As the men's milers took to the track for the final race of the day in Eugene on Saturday, the crowd at Hayward Field knew they were in for something special.
After seeing a world record in the non-Diamond League 10,000m from Beatrice Chebet and world leads in five other disciplines, Oregon's finest were ready for one more highlight as the very best middle-distance runners in the world prepared to slug it out once again at the spiritual home of American athletics.
They got just that, as world champion Josh Kerr and double Diamond League champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen delivered one of the most thrilling races of the season so far and wrote another chapter in their fierce on-track rivalry.
Ingebrigtsen arrived in Eugene as the firm favourite to win the Bowerman Mile, having cruised to a historic double triumph at the Wanda Diamond League Final on the same track last September.
Kerr, though, had stunned Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last summer, and he came to Oregon desperate to do so again and spoil the Norwegian's first step in his Diamond League title defence.
True to form, the two men slugged it out in a battle for the ages, with Kerr grabbing the race by the scruff of the neck early on and Ingebrigtsen producing a gutsy piece of running to stay on his tail.
As they entered the final bend, Kerr was still ahead as Ingebrigtsen went up a gear. Yet even with the Olympic and Diamond League champion breathing down his neck, the British star held firm to cross the line in 3:45.34 and deliver this week's OMEGA Moment of the Meeting.
The time, recorded by the Wanda Diamond League's official timekeeper OMEGA, was a personal best for Kerr and the fastest time in the world this year.
More importantly, it was also almost a whole second faster than Steve Cram's previous British record, which had stood for 39 years since the middle distance legend's iconic performance in Oslo in 1985.
"I wasn't thinking about the time," said Kerr. "I wanted to win and I knew it would take something along those lines to go out and win."
Having now picked up the first Diamond League win of his career, the British star now has his sights set on more glory this summer.
"I want to get that Olympic title and then I'm going to have some real fun with lots of different records and distances and stuff, but that's the last one to check off of childhood dreams. And then I can go out and try to entertain the people as much as I can."
