EUGENE, OR - Russian Olympic 800m gold medallist Yuriy Borzakovskiy, who has yet to race this summer, will compete for the first time ever on American soil in the Prefontaine Classic - IAAF Grand Prix - on 4 June at Hayward Field.

The 24-year-old from Moscow, currently second in the IAAF World Rankings for the two lap event, is renowned for his big kick, which he used to good effect to win the 800m final in Athens last summer.

Borzakovskiy, the World Championships silver medallist, whose personal best time is a sizzling 1:42.47, a time which only 5 men in history have ever bettered, will face the best the U.S. has to offer, as well as a truly international field:

Americans Khadevis Robinson(1:44.41), David Krummenacker(1:43.92), and Derrick Peterson(1:45.08), Canadian national record holder Gary Reed (1:44.92), Sudanese Ahmed Ismael (1:45.17), Canadian Ashraf Tadili (1:45.21), and Ethiopian national recordholder Berhanu Alemu (1:45.28) round out this strongest-ever Pre Classic field.

The meet record is 1:44.62, set by Johnny Gray of the U.S., back in 1996.

With the addition of men's 800m, the number of Olympic and World Championships medallists in the Pre Classic stands at 28, with 73 medals won between them.