Farah to miss Birmingham trials

UK CHAMPIONSHIPS AND WORLD TRIALS
Venue: Alexander Stadium, Birmingham Dates: 10-12 July
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two and BBC Sport website (UK only) - 1645-1815 BST Saturday, 1730-2000 Sunday; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio WM; Follow our man at the trials

Farah will be hoping for success at the World Championships

Mo Farah will miss this weekend's World Championships trial because he wants to concentrate on breaking the British 5,000m record later this month.

Farah, 26, has been given permission not to attend the Birmingham event in order to prepare for a tilt at David Moorcroft's 27-year-old UK mark.

The Briton will continue to train at altitude in Switzerland ahead of his attempt at the London Grand Prix.

Farah won the 3,000m title at this year's European Indoor Championships.

World 5,000m champion Meseret Defar will take part, though, in a bid to secure her place on the Ethiopian team lining for the 10,000m at the World Championships in Berlin.

The 10,000m is the only event in which foreign athletes are allowed to take part and this will be the first time foreign women have taken part in any UK Athletics event.

"There are many good long distance women in Ethiopia, so I must put in a strong performance," said Defar.

"This will probably be my last race before the World Championships, so this is a very important one for me."

Two of Defar's compatriots will also line up in Birmingham - 2004 Olympic silver medallist Ejegayehu Dibaba and Aheza Kiros.

Also in the race will be Lineth Chepkurui - who was third in her national trials last month, and needs to get the IAAF standard of 31 min 45 sec to make the Kenyan team - and French international Christine Bardelle.