UK Athletics Chief Executive Niels de Vos today hailed the "strongest grand prix line-up ever seen in the UK" as he officially launched the tenth year of the sport's partnership with the Aviva Group.

Top of the bill this summer is the sport's most eagerly anticipated clash, the Tyson Gay v Asafa Powell 100m sprint showdown at the rebranded Aviva London Grand Prix and the world champion is counting down the days to Crystal Palace.

US superstar Gay said: "London will be very crucial for me - it is one of the biggest meets of the year right now and that is where it is going down between myself and Asafa. He has the title of being the world record holder and I have the title of being the world champion and I think that is really good for the sport.

"If I run back-to-back rounds in London that will catapult me to the Olympics so I am really looking to run fast times in London."

Jamaican flying machine Powell added: "The Aviva London Grand Prix is always one of the biggest meets on the circuit for me. I always look forward to it, it's always exciting, it's just a special meet."

Both Gay and Powell tipped GB sprinters Craig Pickering and Marlon Devonish for Beijing success. Gay said: "The UK has great athletes - Craig Pickering is coming up and Marlon Devonish is doing well" whilst Powell predicted "big things" from Devonish and thought Pickering would be "up there" this year.

Meanwhile, Niels de Vos predicted record TV audiences for an action-packed summer of athletics with an estimated 150 countries worldwide tuning in for a mouth-watering menu of top class track and field.

The popularity of international athletics has seen the number of countries broadcasting the UK televised events more than double in the last four years prompting UK Athletics' number one sponsor Norwich Union to rebrand the UK Athletics Major Events series under their global customer brand, Aviva.

The move will allow Aviva, who operate in 27 markets, to optimise the benefit of its investment on a global scale.

Current details for the UK Athletics Major Events series are:

     •  The Aviva National Championships Incorporating the Team GB Selection Trials (11-13 July) in Birmingham. This event will see Britain's best competing for a place in the Olympic team. Phillips Idowu, Nicola Sanders, Christine Ohuruogu, Jessica Ennis & Marlon Devonish are among those set to compete over the weekend.

     •  The Aviva London Grand Prix (25 & 26 July). Set to attract 360 athletes from 35 nations with the Gay v Powell showdown taking centre stage and the winner of the race claiming prize money of $50,000. With the Beijing Olympic Games just two weeks later, this world class meet will be the last pre-Olympic grand prix that will feature the majority of the medal favourites for Beijing. World record holder and reigning Olympic champion, Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva will be competing at the venue where she became the first woman to clear 5m in the pole vault in 2005 and  for the first time in 23 years the country's biggest athletics meeting will take place over two days.

     •  The Aviva British Grand Prix in Gateshead (31 August) will have over 190 athletes from 25 nations competing. As one of the first major meetings after the Olympic track and field programme, the line up will include a host of recently crowned Olympic medallists.

Niels de Vos, UK Athletics Chief Executive said: "The UK Athletics domestic series of events is the envy of the world and gives British sports fans a fantastic opportunity to see the world's best athletes compete regularly on home soil. The Aviva London Grand Prix is the final major event before the Olympics and what better way to send British athletes towards Beijing with the roar of London in their ears?

"Aviva's commitment to the sport ensures we can continue to provide outstanding competition opportunities for our athletes to give them the best possible build up to competing on the international stage."

Amanda Mackenzie, Aviva Group Marketing Director, said: "We're extremely proud to be supporting UK Athletics at the start of a four year journey towards 2012, which promises great things for the sport. The determination, dedication and sheer effort that athletes display is truly inspiring. We've supported athletics from playground to podium for the last ten years and this is the start of the next exciting chapter of our sponsorship.

"Our domestic commitment goes from strength to strength and by 2012 we believe that over 15 million children throughout the UK will have been actively engaged in our grassroots athletics schemes, creating a lasting legacy for the sport."