Jake Wightman wins the mile at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham (© Mark Shearman)
World indoor 1500m record holder Samuel Tefera is among the headliners announced fo the Emsley Carr Mile at the Muller Anniversary Games, the 10th stop of the 2019 IAAF Diamond League, on 20-21 July.
Ethiopia's Tefera, who clocked a 3:31.39 lifetime best at the Athletissima Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Friday, will face 2017 World Championships bronze medallist Filip Ingebrigsten of Norway and double Olympic medallist Nick Willis of New Zealand along with British stars Jake Wightman, Charlie Da’Vall Grice and Chris O’Hare.
While the mile is not a scoring event for Diamond League points purposes this year, the race will continue its strong tradition. Founded in 1953, The Emsley Carr Mile is one of the most famous races in the history of British athletics with some of the world’s leading runners claiming the title including IAAF Prsident Sebastian Coe, his British compatriot Steve Ovett, Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie, Bernard Lagat of the US, and Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj who has held the mile world record of 3:43.13 since 7 July 1999, nearly two decades ago.
The iconic race, which was inaugurated in the memory of former News of the World editor Sir Emsley Carr, was last won by a British athlete in 2017 when Wightman claimed the title with a time of 3:54.92. Wightman, 24, who won both European and Commonwealth 1500m bronze last year.
"I was buzzing to win the event in 2017 and it had real significance in my confidence and development the following year," Wightman said. "On top of that, I know from experience that the support I will receive at the London Stadium is like nothing else, so I’m sure it make all the difference as I take on a world class field."
The Emsley Carr Mile will take place on Sunday 21 July, the second day of the two-day event.
Organisers for the IAAF
2019 IAAF Diamond League calendar
3 May – Doha, QAT
18 May – Shanghai, CHN
30 May – Stockholm, SWE
6 Jun – Rome, ITA
13 Jun – Oslo, NOR
16 Jun – Rabat, MAR
30 Jun – Stanford, USA
5 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
12 Jul – Monaco, MON
20-21 Jul – London, GBR
18 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
24 Aug – Paris, FRA
29 Aug – Zurich, SUI
6 Sep – Brussels, BEL
