The future of the 80,000-capacity Stadium after the Games has become a matter of fierce debate in recent weeks after Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that they did not care whether the track remained as long as the arena did not become a white elephant.

 

That led to Lamine Diack, the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and an IOC member, hitting back.

 

He claimed that the reason he had voted for London to host the Games was because he had been promised that the track would remain, ensuring a legacy for the sport in Britain.

 

Then yesterday, as reported on insidethegames, former world record holder for the 1500 metres and the mile Steve Cram said that he did not believe athletics was popular enough to support its own national centre.

 

Now Dame Kelly, the 2004 Olympic 800m and 1500m, has thrown her support behind London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe in insisting that a track must remain at a downsized 25,000-capacity stadium after the Games.

 

She said: "Personally I think an athletics stadium should stay as an athletics stadium.

 

"In Europe they mix football with athletics and we need a big focal point.

 

"We're talking about leaving a legacy of sport and athletics is always a focal point for the Olympics.

 

"For once we should remember it for what it was instead of what it ends up [as]."

 

Dame Kelly believes that London staging the Olympics will help kick-start the sport again in Britain after a disappointing Games in Beijing where the team won only four medals, with only Christine Ohurugou claiming gold.

 

She said: "[British] Athletics has gone through a real sticky point in the last few years.

 

"There's always been some success but athletics has always placed itself as the premier sport in the Olympics, you always hope for Olympic champions and more medals than just a handful.

 

"It's going through a massive change-around, a total restructuring.

 

"We have the talent, it just needs to be nurtured in the right way and hopefully the successes in 2012 will come and it will be worth all the changes and worth all the doldrums."