In the final race of the day at the Diamond League meeting the reigning European champion clocked a time of 7:40.15 to see off the rest of the field in style and give himself a timely boost ahead of the World Championships in Daegu.

The victory was all the more impressive as it was the first time Farah had competed over the distance this summer, with his final 200m sprint in approx 25 secs giving the home crowd plenty to cheer about.

The 28-year-old said: “I’ve been looking forward to competing in Crystal Palace and it’s fantastic to be here with so many people looking up to me. The crowd were fantastic out there.

“It’s just pure hard work and graft, nothing is easy, you know, I just keep training. You have to make sacrifices.

“In Daegu, I’m definitely going to give 110 per cent in the 10k and then see what happens. I’ll see how the legs are then go for it in the five after.”

Jenny Meadows (Trevor Painter) was the other stand-out British performer as she took victory in the 800m, the 30-year-old clocking a season’s best time of 1:58.60.

Other Brits impressed in the race as Emma Jackson (Alan Morris) broke two minutes for the first time in her career with a 1:59.97 to take fifth, with Marilyn Okoro (Ayo Fayola) marginally quicker in fourth with a 1:59.85.

“To take the victory surpassed my expectations, it is out of this world and gives me great confidence ahead of the Worlds,” said Meadows.

“The aim all season has been to work on the last 100m as I have been running up to 700m and then starting to stress a bit which is when it has come apart. So I really relaxed down the home straight and came through strong which I am delighted with.”

Perri Shakes-Drayton (Chris Zah) also signed off in style before heading out to Daegu with a season’s best time of 54.62 and an impressive third place finish in the 400m hurdles. Jamaican Kaliese Spencer took the win in dominant fashion, signalling her intentions before the World Championships with the fastest time in the world this year of 52.79.

A delighted Shakes-Drayton said: “I am very pleased to come third among those girls, I knew it would be like a final. These are top girls and I said I wanted to run a season’s best.

“It shows that I am in good racing conditions and I’m really looking forward to the worlds at the end of this month now.”

Elsewhere world record holder David Rudisha continued his assault on the history books as he won the 800m in a stadium record time of 1:42.91. But there was yet more good news for the home fans as UK Champion Andrew Osagie (Craig Winrow) finished in fifth in a time of 1:45.36minutes, crucially inside the required A-standard for the World Championships.

Mukhtar Mohammed (Mustafa Mohammed) finished seventh with Gareth Warburton (Darryll Maynard) eighth but the real story was the 23-year-old Osagie who says there was still more to come.

“I wanted to run a bit quicker if I’m honest, although the pace overall was quick and I find it really inspiring to be out there with those guys,” he said.

“I’m not yet fully race fit after having eight weeks off. I’m getting there though, and I’ve still got a few tactical and speed sessions to do which should set me up for the Worlds.”

In the women’s javelin Goldie Sayers (Dan Pfaff) claimed third behind Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova and the eventual winner Christina Obergfoll who produced a stadium record throw of 66.74m.

Sayers threw 63.41m in claiming third and called it an important tune-up ahead of the worlds.

“I felt much better in the run-up today, I'm pleased and now looking ahead to Daegu,” she said. “It’s all about being at your best on one day of the year and that important day is in a few weeks time.”

Chris Tomlinson (Frank Attoh) claimed second in the long jump competition with a jump of 8.30m while Greg Rutherford (Dan Pfaff) was third, both trailing behind the Australian Mitchell Watt, however the Brits both produced an impressive series of jumps as they bought out the best in each other in front of a delighted home crowd.

Other GB performances from the evening included:

In the 400m Martyn Rooney (Nick Dakin) ran 45.87sec in finishing eighth behind 18-year-old 400m sensation Kirani James who took the win in 44.61seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

European silver medallist over 10,000m Chris Thompson (John Nuttall) finished fourth in the 5,000m with a time of 13:34.31, with Andy Vernon (Nick Anderson) just behind him in fifth.

In the sprint events 17-year-old Jodie Williams (Mike McFarlane) finished just outside her season’s best in a time of 22.95 to take seventh in the 200m that was won by the American Bianca Knight in a time of 22.69.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Michael Khmel) was the sole Brit to make the 100m final where he finished eighth in 10.33seconds behind the Jamaican Yohan Blake who equalled his season’s best with a 9.95 to win into a sizeable headwind.

Andy Turner (Lloyd Cowan) made it through to the 110m hurdles final before finishing in seventh in a time of 13.46 as Dayron Robles claimed the win in a meeting record time 13.04.

Elsewhere GB's second women’s 4x100m team failed to finish the relay race as team Stars and Stripes stormed to the win in 42.92seconds.

In the pole vault Holly Bleasdale (Julien Raffalli-Ebezant) finished seventh with Kate Dennison (Scott Simpson) tenth as the win went to Jennifer Suhr from America with a vault of 4.79m. Meanwhile the women’s triple jump was won by Olha Saladukha, the reigning European champion winning with a jump of 14.80m. Yasmine Regis (Peter Stanley) produced a season’s best jump of 13.76m to finish sixth while fellow Briton Laura Samuel (Glenys Morton) was just behind her in seventh with a jump of 13.52m.

The opening events of the evening were the women’s and men’s U20 3000m that were won by Gemma Kersey (Eamonn Martin) and Jonathan Hay (Mick Woods) respectively. The 400m National final was won by Richard Strachan (Linford Christie) who equalled his personal best with a time of 45.70 - inside the World Championships B standard.

In the 3000m steeplechase current UK champion Luke Gunn (Bud Baldaro) finished sixth in a time of 8.31.56minutes behind winner Willy Rutto Komen of Kenya.

Shelly Woods (Peter Eriksson) won the T53/T54 800m while Katrina Hart (Robert Ellchuk) took first in the T36/38 100m.