UK Athletics (UKA) has launched a radical new programme which is designed to raise standards in every track and field discipline, at every age group and in every region across the UK.

Power of 10 aims to ensure that at least 10 athletes in every event, region and age group are achieving demanding performance targets, with a view to ensuring that half the athletics' finals at the 2012 Olympics feature British athletes.

The programme uses information from an athletics database which stores every significant British performance in the last 50 years, allowing for the benchmarking and observation of trends in performance across 1233 events.

The initiative was launched last week by UKA chief executive David Moorcroft and Seb Coe, chair of the London 2012 organising committee. Moorcroft said: "Power of 10 is a year-on-year drive for greater strength in depth across all events and regions."

Coe added: "It is about creating an aspirational environment where mediocrity is unacceptable. The Power of 10 is an excellent vehicle to help create the highly competitive environment which is so crucial for creating champions."

The rankings will be published on a new interactive website – www.powerof10.info