News29 Jun 2016


Ennis-Hill to line up against Harrison in London – IAAF Diamond League

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Jessica Ennis-Hill at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London (© Getty Images)

Organisers of the Müller Anniversary Games have announced that world and Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill will compete in two events at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London on 22-23 July.

The 30-year-old will contest the 100m hurdles on Friday 22 July and will take on world leader Kendra Harrison, who earlier this year moved to second on the world all-time list with her North American 100m hurdles record of 12.24.

Ennis-Hill and Harrison will be joined by USA’s two-time world indoor champion Nia Ali, 2013 world champion Brianna Rollins and Britain’s European champion Tiffany Porter.

Last week Ennis-Hill won the heptathlon at the IAAF Combined Events Challenge meeting in Ratingen with a score of 6733, her best tally since the 2012 Olympics and higher than her scores from both of her IAAF World Championships victories.

“I have been very selective about my competitions, but due to the very strong field in the 100m hurdles in London, my coach and I felt it was good to have a fast race before heading to the training camp for Rio,” said Ennis, who set her 100m hurdles PB of 12.54 in London’s Olympic Stadium in 2012.

“I love running the hurdles and know there is a quicker time in me this year. The competition on the Friday night at the Müller Anniversary Games will be tough, so I am banking on a good crowd to lift me to run a good time.”

Harrison, who is undefeated outdoors this year, will have Sally Pearson’s stadium record of 12.35 and maybe even the world record of 12.21 in her sights when she lines up at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

“I’m really happy with how I’ve been running this year and it will be important to keep it going at the Muller Anniversary Games with it being so close to the Olympics,” said Harrison. “I’ve been getting close to the world record and if everything goes perfectly hopefully I can challenge it in London.”

Following her PB of 6.63m in Ratingen, Ennis-Hill will contest the long jump on the Saturday at the Müller Anniversary Games, where she will face some of the world’s best long jump talents.

Usain Bolt has already confirmed that he will compete on the Friday night as part of what will be the final IAAF Diamond League meeting before the Rio Olympic Games.

Organisers for the IAAF

2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar
6 May – Doha, QAT
14 May – Shanghai, CHN
22 May – Rabat, MAR
28 May – Eugene, USA
2 Jun – Rome, ITA
5 Jun – Birmingham, GBR
9 Jun – Oslo, NOR
16 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
15 Jul – Monaco, MON
22-23 Jul – London, GBR
25 Aug – Lausanne, SUI
27 Aug – Paris, FRA
1 Sep – Zurich, SUI
9 Sep – Brussels, BEL