29 August 2013  

In the penultimate leg of the IAAF Diamond League, a large contingent of GB & NI athletes head to Zurich tonight as the outdoor season nears its end.

Adam Gemili (coach: Michael Afilaka) leads the charge at this evening’s meet, in which no fewer than twelve British athletes will be in action.

IAAF World Championship fifth place finisher Gemili steps down from the 200m to line up against six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt over 100m. Gemili’s personal best stands at 10.05 and this may well be under threat, along with that magical ten second barrier, should the weather be favourable.

Third in Stockholm, William Sharman (Jerzy Maciukiewicz) will be looking to continue the rich vein of form that saw him finish fifth in in the in Moscow and carry on charging up the IAAF Diamond League rankings.

Olympic bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz (Fuzz Ahmed) goes in the men’s high jump, an event which contains all three Moscow medallists. The 25 year old will have to be on top form to move up the Diamond Race standings, and event that he won last year.

Meanwhile in the women’s long jump Shara Proctor (Rana Reider) also faces all three Moscow 2013 medallists, knowing that she must beat both Brittney Reese and Blessing Okagbare, whom she trials by just one point, to take the overall Diamond Race crown.

Nigel Levine (Linford Christie) will line up in a very tough 400m field, which includes Olympic gold and silver medallists Kirani James and Luguelin Santos as well as world champion and the fastest man in the world this year, LaShawn Merritt.

Last time Chris Tomlinson (Rana Reider) was in Germany this season he produced a season best of 8.21m and will be looking for a similar performance tonight as he goes head-to-head with Russia’s world champion Aleksandr Menkov, who has already secured top spot in the Diamond League standings.

After a well-earned fifth place position in Stockholm last week, World 400m hurdles semi-finalist Meghan Beesley (Nick Dakin) attempting to go sub-55 again, while Stephanie Twell (Mick Woods) will take to the track in the 5000m.

In the non-diamond races, world and Olympic finalist Andrew Osagie (Craig Winrow) lines up with compatriot Michael Rimmer (Norman Poole) in the 800m, while Bianca Williams (Lloyd Cowan) joins 4x100m bronze medallist Ashleigh Nelson (Afilaka) in the pre-programme 100m.

Nelson will go again in the Zurich Trophy women’s 4x100m relay, which brings proceedings at the famous Weltklasse meet to a close. The GB & NI team will be the exactly the same as the team that earned that terrific bronze medal in Moscow, with 17 year old Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie) leading the team off, before handing over the Nelson, Annabelle Lewis (Roger Walters) and Hayley Jones (Donald Moss).

Tune in to BBC3 at 7pm to catch all the action, and follow @BritAthletics on Twitter for live updates throughout the evening