PUMA
HERZOGENAURACH, JULY 19, 2023
“NEVER GIVE UP”, USAIN BOLT AND COLIN JACKSON ON RECORDS, PUMA FAMILY, AND FUTURE

Global Sports company PUMA announces an interview with the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, and an iconic sprint and hurdling athlete, Colin Jackson, to celebrate the 20th anniversary between PUMA and Bolt this July.

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Reflecting on his remarkable journey, Bolt expresses his deep connection with PUMA, stating, "This brand has always been my choice. We've become a family, doing incredible work together. I'm proud to be a part of it." Reflecting on his early days as an aspiring athlete, Bolt shares his excitement upon receiving his first PUMA kit, describing the moment as a dream come true.

As the conversation turns to Bolt's record-breaking accomplishments, the sprinter emphasizes that his focus was always on winning medals rather than chasing records. He attributes his success not only to his exceptional performances but also to his magnetic personality, which won over fans worldwide.

The dynamic conversation between Usain Bolt and Colin Jackson provides an engaging glimpse into the life of a sporting legend. Their discussion on records, partnership, and the thrill of athletics captivated audiences, highlighting Bolt's extraordinary achievements and his passion for the sport.

Herzogenaurach, Germany, January 24, 2023
THE NEW PUMA VELOPHASIS TAKES INSPIRATION FROM RUNNING HERITAGE TO DELIVER AN EXCITING LIFESTYLE SNEAKER

PUMA announces the release of VELOPHASIS, its new hybrid sneaker inspired by the 2000s.

For this new design, PUMA took inspiration from an important part of its Archive. The design of the VELOPHASIS is inspired by the COMPLETE line, a defining license of the 2000s for the brand. Designed for running, the PUMA COMPLETE line allowed the brand to develop revolutionary technologieslike the iCELL, e+CELL, and EverRide technologies, which have been used by runners around the world. The VELOPHASIS builds on this heritage while adapting it to the visual codes of the Y2K culture through PUMA’s progressive
vision.

VELOPHASIS BIONIC

The new franchise’s design takes the best of both eras. The upper of the VELOPHASIS is built asymmetrically. Its inserts are directly taken from the running of the 2000s but decked out in new materials. Honeycombed mesh, textured panels and an aggressive shape pay homage to the heritage of the COMPLETE line.

 

VELOPHASIS PHASED

The first colors of the VELOPHASIS are based on a more contemporary aesthetic. VELOPHASIS Bionic features a metallic look with cream and electro blue inserts. While the VELOPHASIS Phased are inspired by the Vaporwave movement and the Internet culture of the early 2000s with bright tones that contrast with the sobriety of its design.

 

The PUMA VELOPHASIS Bionic will be available on February 4th and the 3 colorways of the VELOPHASIS Phased will be available on February 11th on PUMA.com and in selected retailers. Additional colorways and exciting collaborations will come later in the Spring of 2023.

 

LONG DISTANCE RUNNER MOLLY SEIDEL TALKS “SHE MOVES US”: “NOTHING IN THE WORLD FEELS LIKE RUNNING”

PUMA Running Athlete Molly Seidel talks about her passion for running and how she wants to inspire young women for PUMA’s “She Moves Us” platform

Running Athlete Molly Seidel frankly spoke about the sacrifices and challenges of being a female elite runner in a “She Moves Us” video conversation for Sports company PUMA:  “I’ve had to challenge male standards in my sport in the sense that there are very certain ideas about body image that have been prevalent in running for a long time, in a male dominated sport. And I think as American female distance running takes over, we’ve shown that you don’t have to be any one kind of body type to succeed. That you can have success being whoever you are.”

The Olympic Bronze Medalist, who will again compete at the upcoming Boston Marathon, wants to empower girls and young women to embarke into a career in running: “I want young women to know that you can work hard and enjoy yourself. There have been certain ideas of what it takes to be successful in this sport, and I think sometimes people equate that with you have to be serious, you have to be straight-faced. And I want to challenge that and say that I think to win you should be enjoying the hell out of what you do.”

