London, July 21 : Olympic Golden Girl Jessica Ennis is set to become the first female athlete to pocket 1million pounds in sponsorship deals this year.
As favourite to take gold in the women's heptathlon, the 26-year-old heptathlete has secured major sponsorship deals with Adidas, BP, Aviva, Olay, Omega, British Airways, Jaguar and Powerade. Most team GB athletes have around half as many contracts, the Daily Mail reported.
She has also started showing loyalty to her brand. At training sessions this week she dutifully ensured she was head-to-toe in Adidas, from her trainers to her tracksuit.
The Adidas deal is worth up to 320,000 pounds a year, including performance bonuses, and is believed to be the highest secured by any Team GB athlete.
It puts her on track to earn 1million pounds in 2012, on top of the estimated 700,000 pounds she took home last year.
And experts said last night that she has the potential to earn millions more if she takes gold at the London Olympic.
"The people around Ennis have done a remarkable job to put her in a potentially winning position on the track and off it," said Matthew Glendinning, of sponsorship experts Sports Marketing Frontiers.
"However, even they may be surprised at the wave of attention and commercial opportunity that will be unleashed if she wins gold," he stated.
Ennis has also increased her profile by taking part in several risque photo shoots for men's magazines, including one for the August issue of GQ magazine in which she appears in wet-look hot pants, stilettos and a low-cut red blazer. (ANI)
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