(ATR) Twenty-two Olympic champions highlight a stellar field as athletics returns to a renovated London Olympic Stadium this weekend.
Usain Bolt, David Rudisha, and British Olympic champions Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford are the headliners at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games, a two-day Diamond League meeting this Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25.
British Athletics president Niels de Vos tells Around the Rings that the high profile meet is a key step for London 2012’s legacy.
"It was great in London 2012 and we have a good budget and a great date, which is the anniversary of the Games," de Vos said.
"Bolt likes running in front of big crowds and it’s made that Friday night very attractive – Jessica and Mo are also going that night.
"Friday night could arguably be one of the strongest nights that athletics has ever seen."
Bolt, who has 3.7 million Twitter followers, tweeted: "Hey London, I'm coming back! Come see me at the Olympic stadium on July 24."
De Vos says that tickets sales have been brisk and the event is likely to be the most well-attended track meet of the season.
"There are some tickets available happily because it is a very big stadium," de Vos said. "We’ll be over 40,000 on the first night and on Saturday we’ll be nearly at 50,000.
"If we have 40,000 on both nights, which we definitely will, it will be the two biggest athletics events anywhere in the world this year."
Bolt, who has competed sparingly this season citing injury and has not run since a Diamond League meet in New York on June 13, makes a highly anticipated return to the scene of his triple gold medal performance at London 2012.
The six-time Olympic gold medalist from Jamaica, who opted out of recent Diamond League meets in Lausanne and Paris, will race the 100-meters at 9:29 p.m. local time Friday evening.
"He’s been on national television the past few nights, and he’s been pretty relaxed and talkative," de Vos said of the Jamaican superstar and what has been a quiet season by his lofty standards. "I don’t think he would be running if we didn’t think feel he could perform because he doesn’t tend to do that."
Bolt will be making his first appearance in London since the 2013 Anniversary Games and his decision to run comes after the British government waived UK income tax for athletes based overseas.
Ennis-Hill, another marquee athlete who has not competed regularly since the London Games and due to the birth of a child, is scheduled to compete in three events. The 2012 Olympic heptathlon champ will take to the track in the 100-hurdles on Friday evening and also go in the long jump and 200-meters on Saturday.
Double Olympic champion Farah, who has been under scrutiny since doping allegations came against his coach Alberto Salazar last month, will set his sights on breaking his own stadium record of 7:36.85 as he runs the 3000-meters to close Friday night’s program.
The Sainsbury’s IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final concludes the three-day London meet on Sunday, July 26.
New Look London Olympic Stadium
In what will mark the official re-opening of the Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, athletes will run, jump and throw with a new roof overhead at the venue for the first time.
"The most obvious difference is now that it is completely roofed," de Vos said. "That is the primary difference and it has been a massive exercise that has taken most of the year to do."
"For the Olympics it was still in theory a temporary venue and for summer sport only, but if you want year-long use in the UK, every seat has to be under cover," de Vos advised.
New video screens and corporate boxes are also part of the renovation, which is yet to be finished.
De Vos said that a long-term deal between British Athletics and the Olympic Stadium will help cement London 2012’s legacy.
"Legacy promises are being delivered," de Vos said. "The legacy of the building itself is amazing for us. To be a national governing body with a lease to an Olympic stadium every summer for the next 50 years is an opportunity most governing bodies would love to have.
"It gives us a chance to put on event of this scale and magnitude and keeps athletics as a high-profile sport.
"It will become our British Open or our Wimbledon."
New Deals for British Athletics
Niels, who has been chief executive of UK Athletics since May 2007, said that the high-profile meet has propagated significant business opportunities.
"I’ve been able to sign a new television deal with the BBC which goes right up to 2020 and have been able to sign a new commercial sponsorship deal with Nike also up until 2020," he said.
"Those are things that come on the back of a strong Olympic Games, but also really importantly are linked to the fact that we have the world championships back in the stadium in 2017."
The Sainsbury Anniversary Games will be the final time that the original London 2012 track is used, as a new surface will be laid for future events, most notably the London 2017 IAAF World Championships.
"I think those who know are sentimental about that," de Vos said. "It’s a great track and we hope for some fast times this weekend and then we move on."
This weekend’s Diamond League meet, the 11th of 14th events this season, comes one month before track and field’s best convene at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium for the IAAF World Championships, August 22-30.
Written by Brian Pinelli
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.