Usain Bolt opened up about the meeting in Kenya that led Puma to match Nike's offer, securing his loyalty to the brand.
Usain Bolt has opened up about how a meeting in Kenya changed his perspective about signing with Nike and sticking with Puma.
The fastest man alive quashed the rumours that Nike snubbed him in 2007, revealing that they had a meeting around 2012 and the giant brand was interested in him, not vice versa.
The 11-time world champion revealed that Nike were offering a hefty contract and his management had to contact the Puma CEO at the time who had no choice but to match the contract.
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Usain Bolt pointed out that he flew them to Kenya and they had a meeting where they discussed how they would go above what Nike was offering and that is how the decision to stick with Puma came about.
“We had a meeting with Nike after or before 2012, that’s the only time we had a meeting. Puma just matched the contract…they got me paid, Nike got me paid,” Usain Bolt revealed on the Ready Set Go podcast.
“They came in and we had a discussion and then we told the CEO at the time, we actually flew to Kenya. We had the Puma CEO who flew us to Kenya and sat us in a meeting and when he said the figure I had to play it cool.”
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After learning the amount Puma were offering, Usain Bolt revealed that he had to maintain a straight face but it was evident that he would continue working with them.
The eight-time Olympic champion signed with Puma in 2003 when he was a junior athlete and has never worked with any other sporting brand.
In previous interviews, Usain Bolt revealed that he always saw Puma as family and found it difficult working with other brands that approached him, probably with much better deals.
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The Jamaican legend accomplished a lot of milestones working with the giant brand including breaking two world records, the 100m and 200m, that have stood till date.
He broke the records at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, clocking 9.58 seconds in the 100m and 19.19 seconds in the 200m. Usain Bolt also won multiple Olympic and world titles during his career and retired as one of the greatest sprinters in the world.