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stichd: Innovating fashion essentials and fanwear with PUMA’s legacy
PUMA and Jamaica have a long and successful history together in track and field, as the company has been a partner of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) and the Jamaica Olympic Association since 2002. During this period, Jamaican athletes have won dozens of gold medals at Olympic Games and World Championships. Jamaican sprint superstar and PUMA ambassador Usain Bolt, with two world records to his name in 100m (9:58) and 200m (19:19), is the island’s most legendary athlete.
The Faster.Jamaica. event, in which PUMA CEO Arne Freundt and PUMA CPO Maria Valdes also participated, received great coverage on social media with hundreds of posts and stories uploaded by the content creators who joined in on the activities.
The first day of the Faster.Jamaica. event started off with a 5k shakeout run before everybody set off to “PUMA Island”, a secluded beach location, where Usain joined the guest. Later that day, Alfred “Frano” Francis, a legend at the JAAA, and Reynaldo Walcott, an extremely successful coach, joined and gave some insights into why Jamaica is home to the best track and field athletes and what makes the partnership with PUMA so special.
On the second day, the guests were able to train at a legendary location, the famous “Blue Track” at Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, where Usain started out his career. They were joined by Jamaican Olympic gold medallists Elaine Thompson-Herah, Hansle Parchment and Yohan Blake, who shared some of their insights.
The event culminated in the presentation of Jamaica’s Olympic kits at the annual ISSA Boys & Girls Track and Field Championships. “The Champs”, as they are often referred to, are Jamaica’s most popular sporting event and the place where many of country’s big track and field stars got their first taste of success. All 28 of our Jamaican sponsored athletes were present in the stadium for this special moment. They were joined by 20 boys and girls from three different schools with whom PUMA has a partnership.
The PUMA kits not only perform exceptionally well, with engineered jacquard fabrics, ergonomically shaped to contour the back muscles for heat reduction and breathability, and thermoadapt technology which regulates body temperature to enable optimum performance. They also look great, as they were designed to evoke speed with cut lines strategically placed to accentuate the physique of the athletes, while also providing a showstopping visual via warpspeed graphics that emphasise the beauty of they athletes in motion.
We can’t wait to see Jamaica perform this summer!