 

“She Moves Us” wants to empower girls and young women through through sharing stories and joint efforts to impact their rights globally.  It is inspired by global pop-star and PUMA Ambasssador Dua Lipa who said: "Sharing stories of success is all part of changing the narrative, especially in fields like sports and entertainment that have tended to amplify the accomplishments of men. Women are already nailing it across the board and celebrating their achievements is exciting and empowering. It also encourages those rising up to aim for the stars.”

 

PUMA has an inclusive product offering to cater for women and girls in sport: underwear and activewear, modest sportswear, a maternity offering and performance specific products exclusively engineered for women. PUMA supports all athletes to perform at the highest level and works with organizations and partners committed to remove barriers in sports.

 

For the full Molly Seidel “She Moves Us” video interview, please click HERE.

 

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August 19, 2005
PUMA Signs on as Sponsor of the “Weltklasse Zurich” Athletics Competition

The Weltklasse Zurich meeting belongs to the six meetings of the IAAF Golden League and is known for its unique atmosphere and well-informed audience. The IAAF-Meeting-Evaluation has voted Weltklasse Zurich as the best track in the world 12 times since 1988. Last year, the meeting was televised in more than 150 countries.

“We are very excited about the partnership with the best track meeting in the world,” said Pascal Rolling, PUMA’s International Running Marketing Manager. “We will not only strengthen our brand’s positioning with this sponsorship, we will enlarge it.”

“We welcome PUMA as a new sponsor to our meeting”, says meeting director Hansjörg Wirz. “We are delighted to collaborate with a company that will bring new ideas and promote the meeting to a broader audience.”

Over the years several PUMA athletes have made their mark in Zurich like Americans Renaldo Nehemiah and Evelyn Ashford along side Jamaican Merlene Ottey – with 17 participations in the meeting and overall eight victories, she is one of the darlings of the public. To date there have been 23 world records state in Zurich.

September 10, 2006
PUMA Teams Up with Personal Trainer Schellenberg and “007 James Bond: Casino Royal” actor Schick to Lead the Pack
PUMA® Complete Running Faces the Mountain at the GORE-TEX Transalpine Run

“Even though I stay in shape, I am an actor and not an athlete – but I was fascinated by the idea,” says Bond-movie-actor Clemens Schick. “It does take a certain amount of adventure spirit for a city boy like me to just go running up a mountain like that but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Karsten Schellenberg, the personal fitness trainer who has been preparing Schick for the run for five weeks is confident of success: “Due to his demanding roles as an actor, Clemens is obviously in good shape. Nonetheless this is a tough run and you need to train hard to be able to reach the top but Clemens loved the idea, worked hard for it and had the best product at his disposal”.

The expert trail run challenges participants with a distance of over 230 km and 14,000 meters of altitude and demands a lot of both product and runner. Over the span of eight days, runners not only enjoy the beauty of alpine pastures and woodland paths but also face the challenges of the Tyrolean Alps’ steep gravel trails and icy mountain ridges. As the running teams strive to the top, sudden climate and profile changes demand runners to stay focused at all times and commands the utmost flexibility of both man and material.

As official supplier of the GORE TEXTM Transalpine-Run 2006, PUMA chooses this extraordinary backdrop to demonstrate its point of difference in Running. Balancing the excellence of the performance of its Complete Running products with its lifestyle approach to running, PUMA sends celebrity duo Schellenberg and Schick out to conquer the last relay of a race that starts where the common paths end. Almost 2000 meters of altitude and a distance of close to 29 kilometers is what the duo will face on 9th of September from Schlanders to Latsch in Italy.

Stockholm, Sweden, February 13, 2008
PUMA extends Contract with Swedish Athletic Association

Swedish Athletics Federation and PUMA Sign New Long Term Agreement until 2012

Sportlifestyle company PUMA® announced today that the contract with the Swedish Athletic Association, which was initiated in January 2005, has been extended beyond the London Olympics in 2012. Under the agreement, PUMA will remain the official apparel and footwear supplier for all Swedish teams competing at major sporting events, including the Beijing Olympics this summer, until the end of 2012.

“The cooperation with our Swedish partner has been a great success,” General Manager PUMA Nordic AB Ulf Kinneson said. “We are very pleased to extend our contract, keeping the Swedish team in our athletics portfolio as this further strengthens our positioning as one of the leading running brands.”

