Farah ready for emotional return

The 30-year-old will compete for the first time at the Olympic Stadium since he won double gold at London 2012 when he races over 3,000 metres at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games on Saturday.

Farah may be without his partners from that famous night last summer, when he, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford all struck gold in the space of 45 minutes, because of injury, but he could mark the occasion with yet another landmark. Dave Moorcroft's 31-year-old British record of seven minutes 32.79 seconds is under threat.

"It will be emotional (to go back)," said Farah, who has been back to the east London venue just once for a photo shoot after the London Marathon in April.

He won 10,000m gold on 'Super Saturday' before going on to take the 5,000m title as well and the memories of that first triumph are unsurprisingly still with him.

He said: "It was very exciting. I was just buzzing.

"There was a lot of pressure, but having an Olympics on your doorstep, coming into the stadium and having people shout your name, was just incredible. It was something I could never imagine.

"I knew Jess had done well and could see her going round and celebrating. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Greg was super happy too.

"I didn't know how well he had done, but I knew he was up there. The crowd was just getting louder so I knew he had done well.

"It would be amazing if they made the same noise (on Saturday). It will never be the same again, having the Olympics at that moment, but it will be great if it is close to that."

Farah should certainly give the home crowd plenty to shout about as he believes he is a better athlete now than he was 12 months ago.

He broke the European 1500m record in Monaco on Friday, becoming the sixth fastest man in the event in history, no mean feat for a long-distance specialist.

That was an ominous sign to his rivals ahead of next month's World Championships in Moscow and his words may have given them further cause for concern.

"I'm stronger, more experienced (than I was in 2012)," the Oregon-based athlete added.

"I am definitely a better athlete than I was, but you have to go and do it when it matters."

Farah will line up on Saturday shortly before Usain Bolt competes in the 4x100m relay.

The pair memorably swapped signature poses on the podium last summer after Farah won the 5,000m and Bolt won relay gold, the Briton performing the 'Lightning Bolt' and the Jamaican the 'Mobot'.

Farah said: "It's a famous picture. I asked (manager) Ricky (Simms) to get me a picture of that."

Bolt, competing on these shores for the first time since London 2012, is the headline act when the meeting gets under way on Friday night as he goes head to head over 100m with in-form Briton James Dasaolu.

Dasaolu ran 9.91 seconds at the British Championships, faster than the world record holder this year, and Friday's race will be a good indication of his medal chances at the World Championships.

It will be the first time Bolt has raced in Britain, other than at the Olympics, since 2009, with Chancellor George Osborne granting a 'one-off' tax exemption for overseas athletes.

There have been a host of British withdrawals on Saturday, though.

Rutherford is definitely out with a hamstring injury, while Dai Greene, the world 400m hurdles champion, has also pulled out due to the Achilles tendon injury which forced him to miss last Friday's Diamond League meeting in Monaco.

Jessica Judd and Andrew Osagie, the 800m runners, have also opted not to compete, while Ennis-Hill will see how her own Achilles injury reacts to her first competition of the summer in Loughborough last night before making a final decision.