The London Athletics Meet, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games and London Diamond League, is an annual athletics event held in London, England.
Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. As the London Grand Prix, until 2012 all editions were held at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace. The 2013 edition was renamed the Anniversary Games as it took place at the Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, exactly one year after the Olympic Games were held in the same venue and have been followed by an IPC London Grand Prix, making it a three-day event. In 2014 the meet was held in Glasgow, Scotland, as preparation for the Commonwealth Games held there later that month.
The Millicent Fawcett Mile, a women's race, was first held in the 2018 Anniversary Games and won by Sifan Hassan in 4:14.71.[14] It commemorates suffragistMillicent Fawcett.[15] There had been a women's mile event at previous games, without this title, the previous record being held by Hellen Obiri who ran in 2017 in 4:16.56.
On 24 January 2013 it was announced that London Grand Prix would be moved to the Olympic Stadium for 2013. The London Legacy Development Corporation had expressed interest in holding an athletics event at the stadium to coincide with the first anniversary of the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[17] After the 2013 event, a return to Crystal Palace was ruled out as according to Ed Warner it would be a backward step.
Hampden Park, which was due to host the athletics events at the Commonwealth Games and a temporary venue in Horse Guards Parade and the Mall, were mooted for the 2014 edition, before a return to the Olympic Stadium in 2015 due to a gap in the reconstruction schedule.[18] A four-year sponsorship deal with Sainsbury's was announced in January 2014.[19] In February 2014 it was confirmed that the Grand Prix event would move to Hampden Park and be known as the Glasgow Grand Prix. The event returned to London in 2015 and continued to be known as the Anniversary Games until 2021.
The 2021 event, due to be held on 13 July, was moved away from London Stadium to Gateshead International Stadium due to the difficulty of reconfiguring the stadium for a single athletics event.[20]
World records
Over the course of its history, a number of world records have been set at the London Grand Prix.