With outstanding athletes such as 400-meters sprinter Johann Wissman, high-jumper Linus Thornblad and 100-meter-hurdles athlete Jenny Kallur, the Swedish team has scored impressive results in recent years. At the 2004 Olympic Games, Sweden took home three athletics gold medals in men’s high jump, men’s triple jump and the women’s heptathlon.

“The Swedish Athletic Association is very pleased that our successful relationship with PUMA as our official supplier will continue in the next years to come,” said Yngve Andersson, President of the Swedish Athletic Association.

The 2008 Olympics in Beijing this August will be the next major event where PUMA will provide the Swedish athletes with innovative shoes, apparel and equipment to guarantee the perfect starting position for success.

Herzogenaurach, Germany, August 25, 2008
PUMA® breaks World Records at Olympics 2008 in Beijing

The sportlifestyle brand expands its position as one of the worldwide leading running brands thanks to world class athlete Usain Bolt

As the sponsor of 16 national teams at the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, PUMA achieved a successful track record by endorsing outstanding sprinter Usain Bolt to win three gold medals and smash three world records.
“Lightning” Bolt set a new 100m world record at 9.69 seconds, smashing his own mark from May this year, and sprinted 200m in a world record time of 19.30 seconds, beating Michael Johnson’s 1996 record by two hundredths of a second. He won his third gold medal as Jamaica shattered the world record at 4 x 100m relay in 37.10 seconds, taking 0.30 off the USA’s mark which was set 15 years ago at the world championships.

Bolt is the first man in 24 years to win an Olympic sprint double while the Jamaican team finished third in the nation medal table for track and field with six gold, three silver and two bronze medals.

“We were again able to impressively demonstrate PUMA’s undoubted credibility and expertise in world-class sports at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” said Chairman and CEO Jochen Zeitz. “With our PUMA athletes and primarily Usain Bolt’s world records in the sprints, we once again set new standards and made sports history, strengthening and expanding our position as one of the leading running brands.”

Cameroonian triple jumper Francoise Mbango and javelin thrower Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway won Olympic titles wearing PUMA Runway apparel.

Bolt, Mbango and Thorkildsen join the group of brilliant PUMA track and field athletes who enjoyed golden moments in Olympic history, such as for example Armin Hary (100m / 1960), Tommie Smith (200m / 1968) and Linford Christie (100m / 1992).

Bolt worked with PUMA to develop the optimum running shoe. Running both the 100m and 200m, he needed a versatile shoe that provided support for power, as well as firmness to hold his foot in place around the turn. Following this collaborative process, the complete Theseus II was born. PUMA produced a gold version of the shoe for Beijing, which helped power him through the greatest sprints of his life so far.

The Olympics also provided the ultimate stage to showcase PUMA’s Runway Collection of clothing and apparel which was inspired by the spirit of the Games and those athletes who came to symbolize it. PUMA’s world class competitors looked the part on and off the track in lifestyle offerings with a sporting edge and performance products provide them with PUMA’s unique offering of fashion and technology.

Boston, Massachusetts; January 22nd, 2020
PUMA signs current long jump world champion
Global sports brand PUMA has signed current long jump World Champion Tajay Gayle. He recently competed at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships where he took home the gold medal for his 8.69m mark, making him the first Jamaican athlete to win first place in the long jump at a World Championship.

“Tajay is one of the best young talents out there”,  said Pascal Rolling, Head of Running Sports Marketing for PUMA. “He recently accomplished a great feat during the recent World Champs, and we are sure he will perform great during 2020. He shares all of our brand values, making him the perfect new addition to our roster of Track and Field athletes.”

“I’m so honored and happy to join the PUMA family, just like Usain Bolt,” said Tajay. “I’ve been working hard since I was a kid to accomplish my objectives, and this is definitedly one of them. I can’t explain how exciting this is for me. This new stage will allow me to prove everyone that I’m the best in the game.” 

