Britain’s Max Burgin will take on Olympic and Diamond League champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi on home soil in a hotly anticipated men’s 800m clash in London on July 18.
World number three Burgin will have the home crowd behind him as he aims to beat Wanyonyi for the second time this season at the Novuna London Athletics Meet.
Wanyonyi has held the Diamond League title since 2023 and is also the reigning Olympic and world champion.
Yet he has endured a rocky start to this Diamond League campaign, suffering defeats to Burgin in Rabat and Cooper Lutkenhaus in Oslo.
Burgin finished second behind Wanyonyi in London last year, but claimed a sensational victory over the Kenyan in Rabat last month.
“I’m really excited to come back to London. I have good memories from last year, of course, after winning the race in a solid 1’42”00. Because 2026 is not a World Champs or Olympic year, I’m very focused on the Diamond League circuit,” said Wanyonyi.
“I’ve had some of the best performances of my career at the London stadium. I’m hoping for another big one this year, and having the best in the world alongside me in the race will push me to that extra level, I’m sure of it,” said Burgin.
The 800m star is one of a number of British stars who confirmed their attendance in London this week, with others including Charlie Dobson, Phoebe Gill, Morgan Lake, Hannah Nuttall, Megan Keith and Innes FitzGerald.
Dobson was Diamond League champion in the men’s 400m in 2024 and claimed a surprise win over Olympic silver medallist and fellow Brit Matthew Hudson-Smith in London last year.
High jump star Lake became the first British woman ever to clear 2.00m in last year’s Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.
London is the 11th leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League, which began in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 16 and ends at the two-day series final in Brussels on September 4-5.
The series unites the biggest names in track and field in some of the world’s most iconic arenas, crossing four continents and 15 cities over the course of the season.
