Twickenham-based Mo Farah and Steph Twell head the south London involvement in the top athletics meeting to be staged in the capital this year, this weekend’s Aviva London Grand Prix meeting at Crystal Palace.

The event is being staged over two days, starting at 5.25pm tonight and continuing at 1pm tomorrow.

Farah will be out to smash the long-standing British 5,000m record of 13 minutes, 0.41 seconds set by Dave Moorcroft at the Bislett Games in Oslo in 1982.

However, with none of the 17-strong field having clocked faster than 13:10.8 this year, it will take something special for Farah, who has a personal best of 13:07.00 and 2009 best of 13:12.2, to better the UK mark.

Also in the 5,000m field is another Twickenham-based runner, Scott Overall.

While Farah has already secured his place in Britain’s team for the IAAF World Championships in Berlin next month, 19-year-old Twell has yet to convince the team selectors after being surprisingly beaten in the 1,500m trials in Birmingham.

John Fisher School old boy Martyn Rooney also needs to secure his place in the Berlin-bound team, having withdrawn from the trials as a precaution.

Last year, he ran superbly at Crystal Palace, winning the 400m in 44.8, and he must look to reproduce that form in the 400m tomorrow.

Fresh from his 100m victory in the European U23 Championships in Lithuania, Sutton’s Harry Aikines-Aryeetey takes on the fastest men in the world tonight.

He will have either Usain Bolt or Asafa Powell in his heat. Aikines-Aryeetey will also have his sights on a Berlin team place.

Sutton-based sprint hurdler Andy Turner, who clinched his Berlin team place with an impressive victory in the trials, competes in tonight’s 110m hurdles, along with Belgrave’s William Sharman.

Belgrave’s Olympic silver medallist Phillips Idowu heads the field in tonight’s triple jump.

Another Belgrave athlete, Goldie Sayers, will be out to prove her fitness for Berlin in the women’s javelin, while Belgrave’s Samson Oni competes in the men’s high jump.

Wallington-based wheelchair racer David Weir is out to repeat his 1,500m success of 2008.