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UKA announces schedule

UK Athletics expect to confirm next month that the Aviva London Grand Prix will again be held over two days next year.

According to press reports, UKA are awaiting the International Association of Athletics Federations to agree at their council meeting for the extended event to again feature in its World Athletics Tour programme. In the summer the traditional Crystal Palace international meeting was successfully held over two days for the first time in 23 years and UKA are eager to do so again, probably on July 24-25.

UKA chief executive Niels de Vos told Eurosport that he believes it would be a great boost for the country's biggest athletics meeting, while it will also maintain a high athletics profile in the build-up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

De Vos said: "The decision to run this year's Aviva London Grand Prix on the Friday and Saturday was a great success. It allowed an extra 13,000 spectators through the door, meant we attracted even more of the world's best athletes and was warmly received by our British athletes, host broadcaster and sponsors.

"The Aviva London Grand Prix is such an important showcase for the sport, and is going to rise in stature yet further as we build towards the London Olympics in 2012. So it is incumbent on us as a governing body to ensure we are constantly looking for ways to improve the meeting for spectators and athletes."

Eurosport reports that Kelvin Hall in Glasgow will once again be the curtain-raiser to the indoor season with the Aviva International on January 31. Sheffield will host the European Indoor Trials on February 14 and 15, while the season's main event will be the Grand Prix in Birmingham on February 21.

The first event of the outdoor season will be the World Trials in Birmingham from July 10-12, followed by the London Grand Prix later in the month. A week after the World Championships in Berlin finish, Gateshead will bring the season to a close with the British Grand Prix on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31.