2026, buoyed by the confidence of having beaten the Olympic champion on the biggest stage.
Hunter Bell, meanwhile, knows what it takes to outkick her compatriot. She pipped Hodgkinson to silver with a late surge in Tokyo and, as the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, she will be eager to add to the Diamond League victories she claimed in Stockholm and London last season.
Eugene marks the ninth stop of the 2026 Diamond League calendar, which begins in Doha on May 8 and culminates in a two-day series final in Brussels on September 4–5. Spanning four continents and 15 cities, the circuit brings the sport’s biggest names to its most iconic arenas, setting the stage for another classic 800m duel under the Hayward Field lights.