World champs Lagat & Walker set to compete in London...

LONDON--Current world champions Bernard Lagat (left/photo by Paul Merca) & Brad Walker are among the featured attractions of Friday and Saturday's Aviva London Grand Prix at the famed Crystal Palace track in the English capital, where athletes are competing for a prize pool of $800,000 USD.

Lagat, the world champion at 1500 and 5000 meters, will run the mile on Friday against a field that includes British hope Andy Baddeley, Australia's Craig Mottram, and fellow Americans Alan Webb, and Auburn High grad Chris Lukezic.

In an email sent after last week's Barcelona meet, Lukezic stated to paulmerca.blogspot.com that he's excited for the opportunity to run a fast mile against a strong field.

Walker, last year's world champion in Osaka, and the current world leader at 19-9 1/4 (6.04m) will pole vault on Saturday against a strong field that includes Australia's Steve Hooker, and Yevgeniy Lukyanenko of Russia, who defeated Walker for the world indoor title back in March.

The meet will be shown both days live on a pay-by-subscription basis online at wcsn.com.

Click here to read the UK Athletics preview of the Aviva London Grand Prix...