The victory over Pearson was particularly sweet as the two are likely to clash again next week on Scottish soil.

Although the competition, which marked the two year anniversary since London 2012, occupied a strange place on the athletics calendar so soon after the International Association of Athletics Federations Monaco Diamond League and so soon before the Commonwealth Games, there was a strong atmosphere inside Horse Guards Parade.

Like the women's event, the men's hurdles provided another highlight as US hope Ryan Wilson was awarded victory in a race in which the first three finishes were awarded the same time of 13.24.

Shane Brathwaite of Barbados and William Sharman of Great Britain finished second and third, while world record holder and Olympic champion Aries Merritt was only fourth.

Mike Rodgers of the US won a men's 100m in a swift 9.91, with veteran Kim Collins defying his years by running 9.96 for second place at the age of 38.

On a good day for the older names in the sport, 39-year-old Bernard Lagat beat fellow American Garrett Heath to win the two mile race on the Mall in 8min 27.00sec, while Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia held off another American in Morgan Uceny to take the women's mile in 4:28.00.

Bernard Lagat won the two mile race on an iconic course on the Mall ©Getty Images



In the field events, there were wins for Blanka Vlasic of Croatia in the high jump and for French world record holder Renaud Lavillenie in the pole vault, while Britain's Chris Tomlinson emerged victorious in the long jump, following the withdrawal of compatriot Greg Rutherford, the Olympic champion. 

But, as far as the host nation were concerned, some of the best performances came in the Paralympic events, in echoes of London 2012 through wins for David Weir over one mile and for Hannah Cockroft in the 100m T34. 

Tthere was disappointment, however, for Jonnie Peacock, another of the great Paralympic stars of 2012, as he was edged about by his bitter US rival Richard Browne by one tenth over a second in the 100m T44.

The American stopped the clock at 10.90 to repeat his triumph in last year's Anniversary Games, held in the Olympic Stadium.

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