Sheffield sprinters Lee Thompson and Ben Higgins in running for World Athletics Championships qualification

Tokyo Olympian Lee Thompson and British indoor champion Ben Higgins are both in contention for selection for Oregon22, which takes place from July 15 to 24.

The pair, who represent City of Sheffield & Dearne Athletic Club, will race against seven other hopefuls at a Diamond League event in Birmingham on Saturday.

"The top half dozen will be in line for selection,” said Worksop-based Thompson’s coach John Henson.

"All of the competitors in this race are in with a chance of making the relay team, it just depends who performs best on the day.”

The final selection will be made after next month’s UK Championships.

Loughborough University student Higgins set a new personal best time of 46.71 seconds on his way to gold at the British Athletics Indoor Championships in February.

He represented Great Britain in the 4x400m for the first time at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia one month later.

Thompson, aged 25, helped Team GB’s 4x400m mixed relay team set a new British record time at Tokyo 2020 as the event made its Olympic debut.

He was also part of the men’s 4x400m relay team who ran a season’s best time in their heat – and could still represent his country at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the European Championships in Munich, Germany.

"It’s still on,” John said of the target.

"That’s what we are aiming for and we are on target at the moment.”

Thompson sat out the indoor season to focus on training for a potentially packed summer.

He marked his return to the track with a 400m time of 46.89 – 0.79 seconds off his personal best – at the Charlie Kelly Speed Series in Coventry earlier this month.

John added: “It was a good start for him, we have been working on the speed side of things a little bit through winter and the spring.”

Thompson will also represent England in the men’s 4x400m at the Loughborough International on Sunday.

Joe Dunderdale from City of Sheffield will take part in the javelin at the same event.