Britain’s Olympic champions Mo Farah (coach: Alberto Salazar) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Toni Minichiello) will be joined by more than 50 reigning Olympic, Paralympic and World medallists on ‘Super Saturday’ of the Müller Anniversary Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday 23 July, an event which organisers are dubbing ‘Rio in a weekend’.
The world’s best Paralympic athletes such as 2012 champions Jonnie Peacock (Dan Pfaff), David Weir (Jenny Archer) and Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks) will compete on the Saturday between 12-2pm, before the IAAF Diamond League event takes place between 2-5pm.
British record holder Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie) will face a world class field in the 100m that includes Jamaica’s ten-time global champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who claimed 100m gold at this venue four years ago at the London 2012 Olympics, World bronze medallist Tori Bowie and World long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta.
The top three from last month’s British Championships, Asha Phillip (Steve Fudge), Daryll Neita (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) and Desiree Henry (Rana Reider), will also test themselves against the world’s best sprinters in the 100m.
World champion Dafne Schippers will go head to head with Jamaican Elaine Thompson over 200m. Schippers recorded the third fastest time ever last year and has also run the fastest time in the world in 2016. After winning 100m gold at the European Championships in front of a home crowd in Amsterdam last weekend, the Dutchwoman will be confident against Thompson, who she defeated into second place at the World Championships in Beijing last summer.
Andrew Pozzi (Malcolm Arnold) set a 110m hurdles personal best of 13.31 at the British Championships last month and will hope to continue his great form in London against Britain’s other best hurdlers Lawrence Clarke (Samba-Koundy Giscard), David King (James Hillier) and David Omoregie (Benke Blomqvist). They will face strong international competition from the likes of Orlando Ortega, the fastest hurdler in the world this year.
2012 European champion Lynsey Sharp (Rana Reider) will continue her preparation for Rio in the 800m and will face British rival Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (Jon Bigg), who pipped her to the British title in a close race a few weeks ago. 2011 European champion Jenny Meadows (Trevor Painter) announced her retirement from the sport last week and the Müller Anniversary Games will be her last ever major race in the UK.
The women’s long jump has a distinctly British flavour as Olympic and world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill faces fellow multi-events star Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Mike Holmes), who will also compete in the high jump on the Friday night. Also competing in the long jump will be world silver medallist and British record holder Shara Proctor (Rana Reider), World Indoor bronze medallist Lorraine Ugen (Shawn Jackson) and recently crowned European silver medallist Jazmin Sawyers (Alan Lerwill).
Elsewhere in the field, Olympic discus champion Sandra Perkovic will return to the scene of her 2012 success to headline a strong discus competition. In the pole vault, Cuba’s Yarisley Silva, gold medallist at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing last year, faces new European champion Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece and British record holder Holly Bradshaw (Scott Simpson).
The men’s shot put competition will be fiercely contested with two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland competing against three-time European champion David Storl, 2015 World champion Joe Kovacs and World Indoor champion Tom Walsh of New Zealand.
The Great Britain team that won gold at the European Championships last week will finalise their preparations for Rio against the current Olympic champions Jamaica as the day climaxes with the men’s 4x100m relay.
Double Olympic, World and European champion Mo Farah has already confirmed that he will line up in the 5000m against many of his Rio rivals.
Müller Yogurt & Desserts are the title partner for the world-class Anniversary Games in London, where they aim, through their Müllerlicious products and partnerships, to empower consumers to make active and healthy lifestyle choices, just like the inspiring athletes who compete in these athletic events in the run up to this year’s Olympic Games in Rio and throughout the year.
