St Mary’s University’s Beijing-bound Charlie Grice continued his preparations for next month’s IAAF World Championships with a solid display at the London Anniversary Games IAAF Diamond League event last Saturday.

The 21-year-old Twickenham-based British men’s 1500m champion clocked three minutes 55.27 seconds for a fourth place finish in the 63rd edition of the prestigious Emsley Carr Mile.

He was a mere 200th of a second off his current personal best which he set at KBC Nacht European Athletics Classic meeting in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium a fortnight ago. 

Kenya’s reigning world 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop retained the title in 3:54.87 in front of a 50,000 sold out London Olympic Stadium, with American Matthew Centrowitz taking second in 3:55.03 and Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman third in 3:55.06.

“It was marginally off my PB,” said Grice.

“The position was good today, but the time was slow.

“I've shown good performances and have been committed in races. I've been at altitude a lot this year, it is all geared towards Beijing.”