Pozzi, McLeod set for hurdles head-to-head at Anniversary Games

The 110m hurdles showdown is set for the London Stadium on 20-21 July, with the duo the latest of the world’s top athletes to go onto the bill for the IAAF Diamond League event.

Their confirmation follows that of six reigning world champions from London 2017, including 400m world record holder Wayde Van Niekerk (RSA) and Olympic champions Christian Taylor (USA) and Katerina Stefanidi (GRE).

It will be something of a homecoming for Pozzi, the first time he has competed at a major international outdoor meet on home soil since he relocated to Formia in Italy in October.

Current coach, Cuban Santiago Antunez, coached two of the last five Olympic 110m hurdles champions, Anier Garcia (Sydney 2000) and Darron Robles (Beijing 2008).

The Stratford-upon-Avon athlete has settled in well and has been working on changes to his technique, which he believes will pay dividends when he gets more races under his belt this season.

Pozzi finished in second at the IAAF Diamond league event in Rome last week in a season’s best time of 13.29 seconds, and he believes he will be firing on all cylinders in Stratford in six weeks’ time.

Pozzi said: “The Müller Anniversary Games is really going to be the time when I’m going to start tapering up, with regard to training and really trying to perform at the highest level.

“I’m currently still competing under quite a heavy workload of training, just because we’ve got quite a lot of changes to make, and with such a long period of time before Doha it makes sense to still be working at this time of the year.

“The Anniversary Games is when I’ll try to put some really good performances out there, as part of my preparations for the world championships.

“To have McLeod confirmed for that race, means the fans are going to get a really strong race and hopefully some good performances in the London Stadium.”

The Müller Anniversary Games will be McLeod’s first race in the London Stadium since he won gold at the IAAF World Championships there in 2017.

The Rio Olympic champion made a strong start to his Diamond League campaign last month, with a win in Shanghai, in a time of 13.12 seconds.

He will undoubtedly want to set down a marker in London, ahead of the defence of his world title in Doha at the end of the summer, which means an exciting race is on the cards.

The Müller Anniversary Games takes place exactly ten weeks before the start of the IAAF World Championships in Doha (28 September – 6 October).

Tickets for the showstopper at the London Stadium are now on sale at https://www.britishathletics.org.uk/.