Farah, Klishina, Shustov and Schlangen among the stars in Glasgow | 27.01.2012
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| European Athlete of the Year Mo Farah of Great Britain. |
Details of the timetable and all the competitors can be found here.
One of the stars of the show will definitely be the 2011 European Athlete of the Year Mo Farah.
Farah, the 2010 European Athletics Championships and 2011 IAAF World Championships 500m gold medallist will race over the shorter distance of 1500m.
“It’s going to be really good to compete at the Aviva International Match again. Since I’ve moved out to the USA I really appreciate coming back to the UK to compete and it will be great to get a race so early on in the year,” said Farah, who has been based in Portland, Oregon, since March last year.
“I do really like competing in team events. I like the camaraderie; we’re all usually staying in the same hotel and pushing each other along so it will be great to get involved in that again at the Aviva International Match."
“It’s been a while since I’ve kicked off the season so early but this year I’m keen to keep up the competition and just take the momentum from one meet to the next,” he added.
World Championships medallists Andy Turner and Hannah England, winners of the 110m hurdles bronze and 1500m silver, are also in the British team and guaranteed the cheers of the home crowd.
"It is important we get off to a great start in 2012 and start the year with a strong performance. Those athletes competing in Glasgow as part of their 2012 build-up will be facing world class opposition and it will be interesting to see how they perform this weekend and throughout the indoor season," said UK Athletics head coach Charles Van Commenee.
"It is an Olympic year and it is great to get the opportunity to compete in front of our home crowd. Our athletes aspire to be the best and those selected for the meet will look to perform strongly in their first major fixture of the year.
"Every chance to compete against quality opposition in 2012 is another stepping stone towards the athletes' targets, and the Aviva International Match is a superb opportunity for athletes to begin this important year with a strong performance in an Aviva GB & NI team vest."
Russia will be sending a strong team that includes the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships and European Athletics U23 Championships long jump gold medallist Darya Klishina.
Also in their team is the in-form pole vaulter Dmitry Starodubtsev, who has a world-leading 5.90m effort to his name this winter, and 2010 European Athletics Championships high jump gold medallist Alexsander Shustov.
Another Russian athlete to watch will be hurdler Tatyana Dektyareva, who won the 100m hurdles at the SPAR European Team Championships last year and then finished fifth at the World Championships, running her season's best of 12.76 in Daegu semi-finals.
The top names in the German team are 2010 European Athletics Championships 1500m silver medallist Carsten Schlangen and 2011 SPAR European Cross Country Championships under 23 women's bronze medallist Corinna Harrer - who will face British team captain and 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships 3000m gold medallist Helen Clitheroe over 3000m - as well as the talented 18-year-old hurdler Gregor Traber and pole vaulter Karsten Dilla, who has already cleared 5.72m this winter.
