The 12-month partnership sees the Australian airline named as the title sponsor of the Australian Athletics Tour, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Challenge accredited Melbourne Track Classic and the official airline for Athletics Australia.

"Qantas is proud to take up this sponsorship of the 2012 Australian Athletics Tour," said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

"This year is an important year for our Olympic athletes and we are proud to support their preparation for the London Games."

Australia's top athletes, such as 100 metre hurdle world champion Sally Pearson, will be using the Australian Athletics Tour to prepare for the London 2012 Games.

Pearson, along with the Australian reigning Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker, is also individually sponsored by Qantas but admitted she is delighted to see them extend their support to the tour.

"I am grateful for the support Qantas have shown me and am now very excited that they have also extended that support to my sport as a whole," said Pearson.

"The Qantas Australian Athletics Tour will ensure our preparation is the best for the Olympics.

"Steve and I are just two of a number of athletes who will look to board the plane bound for London in search of Olympic glory.

"We have a great team at the moment and I believe we can improve on our performance in Daegu to bigger and better things in London.

"The Qantas Australian Athletics Tour is about making sure we are in top condition, inspiring the next generation on Australian soil and above all, ensuring our preparation is the best for the Olympics."


Qantas has supported athletics in Australia for over 40 years via its sponsorship of the Australian Olympic team and Catherine Freeman (pictured left with Austrlian cricketer and fellow Qantas ambassador Steve Waugh), who famously won the women's 400m gold in front of a deafening home crowd at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, has been a Qantas ambassador for more than ten years.

"We are delighted to welcome Qantas on board as naming rights sponsor and official airline partner for the 2012 Australian Athletics Tour," said Athletics Australia chief executive Dallas O'Brien.

"Qantas has a rich history in supporting Australian sports and we are thrilled that they are backing athletics as well, particularly in this Olympic year.

"We have some extremely talented athletes, all of whom we expect to see compete across Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne in the coming months.

"To have a partner of Qantas' calibre recognise and support these talented athletes is a tribute to the Australian Athletics Tour."

The 2012 Qantas Australian Athletics Tour starts on January 28 in Adelaide, before heading to Perth on February 11 where reigning Olympic champion Hooker will face former American pole vault champion Mark Hollis.

Some of the world's top athletes will do battle once again in Sydney on February 18 before the final leg of the tour in Melbourne form March 2-3.

The two-day event will also incorporate the 2012 nomination trials for the Olympic Games.

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