holder
Mike Powell competed at the meeting in 1993. The inaugural edition (primarily a contest between French and British athletes) was held in 1988 as the
Dairy Crest International and it attracted participants such as
Linford Christie and
Butch Reynolds. The event was broadcast on
ITV and was well received with around 2.75 million viewers in total. The Kelvin Hall became a prominent indoor venue, hosting the
1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships, and the 1990 Dairy Crest Games pitted a British team against a select team from
East Germany. After a change of sponsor, the
Pearl International Games featured a Great Britain vs Russia competition, as well as high calibre guest athletes including world champions
Michael Johnson and
Mike Powell. France returned as the rival team to the hosts in the 1995 and 1996 competitions. The competition was sponsored by
Norwich Union from 2000 to 2009. During this time, the international competition developed from a two-team to a multi-team contest:
Swedish,
Russian and
German athletes competed against British athletes in 2002, and by 2004 it had become a five-way team contest (with athletes representing Great Britain, Russia, Sweden,
Italy and a World select team). The indoor International Match became a testing ground for young and upcoming British athletes as the country's established international athletes often trained abroad or avoided indoor competition in favour of more prestigious outdoor competitions. In spite of this, the event continued to attract many of Britain's prominent athletes as well as significant foreign competition; in 2003 the
60 metres featured the then-
world record holder
Tim Montgomery and
Dwain Chambers, with world
long jump champion
Dwight Phillips and Olympic medallist
Bernard Williams also on the programme. Following the renaming of Norwich Union, the competition became known as the
Aviva International Match in 2010. Great Britain won the 2010 competition, highlighted by
Jessica Ennis' win in
British record-time against reigning
60 metres hurdles world champion
Lolo Jones. The 2011 competition saw a five-team competition between Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Sweden and a Commonwealth Select team, which was won by the German team.
Helen Clitheroe produced a stadium record in the 3000 m, embarking on a solo run to victory. In the 2013 competition, the United States and Russia tied with 58 points each. The last edition was in 2015. In 2016 the
Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix moved to the
Emirates Arena in Glasgow for the very first time, as part of the inaugural
IAAF World Indoor Tour. ==Events==