They will not be the only athletes on show who are heading towards Rio 2016 to defend titles however.

Just before Farah, the world and Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion, rounds off the afternoon’s activities over 3,000m, David Rudisha, who set the world 800m record of 1min 40.91sec at London 2012, will compete in the rarely run 600m.

Rudisha is one of seven Olympic champions appearing at the first of Britain’s Diamond League displays this year, the others being Robert Harting of Germany in the discus, Valerie Adams of New Zealand in the shot put, Sally Pearson of Australia in the 100m hurdles and Grenada’s 400m gold medallist Kirani James.

Farah, who produced his third fastest ever 10,000m, 26min 53.71sec, to earn victory in his opening outdoor race of the season in Eugene last month, appears to have a relatively easy task, albeit that Kenya’s Bethwell Birgen has a personal best less than three seconds slower – 7:34.66 to 7:37.15.

Rutherford, by contrast, faces two of the three men who currently stand above him in the 2016 listings, the American pair of Marquise Goodwin and Mike Hartfield, who have reached 8.45 and 8.34 metres respectively.

But the Briton arrives in Birmingham direct from the Diamond League meeting on Thursday (June 2) in Rome, where his season’s best of 8.31m was enough to beat both men as well as another in the field, Fabrice Lapierre of Australia, who has also reached 8.31 this year.

The Briton is looking to bolster what he has described as his “best ever” start to a season.

Rudisha’s main challenge could come from France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, winner of the Rabat Diamond League 800m on May 22.

For Harting and Adams, competition here represents another step back to full fitness following injury problems.

Adams, who had elbow and shoulder surgery last September, won in Rome with 19.69m.

Harting looked further off the pace, only managing third place with 63.96m, although a long final effort whch went out of bounds promised greater things for the larger-than-life triple world champion.

James has already beaten the former world and Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt this season and tops the 2016 lists with 44.08sec.

But he will be seeking a riposte to the victory in 44.19 posted in Rome by South Africa’s world champion Wayde van Niekerk.

Pearson faces a huge test in a 100m hurdles season opener which contains the 23-year-old American Kendra Harrison, who has the three fastest 2016 times so far with a best of 12.24, the second best ever run behind Yordanka Donkova of Bulgaria’s 1988 world record of 12.21.

Also in the field is Harrison’s US colleagues Brianna Rollins, the 2013 world champion, who has run 12.53 this year, Kristi Castlin, fourth in the 2016 rankings with 12.62.

Colombia's ouble world triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen will seek to extend her unbeaten run, which stretches back to her defeat in the London 2012 final, to 35 competitions.

The Netherlands world 200m champion Dafne Schippers will continue her tuning up for next month’s European Championships in her home country with a run over 100m against a field which includes British record holder Dinah Asher-Smith.