Greg Rutherford to appear at Anniversary Games

With both events taking place at the London Stadium, he will twice be returning to the scene of his famous 2012 Olympic triumph, and the 30-year-old hopes it will prove perfect preparation as he looks to retain the World title.

After winning the Olympic title in 2012, he went on to take Commonwealth glory in 2014 before picking up a maiden gold medal at the World Championships in 2015.

He repeated his European success in 2016, but missed out on double gold at the Olympics when jumping to bronze in Rio and after a stint on Strictly Come Dancing, he is determined to prove he is still the world's best.

"I can't wait for the Muller Anniversary Games, it will be a great opportunity for me to test myself ahead of the World Championships," he said.

"I'm a competitive person so I have missed not being out there competing in the last few months but I'm raring to go and looking forward to getting back on the track soon.

"It was a fantastic experience to take some time out for Strictly, but I'm fully focussed on athletics and I'm really happy with how my training is going."

The Anniversary Games take place on Sunday, July 9, with the World Championships running from August 5-13.