A host of Britain’s biggest athletics names will join the world class start list for the Novuna London Athletics Meet, part of the Wanda Diamond League series that will take place on Saturday, 18 July.
A trio of British male sprinting talent will line up at London Stadium, Welsh record holder Jeremiah Azu will line up alongside British record holder Zharnel Hughes and newly crowned British champion Romell Glave in the men’s sprint events.
Hughes returns to the scene of one of the most memorable performances of his career, having smashed the British 200m record with 19.73 at the London Stadium in 2023. The sprinter also holds the British 100m record of 9.83.
Azu arrives in London as an in-form sprinter, the 2025 world indoor champion, who has consistently built on his times this season, running a season’s best of 10.03 at this year’s British Championships in June.
Joining them is Romell Glave, who secured his first British outdoor 100m title this summer after becoming the latest Briton to break the 10-second barrier.
In the women’s 400m, fans will see British record holder Amber Anning, who continues to rewrite the history books. Anning became the first British woman ever to win an individual World Indoor sprint title when she captured 400m gold in 2025, just months after lowering the British outdoor record to 49.29 and winning two Olympic relay medals in Paris.
She is joined by fellow Olympic relay medallist Yemi Mary John, who produced a superb anchor leg to help Great Britain & Northern Ireland secure bronze in the mixed relay at the 2026 World Relays in Botswana. The 21-year-old has continued her impressive development this season, recently breaking the 50-second barrier for the first time.
A strong British duo, Tokyo world 1500m silver medallist Jake Wightman and 2022 world bronze medallist Ben Pattison, join the men’s 800m line-up.
Wightman arrives in strong form after claiming the British 800m title and recording his third-fastest career performance at the Stockholm Diamond League. Pattison has consistently challenged the world’s best on the Diamond League circuit this season, finishing fourth in Paris and Stockholm meets, recording his second fastest ever time of 1:43.70 at the latter.
The pair will compete in a tough field with current 800m World champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) and fellow Brit Max Burgin.
Elsewhere, Laura Muir steps up in distance to contest the women’s 3000m as she builds towards the 5000m at a home Commonwealth Games in Scotland. The Olympic silver medallist and multiple European champion has not raced the distance outdoors since the 2022 Lausanne Diamond League.
In the iconic Emsley Carr Mile, Jake Heyward continues his impressive comeback following double Achilles surgery. The Tokyo Olympic finalist opened his 2026 campaign with an encouraging 3:35.53 over 1500m in Stockholm and will be looking to build on that momentum in front of a home crowd.
British discus champion Zara Obamakinwa will make her Diamond League debut against some of the world’s leading throwers. Obamakinwa already holds both the British U18 and U20 discus records and continues her rapid rise through the senior ranks.
Six-time British champion Alastair Chalmers lines up in the men’s 400m hurdles, facing one of athletics’ biggest stars in world record holder Karsten Warholm (NOR).
There will also be Diamond League debuts for Owen Heard in the men’s pole vault and Lucy Hadaway in the women’s long jump.
The Novuna London Athletics Meet – the world’s biggest one-day athletics event – is the eleventh meeting of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League. The series comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and begins in Shanghai/Keqiao on 23 May (as a result of the Mazzraty Doha Meeting being rescheduled from 8 May to 19 June). It concludes with a single final across two days in Brussels (4-5 September).
Buy your tickets now: https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/events-and-tickets/novuna-london-athletics-meet-2026/
ENDS
About the Wanda Diamond League
The Wanda Diamond League is the elite one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field, delivering world-class competitions for fans and athletes in all four corners of the world.
The series provides a unique opportunity for athletes across the full diversity of track and field to compete regularly at the highest level throughout the outdoor season. In 32 different disciplines, athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final.
With events in 13 different countries across four different continents, the Diamond League is one of the most truly global series in world sport.
In 2025, it welcomed 400,000 spectators to some of the planet’s most iconic arenas and was broadcast on television in 170 different countries. It also reached an online fanbase of five million social media followers worldwide, notching up more than one billion impressions and more than 900 million video views across all platforms.
The 2026 Diamond League season will begin in Doha on May 8 and end at the two-day series final in Brussels on September 4-5.
