The Tribune

Eugene, Oregon – Two athletes who came out of nowhere to earn their first major medals will be surrounded by four multiple medallists in the Prefontaine Classic men’s 400-metre hurdles on Saturday.

The race features athletes who collectively are five of the six IAAF Diamond League winners and own at least one individual medal from each Olympics and World Championships for the last decade, as well as eight No. 1 world rankings from Track & Field News.

Kenya’s Nicholas Bett and Jeffery Gibson, of the Bahamas, will be the focus of many curious eyes, coming in as the gold and bronze medallists from last summer’s World Championships in Beijing. Before last year, the best each had accomplished was a bronze medal - Bett at the African Championships, Gibson at the Commonwealth Games.

Bett, 26, was among the most unlikely of gold medallists. He rocketed out of the blocks in lane 9 and held on for the win, lowering his PR by half a second to 47.79 with the victory.

Gibson, 25, was third in Beijing, edging American Kerron Clement by 0.01 seconds. He had already collected gold last summer by winning the Pan-American Games.

While Bett will be making his debut on US soil, Gibson has experienced success already at Hayward Field, running PRs twice in the NCAA Championships while at Oral Roberts (2011 regionals and 2013 final, taking 5th). This will undoubtedly be Gibson’s biggest race before the Olympics.