The Prefontaine Classic, international track and field's showcase event in North America, takes place Friday and Saturday at Hayward Field.
Who outside of Eugene will notice?
In a harsh if unintended indictment of the sport's inability to successfully market itself, there isn't a single athlete from track and field or road running on ESPN's annual list of the 100 most famous athletes in sports. There are, however, 10 cricket players, two table tennis players and one badminton player.
In a companion piece for ESPNW, track and field and road running went 0-for-25 in this list of the 25 the world's most famous women athletes.