CRAIG Mottram might be preparing for the race of his life but he just wants to keep things as normal as possible ahead of the Olympics.

The towering distance runner, among the top medal hopes in Australia's athletics team, on Friday night finished a respectable fourth in his final warm-up event before heading to Beijing.

Mottram ran the Emsley Carr Mile at the London Grand Prix in three minutes 55.44 seconds, behind Kenyan Shedrack Korir who won in 3.54.68.

The 28-year-old Victorian finished behind dual world champion American Bernard Lagat, who will be Mottram's main medal rival in his favoured 5000 metres at the Games. Fellow Australian Mitchell Kealey finished ninth in 3.57.27.

Mottram described his run as "solid" despite being hampered slightly by the breezy conditions.

"I ran hard and I'm happy," he said. "There's a little bit of work to do (before Beijing) but it's OK."

Mottram appeared relaxed after the race and determined to keep things simple as the countdown begins to the Games.

"I'll catch the train home, have my spaghetti bolognese, watch the news and go to bed, try to keep it as normal as possible," he said. "I'm not going to say I'm going to go there and shock the world.

"I'm going to go there and do my best and compete as hard as I can and if that means eighth, fantastic. If it means a medal, even better. But I'm just concentrating on doing my best. First things first."

Mottram, who flies from London to Beijing on August 9, has been keeping a low profile in the lead-up to the Games.

Earlier this week the 2005 world championships bronze medallist celebrated an impressive victory in the 3000 at the World Athletics Tour meeting in Stockholm.

Among the other Australians in action in London, Australian shot put record-holder Scott Martin finished eighth with a best distance of 19.65 metres.

Lisa Corrigan finished 10th in the 1500 in 4.15.63, while Victoria Mitchell ran ninth in the 3000 in 9.47.43.

Kylie Wheeler was placed fifth on 1872 points in a four-event challenge after finishing fifth in the long jump with 6.19 metres and seventh in the 100 hurdles in 14.10.

■Former world record-holder Asafa Powell grabbed a second pre-Olympics 100 metres win in three days when he cruised to victory at the London Grand Prix.

The Jamaican clocked 9.94 to win by 0.03 from Trinidad's Marc Burns in a race originally billed as a clash with world champion Tyson Gay. But the American pulled out after failing to recover from the hamstring injury he received during the Olympic trials last month.

America's double world champion Allyson Felix left the stadium refusing to discuss her limp 200 performance that so enraged her that she didn't take her place in the 4 x 100 relay. Felix was fourth in the 200 in 23.00, a time that wouldn't guarantee her a place in the Beijing final in three weeks.

The event was won by Jamaica's Sherone Simpson in 22.70.

Two weeks after setting her 23rd pole vault world record in Rome, Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva narrowly failed in her bid to make it 24 when she attempted to clear 5.04 metres.

America's Jenny Stuczynski, Isinbayeva's closest rival, only cleared 4.81 and looks powerless to prevent the Russian from successfully defending her Olympic title.

World 400 champion Christine Ohuruogu, of Britain, won her race, her only outing before Beijing.

AAP,AFP