Bolt signs on for London Diamond League: report

LONDON (AFP) –

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (right) and Yohan Blake on the podium after winning the relay final at the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 11, 2012. Bolt has signed a contract to race at the London Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium, according to a report on Friday.

Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt has signed a contract to race at the London Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium, according to a report on Friday.

Bolt has agreed to compete on both days of the Diamond League meeting in the English capital on July 26 and 27, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The meeting is expected to attract a host of star names as it marks the one-year anniversary of the London 2012 opening ceremony.

It will also be the first time the Jamaican has competed in Britain in a non-Olympic event since 2009.

He has stayed away because under British law the double Olympic 100, 200 and 4×100 metres champion would have had to pay tax on his lucrative endorsement earnings, but the British government recently announced a one-off exemption for overseas athletes taking part in the London meeting.

The London Anniversary Games takes place two weeks before the World Championships in Moscow.

Bolt has already confirmed he will race over 100m in Rome on June 6, over 200m in Oslo on June 23, in the sprint relay in Ostrava on June 27, over 200m in Paris on July 6 and over an unconfirmed distance in Brussels on September 6.

He is due to race over 150m on a track on Copacabana beach on Sunday.

However, a UK Athletics would not confirm whether an agreement had been signed with Bolt, saying only: “We are working hard to put together the best possible field.”