Giles, will join Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Josh Kerr – in addition to fellow Brits Piers Copeland and George Mills – over the metric mile In what looks to be a mouth-watering clash between GB talent and the rest of the World.
27-year-old Giles is the reigning British 800m champion and reached the Olympic Games 800m semi-final in Tokyo. He enjoyed a successful 2022 indoor season during which he was defeated only twice, but he unfortunately had to withdraw prior to his heat at the World Athletics Indoor Championships due to injury.
The Birchfield Harrier races sparingly over 1500m, but his 3:33.80 lifetime best (2021) ranked him fourth-fastest in the UK last year behind Kerr, Jake Heyward and Jake Wightman.
“My performances over 1500m over the last couple of years have given me confidence that I can step up and be competitive, but talk is cheap – I need to go out and do it,” said Giles, the 2016 European Championships 800m bronze medallist.
“I’m fortunate to have a strong training group where we push each other to be better, and to be racing these guys in Birmingham, especially Josh who’s proved he’s up there with the best in the world, it’s the same principle. The 1500m is still pretty unexplored territory for me, but it’s exciting. You’ve got to race against the best to know what it takes to get there, and what better place to do that than in front of a home crowd at the renovated Alexander Stadium which looks unbelievable.”
23-year-old Copeland, the British indoor champion, has a 1500m best of 3:34.62. The Welsh indoor record holder was the European Under-23 Championships silver medallist in 2019 and finished fifth at the 2021 European Indoor Championships.
Mills, the 2016 European under-18 champion, recorded his 3:36.03 best at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham in February. The 22-year-old has an outdoor best of 3:36.31 (2021).
Alongside the strong British contingent, international stars include Samuel Tefera (ETH), world indoor 1500m champion and former world indoor record holder; Stewart McSweyn (AUS), Olympic 1500m finalist and Australian national record holder (outdoors); and Ollie Hoare (AUS), Olympic 1500m finalist, fifth in the 2022 World Indoor Championships and the Australian national record holder (indoors).
The Müller Birmingham Diamond League is the second meeting of the 2022 Wanda Diamond League series. The series comprises 14 meetings in total, starting with Doha on 13 May and concluding with a single final across two days in Zurich (7-8 September). Each meeting will be broadcast globally in a live two-hour programme.
To enjoy this thrilling Men’s 1500m and the rest of an exciting Diamond League programme book your tickets now!
