A world champion reasserted her power, a rivalry wrote a thrilling new chapter, and a record crumbled.

The 2024 Prefontaine Classic featured a host of likely Olympians and, as a result, previewed much of what’s to come in Paris. As expected, the meet provided a steady stream of entertainment and was rife with Olympic implications.

Here’s how the top results from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon impact the Paris Olympics only two months away.

What it means: Unless shown otherwise, the women's 100m is Sha’Carri’s show.

Sha’Carri Richardson entered the Prefontaine Classic with a few concerns.

“It’s my (100m season) opener, so I would not be human to say that I wasn’t nervous,” Richardson said. “As my coach says, use that nervousness as motivation.”

Richardson hadn’t raced in a 100m since September 2023 and entered the weekend with a three-race losing streak. Last month in China, Richardson lost a pair of 200m races at the Xiamen and Suzhou Diamond League events, falling to third in the latter.

The 2023 world champion faced an opportunity in Oregon: Remind the world that she's the fastest woman on the planet.

Richardson accomplished that, blazing to victory in 10.83 seconds. In the process, Richardson outdueled St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who each finished in the top five at 2023 Worlds. Richardson also finished well in front of five-time Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica.

Her time of 10.83 is the second-fastest in the world this year, trailing only University of Tennessee senior Jacious Sears, who logged a 10.77 in April.

“This year has been humbling,” Richardson said on NBC after the race. “So it feels exciting hearing everybody cheering my name. And it gave me reassurance from the outside that I am still who I am and just focus on being just me.”

Richardson will soon compete at her second U.S. Olympic Trials, where she’ll aim to secure an Olympic spot for the first time. At 2020 Trials, Richardson won the 100m, but a sample revealed that she had tested positive for cannabis use. The United States Anti-Doping Agency then suspended her for one month, which kept her out of the Tokyo Games.

The world champion is approaching peak form as her redemption opportunity looms next month on the same track at which she dashed to victory.

What it means: Kerr vs. Ingebrigtsen is the Paris Olympics’ “grab your popcorn” rivalry moment.

The famed Bowerman Mile was dubbed the “Mile of the Century” entering the massive clash between Josh Kerr of Great Britain, the reigning world 1,500m champion, and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, defending Olympic 1,500m gold medalist.

Throw in American Yared Nuguse and 2022 world champion Jake Wightman of Great Britain, and this mile was teeming with hype.

And with trash talk flying for years — most of all, between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen — Kerr emerged victorious with a time of three minutes, 45.34 seconds, setting a new British record and world-leading time in the process.

Ingebrigtsen finished second with a time of 3:45.60. Nuguse placed third, and Brits Neil Gourley and Wightman were fourth and fifth, respectively.

It wasn’t just that Kerr edged Ingebrigtsen, however. It’s how he did it, storming to the lead with 600m to go and holding on for the statement victory. Kerr’s time also stands as the tenth-fastest mile in history.

“I said, ‘If I feel like it’s time, I’m gonna go,’” Kerr told reporters after the race. “I don’t really listen to other people when it comes to race strategy. I’m going to go with my instinct.”

Ingebrigtsen hadn’t raced since the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in September due to an Achilles tendon injury.

“I tried to fight him,” the 23-year-old Norwegian said. “But to me, today was all about time trial. Of course, we’re racing but it’s definitely some difference in terms of approach to this race. For some people, this is their final test even before the Paris Olympics. But this is not my final test. So it’s definitely a big difference the way that we all kind of see this race. But it’s a good fight.”

Kerr and Ingebrigtsen have beef that dates back to the Tokyo Olympics, when Ingebrigtsen prevailed to win gold in the 1500m. Kerr took bronze in Tokyo but then finally topped Ingebrigtsen at 2023 Worlds in Budapest, winning 1500m gold.

Ingebrigtsen later asserted he wasn’t 100% at worlds and declared to a Norwegian publication this winter that he’d beat Kerr (and Wightman) “98 out of 100 times.”

In February, Ingebrigtsen doubled down, asserting that he could have beaten Kerr “blindfolded” at the Millrose Games in New York, where Kerr set a two-mile world record.

Kerr, 26, has fired back a few times, criticizing what he views as his young rival’s outsized ego. And in Oregon, he fired back with a 3:45.34 mile that set the stage for an epic 1500m race at the Paris Olympics.

Kenyan Beatrice Chebet crushed the 10,000m world record, clocking a time of 28 minutes, 54.15 seconds. Chebet, 24, is the first woman to run 10,000m in under 29 minutes.

She edged Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey’s previous world record of 29:01.03 from 2021.

The Prefontaine Classic doubled as the Kenyan Olympic Trials, so Chebet is Paris-bound. Chebet previously earned a 5,000m silver at the 2022 World Championships, followed by a bronze in 2023.

Three-time world champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Grant Holloway won the 110m hurdles event in 13.03 seconds, setting a world’s best time for 2024.

Christian Coleman, who missed the Tokyo Games due to whereabouts failures, won the men’s 100m in 9.95 seconds. Coleman beat out a field that included Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala and Jamaican Ackeem Blake but lacked fellow likely Olympic 100m competitors like American Noah Lyles, Great Britain's Zharnel Hughes and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.

Ethiopian Diribe Welteji won the women’s 1500m, holding off U.S. star Elle St. Pierre, who placed third.

Defending Olympic champion Valarie Allman triumphed in the women’s discus with a throw of 67.36m, dominating a field that included fellow American and defending world champion Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, who finished sixth (62.01m).

American Joe Kovacs won the men’s shot put with two throws over 23m, including a 23.13m toss that ranks as the seventh-farthest throw in history. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser was a late scratch.