The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

event held in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

. As the London Grand Prix, until 2012 all editions were held at the National Sports Centre in

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. The 2013 edition was renamed the ''Anniversary Games'' as it took place at the

Stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, exactly one year after the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

were held in the same venue and have been followed by an IPC London Grand Prix, making it a three-day event. In 2014 the meet was held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Scotland, as preparation for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the ex ...

held there later that month.

Event names

The 2018 event will continue to be sponsored by Müller. It was formerly sponsored by Sainsbury's.

Event locations

Emsley Carr Mile

The

Emsley Carr Mile The Emsley Carr Mile is an annual invitational athletics running event held in the United Kingdom over one mile for men. The race was won in 2022 by the British athlete Matthew Stonier. History The race was inaugurated in 1953 by Sir William Ca ...

remains a fixture at the annual meeting, with a history spanning back to 1953 at the

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock ca ...

Emsley Carr Sir William Emsley Carr (1 May 1867 – 5 August 1941) was a British newspaper editor, who edited the '' News of the World'' for more than fifty years. Carr was born and raised in the Hunslet district of Leeds. His uncle, Henry Lascelles ...

, an athletics fan and the editor of ''

The News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national red top tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling English-language newspaper, and at closure still had one o ...

'', created an annual mile race in the hope that the first

four-minute mile A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...

would be achieved on British soil.

Gordon Pirie Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie (10 February 1931 – 7 December 1991) was an English long-distance runner. He competed in the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won a silver medal in the 5000 m in 1956, placing fo ...

won the first race, but

Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub-4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres an ...

had run under 4 minutes in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

by time that the second race was competed. However, the tradition continued, with the winner signing his name in a red leather-bound book identical to the Bible used in Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

Derek Ibbotson George Derek Ibbotson (17 June 1932 – 23 February 2017) was an English runner who excelled in athletics in the 1950s. His most famous achievement was setting a new world record in the mile in 1957. Biography Ibbotson was born in Huddersf ...

achieved the first sub-4-minute run at the race in 1956, and many of the best

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

s have won at the Emsley Carr Mile since, including

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

Steve Ovett Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and set 5 world records for 1500 metres and t ...

and

Hicham El Guerrouj Hicham El Guerrouj ( ar, هشام الݣروج, Hishām l-Garrūj; ber, ⵀⵉⵛⴰⵎ ⴻⵍ ⴳⴻⵔⵔⵓⵊ, Hisham El Gerruj; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record h ...

Millicent Fawcett Mile

The Millicent Fawcett Mile, a women's race, was first held in the 2018 Anniversary Games and won by

Sifan Hassan Sifan Hassan ( om, Siifan Hassan; born 1 January 1993) is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning gold medals in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, ...

in 4:14.71. It commemorates

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

Millicent Fawcett. There had been a women's mile event at previous games, without this title, the previous record being held by

Hellen Obiri Hellen Onsando Obiri (born 13 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. She is a two-time Olympic 5000 metres silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000 metres. Sh ...

who ran in 2017 in 4:16.56.

History

In 2009

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

favourite Yelena Isinbayeva lost for the first time in 18 competitions, beaten by

Anna Rogowska Anna Rogowska (born 21 May 1981) is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the pole vault. She became the World Champion in 2009 in Berlin. Career Born in Gdynia, she won the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, narrowly beating Monika Pyrek ...

Kate Dennison Kate Rooney (born Kate Dennison, 7 May 1984) is an English pole vaulter. She is a former British record holder both indoors and out, before both of her records were surpassed by Holly Bleasdale in 2011. Born in Durban, South Africa, Rooney ca ...

set an eighth British record in the pole vault. On 24 January 2013 it was announced that London Grand Prix would be moved to the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

for 2013. The

London Legacy Development Corporation The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) is an organisation established in 2012, replacing the Olympic Park Legacy Company. It was formed as a mayoral development corporation under the powers of the Localism Act 2011. The ''mayoral develo ...

had expressed interest in holding an athletics event at the stadium to coincide with the first anniversary of the start of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. After the 2013 event a return to Crystal Palace was ruled out as according to Ed Warner it would be a backward step.

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

which was due to host the athletics events at the Commonwealth Games and a temporary venue in Horse Guards Parade and the Mall were mooted for the 2014 edition, before a return to the Olympic Stadium in 2015 due to a gap in the reconstruction schedule. A four-year sponsorship deal with

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

was announced in January 2014. In February 2014 it was confirmed that the Grand Prix event would move to Hampden Park and be known as the ''Glasgow Grand Prix''. The event returned to London from 2015 and continued to be known as the ''Anniversary Games ''. The 2021 event, due to be held on 13 July was moved away from London Stadium to Gateshead International Stadium due to the difficulty of reconfiguring the stadium for a single athletics event.

World records

Over the course of its history, a number of

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizat ...

have been set at the London Grand Prix.

Meeting records

Men

Women

References

External links

Diamond League – London Official Web Site
{{Athletics in the UK Sports competitions in London Athletics in London Athletics competitions in England Diamond League IAAF Super Grand Prix Track and field in the United Kingdom Annual events in London Recurring sporting events established in 1953 IAAF Grand Prix IAAF World Outdoor Meetings