British athletics today received a £50million sponsorship boost to produce champions through to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The deal with long-time athletics backers, Norwich Union, is the biggest sponsorship deal in British sport outside of football.
Central contracts for leading athletes will be introduced for the first time and if they do not honour their side of the deal, funding could be withdrawn.
The new deal with Norwich Union covers four areas - elite performance, junior athlete development, investment in the sport at grassroots levels and a ``Legacy for 2012'' which will be aimed at preparing British athletes to win medals at the London Games.
The new agreement, which commences on January 1 2007, will place more emphasis on the preparation of future champions while also widening the appeal and availability of athletics to an increased number of children.
Investment in grassroots athletics will almost treble and UK Athletics estimate that more than 10million children and 1.5million families will be involved in the various Norwich Union grassroots schemes by 2012.
Training for more than 100,000 teachers in more than 5,000 secondary and 20,000 primary schools to coach athletics, will also be provided.
Additional funding will allow the sport to grow in communities and involve more families.