Athletics South Africa selects PUMA as official sponsor
Let’s start with a fun fact: South Africa actually has a national governing body for athletics, which encompasses track and field, cross country, road running and race-walking. The Johannesburg-based Athletics South Africa (ASA) is a member of Confederation of African Athletics, and is recognized by the IAAF, or World Athletics organization. And now, it is officially sponsored by PUMA.
Track and field has always been a part of PUMA’s heritage and we are proud to be able to collaborate with the South African athletics federation, outfit one of the world’s leading teams and help to develop athletes for tomorrow’s success.
Pascal Rolling, Head of Sports Marketing Running @ PUMA
The partnership seemed perfect, given PUMA’s long and rich history in Track and Field. Take the decades-long sponsorship for the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association for example, which included Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth, and the latest partnership with pole vault World Record holder Armand “Mondo” Duplantis.
Now PUMA´s track and field squad will be complemented by South African stars, such as Luke Davids, Thando Roto, Hericho Bruintjies, Rikenette Steenkamp, Wenda Nel and Gena Lofstrand. Let´s give them a warm welcome!
Spotlight on Luke Davids
Pictured above, Luke is one of the new stars of South African sport. Though he started out playing rugby as a child, Luke discovered that he had a talent for running in primary school. The ambitious athlete trained at the University of Western Cape. Now, the youngster is the 2018 Youth Olympic Games 100m champion, and has landed All African Youth Games champion for the 100m and a silver medal for the 200m. And the list keeps growing! More recently, Luke made headlines by becoming the Confederation of African Athletics Southern Region 200m champion and 100m silver medal-winner, as well as South African Youth champion in the 100m and 200m. He joined PUMA in 2019, which brought him one step closer to his goal of becoming the next Usain Bolt.
