News23 Jun 2015


Britain's best sprinters face top opposition in London – IAAF Diamond League

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James Dasaolu at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham (© Getty Images)

Britain's European 100m champion James Dasaolu and world indoor champion Richard Kilty will take on an international line up at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games that will include 2003 world champion Kim Collins and Commonwealth champion Kemar Bailey-Cole at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London on 24-25 July.

Into the bargain, the 100m race will feature USA's Michael Rodgers and Marvin Bracy, the latter having been victorious at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham earlier this month.

The Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games – the 11th stop of the 14-meeting 2015 IAAF Diamond League – takes place just four weeks before the IAAF World Championships in Beijing and the meeting will provide an important yardstick for Britain’s top athletes as they prepare to battle for medals in China.

Dasaolu’s only previous appearance at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park came at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he reached the semi-final of the 100m, and he is looking forward to returning there in a month’s time.

“I can’t wait for the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games,” said Dasaolu, who has a personal best of 9.91. "It’s a great event and an iconic stadium so it will be amazing to compete in front of such a big British crowd again. I’m sure the atmosphere under the lights on the Friday night will be a great experience for all of the athletes."

Kilty, who ran a personal best of 10.05 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, now has a first outing under 10 seconds in his sights and he is hoping the Friday night atmosphere in the stadium, the first day of the two-day event, will help him to break that barrier.

“The Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games will be a massive reception which will be amazing, it would be great to run sub-10 there,” said Kilty. "I’m very confident at the moment.

“British sprinting is absolutely amazing at the moment and everybody is buzzing to be part of it. The attitude in our sprinters has improved and we all want to achieve higher things on the world stage, so I think that’s why it’s brought it forward.

"Once you have one or two guys running really fast times, the rest of us realise we can do it and everyone steps up and it’s a domino effect."

Organisers for the IAAF

2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar
Doha, QAT – 15 May
Shanghai, CHN – 17 May
Eugene, USA – 30 May
Rome, ITA – 4 June
Birmingham, GBR – 7 June
Oslo, NOR – 11 June
New York, USA – 13 June
Paris, FRA – 4 July
Lausanne, SUI – 9 July
Monaco, MON – 17 July
London, GBR – 24-25 July
Stockholm, SWE – 30 July
Zurich, SUI – 3 September
Brussels, BEL – 11 September

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