Star-studded line-ups as the Diamond League hits the British capital this weekend
A sell-out 60,000 crowd will enjoy almost four hours of world-class athletics on Saturday when the Novuna London Athletics Meet unfolds at the Olympic Stadium.
Leading Brits include Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and George Mills in the 1500m, Jemma Reekie, Laura Muir and Georgia Hunter Bell in the 800m, Molly Caudery in the pole vault, Matt Hudson-Smith in the 400m, Zharnel Hughes in the 100m and Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Jazmin Sawyers in the long jump.
International stars on show include Femke Bol, Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Julien Alfred, Miltiádis Tentóglou, Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Mykolas Alekna.
The meeting will be shown live on BBC1 from 1.15pm to 4.25pm on Saturday.
Schedule and highlights
12:15 – Club Connect U17 mixed relay
12:26 – Club Connect U20 mixed relay
12:37 – Para 1500m men
Ben Sandilands and Luke Nuttall are among the entries.
12:48 – National 400m men
Toby Harries, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Lee Thompson and Lewis Davey are in this all-domestic field.
12:53 – Long Jump men
The first Diamond League event of the day gets underway with Olympic champion Miltiádis Tentóglou of Greece being the man to beat as he faces Mattia Furlani of Italy, Tajay Gayle and Wayne Pinnock of Jamaica, Simon EHammer of Switzerland, while Sam Khogali competes for Britain.
12:58 – Para 100m women
Multiple global medallist Sophie Hahn leads the way.
13:06 – National 400m women
An all-domestic field could be a forerunner to the UK Champs a fortnight later with Laviai Nielsen, Victoria Ohuruogu and Ama Pipi.
13:14 – Para 100m men
Zac Shaw, Zak Skinner and Thomas Young are in the line-up.
13:19 – Discus men
World record-holder Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania faces the Jamaican who pipped him to Olympic gold last year, Roje Stona, plus former world champions Kristjan Ceh and Daniel Stahl, plus leading Brits Lawrence Okoye and Nick Percy.
13:23 – 4x100m men
British teams take on Jamaica, Netherlands, Poland and Scotland.
13:33 – 4x100m women
Two British quartets face Australia, Canada, France, Ireland and Jamaica.
13:44 – National 400m hurdles men
A top-class event for Brits so far in 2025, a number of leading athletes like Seamus Derbyshire and Tyri Donovan will be shooting for PBs.
13:53 – Pole Vault women
Molly Caudery, the world indoor champion in 2024, is sure to receive one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon as she faces Katie Moon of the United States and Angelica Moser of Switzerland among others. Caudery has been rounding into good form lately too with a 4.80m win in Greece and Diamond League victory in Doha.
14:04 – 400m hurdles women
In 2023 Femke Bol ran a European and Diamond League record of 51.45 in London and improved on that in the British capital in 2024 with 51.30, although her best-ever time came a few days earlier with 50.95 in Switzerland. This summer the Dutch athlete has run 51.95 so what will she run in London this weekend? Lina Nielsen goes for Britain.
14:13 – High Jump women
This event makes a welcome return to London after a few years. Due to its absence it means it’s the first time world record-holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine has competed in the British capital. She faces Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Britain’s Morgan Lake.
14:15 – 800m men
Fresh from his big win in Monaco in 1:41.44, Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya will be favourite. But he will face tough opposition from Olympic silver medallist Marco Arop of Canada, in-form Spaniard Mohamed Attaoui and American Donavan Brazier, the latter returning from a lengthy lay-off due to Achilles problems after winning the 2019 world title. Britain’s Max Burgin will hope to avoid the bumping and barging that led to a poor run in Monaco, while fellow Brit Ben Pattison returns from injury and Ethan Hussey is a welcome late entry.
14:27 – 5000m women
Athletes like Medina Eisa of Ethiopia will ensure it’s fast. Behind, Britain’s Megan Keith, Calli Hauger-Thackery, Hannah Nuttall and teenager Innes FitzGerald will hope to get dragged to fast times.
14:47 – Long jump women
A big event for the home crowd as world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson takes to the runway and Jazmin Sawyers continues her brilliant comeback from Achilles surgery. They face Malaika Mihambo of Germany and Larissa Iapichino of Italy among others.
14:52 – 800m women
No Keely Hodgkinson but remember she withdrew on the day at this meeting in 2023 and Jemma Reekie brought the house down with a home victory. Reekie competes again on Saturday with fellow Brits Georgia Hunter Bell and Laura Muir as they face Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica and Addison Wiley of the United States.
15:03 – 400m men
Olympic silver medallist Matt Hudson-Smith and European silver medallist Charlie Dobson ensure this is a strong event for Britain. Opposition includes Commonwealth champion Muzala Samukonga of Zambia, Vernon Norwood of the United States and Zakithi Nene of South Africa.
15:13 – One mile women
In the absence of late withdrawal Sifan Hassan and Beatrice Chebet, the latter of whom was rumoured to be interested in running here, this looks like being a battle between Olympic 1500m silver medallist Jess Hull of Australia and Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia. Brits Revee Walcott-Nolan, Katie Snowden and Erin Wallace also run, together with Ireland’s Sarah Healy.
15:27 – 100m men
Noah Lyles beat Letsile Tebogo in a 200m head to head in Monaco last week but here they square off over 100m. British record-holder Zharnel Hughes will want to get in the mix, together with world indoor champion Jeremiah Azu and Louie Hinchliffe, the latter returning from injury. In a strong field, look out for Jamaicans Ackeem Blake and Oblique Seville plus Akani Simbine of South Africa.
15:38 – 200m women
Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia leads the line-up but there is a three-pronged challenge from Britain with Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Amy Hunt. Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke also runs.
15:48 – 1500m men
After runners fell on the first bend in the Emsley Carr Mile here last year, this time it’s a metric mile with world champion Josh Kerr and former world champion Jake Wightman facing in-form George Mills, while Neil Gourley and Elliot Giles add to the domestic interest. There’s no Jakob Ingebrigtsen, as the Norwegian continues his comeback from an Achilles problem, but look out for Phanuel Koech of Kenya, Cam Myers of Australia, Isaac Nader of Portugal, long distance specialist Selemon Barega of Ethiopia and 2024 Emsley Carr Mile winner Olli Hoare of Australia.