Pozzi targetting Birmingham repeat

The 26-year-old claimed world indoor gold in his specialist 60m hurdles at the Arena Birmingham back in February in front of an adoring home crowd.

And with next year's Grand Prix hosted at the same venue, Pozzi will need no added incentive to drive him on.

"Winning gold at the World Indoors last year was the highlight of my career, and I couldn't have imagined doing it at a better venue, in front of my home crowd," he said.

"As a pairing, I have amazing memories of both the Muller Indoor Grand Prix as a meeting and the Arena Birmingham as venue, so to have the two things come together once again for next February's event will hopefully serve to set me up to run really well against some of the best guys in the world."

For Pozzi, 2019 marks a significant year as he prepares to defend his European Indoor Championship title won at Belgrade 2017.

And the Stratford native can think of no better way to set things off on the right track than a victory in Birmingham.

"I know that I need a strong start to the year again in 2019, with the Müller Indoor Grand Prix the ideal way to kick off my year," he continued.

"I will be against some of the best sprint hurdlers in the world which will be tough but I am confident that the home crowd will spur me on and it will be the fantastic event it always is.

"I have a busy winter ahead of me training in a new, exciting environment to be ready for a long 2019, but preparations are going well and I know that 2019 needs to be my year, so I am ready to give it my all and give the British crowds something to cheer about."

Sportsbeat 2018