Tajay comes from a small community in Eastern St. Andrew, Jamaica, he started his carrer trying out different dicisplines, including decathlon, until he found his love for long jump. This happened by chance during one of his training sessions. That day the mat of the high jump was wet, making it hard for him to do a safe landing. His coach made him do long jump practice instead. After this blessing in disguise, he’s been unstoppable.

 

Boston, Massachusetts, february 25, 2021
PUMA RUNNING RETURNS IN 2021
Disrupt. Break away. Change the game. That’s how PUMA runs things and in 2021, PUMA Running is coming back—hard. 

PUMA’s history is packed with nearly 75 years of world records, firsts, and onlys from Abebe Bikila to Bill Rodgers to Sabrina Mockenhaupt to Usain Bolt. In industry years, this makes us faster since forever, and we believe now is the time for us to pick up speed again and spark change from the most sought-after marathon finish lines to local run communities.

We overhauled our products and developed new technologies to create an effortless run. Years of research and testing have gone into five new key styles—Deviate, Deviate Elite, Velocity, Liberate, and Eternity—all featuring our cutting-edge supercritical foam technology, NITRO.

“With PUMA Running, we set out to create an effortless run for runners,” said Erin Longin, Global Director of the Running and Training business unit at PUMA. “Our new running shoes feature our most innovative technologies, like NITRO foam, making the shoes extremely lightweight and responsive, to help you use less energy and run comfortably so you can reach your goals.”

The new PUMA Running range includes specially engineered designs for female runners including a brand-new women’s last developed for the female foot in all four styles. PUMA believes women are the future of running which is why we’ve signed some of the top distance athletes in the sport—Molly Seidel, Gesa Krause, Aisha Praught-Leer, Fiona O’Keefe, and Taylor Werner. 

“The more we researched our consumer we learned that the idea of change resonates with runners,” Longin said. “Runners always strive for change, to better themselves and the greater good so we landed on the concept of SPARK CHANGE to bring meaning and energy to everything we do in running.”

In addition to the five new styles launching, PUMA Running is providing the spark for a new generation of runners and engaging the running community through purpose-led initiatives. In partnership with Women Win and our athletes, PUMA is donating to foundations aimed at furthering women in sport. The PUMA Running Spark Change Fund will help to support charities with the greatest need in an effort to establish greater gender equity in the sport of running.

Deviate, Deviate Elite, Velocity, Liberate, and Eternity styles will be available globally March 4 on PUMA.com, PUMA Stores, and selected retailers worldwide.  

 

herzogenaurach, germany, april 20, 2021
PUMA signs long-term agreement with US pole vaulter KC Lightfoot
Sports company PUMA has signed a long-term agreement with US pole vaulter and collegiate (NCAA) indoor champion KC Lightfoot, one of the most promising talents in the United States. 

Born in Missouri, 21-year-old KC made headlines earlier this year, when he set a new indoor NCAA record of 6.00 meters, becoming only the 6th US athlete to clear that height. He will join PUMA’s strong line-up of pole vaulters, including world record holder Armand “Mondo” Duplantis and former Olympic Champion Renaud Lavillenie.

“I’m very excited to join the PUMA family in what is a very important year for my sport,” said KC Lightfoot. “Together with PUMA I look forward to scaling new heights at the upcoming events.”

Before becoming a professional pole vaulter, KC tried his hand at several other sports including dirt biking, baseball and even cliff and bridge jumping. 

“Pole vault is perhaps one of the strongest and most exciting events in all of track and field at this time,” said Pascal Rolling, Head of Sports Marketing Running at PUMA. “That is why we are very happy to welcome KC to the PUMA family and continue to make our mark on the sport.”

herzogenaurach, germany, august 13, 2021
PUMA celebrates historical Athlete Moments at the Olympic Games in Tokyo

Sports company PUMA has celebrated incredible moments of its sponsored athletes, many of them writing sports history at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. “These Olympic Games in Tokyo have been an amazing sports event that created many heroes and heroines, both nationally and globally, who delivered world-class performances on the track and pitches,” Bjørn Gulden, CEO of PUMA. “Given all the uncertainty before the Games, I feel the organizers did a terrific job in making these Games happen. We are incredibly proud of our PUMA sponsored medalists, as well as the rest of our athletes, who worked hard and gave everything to perform at their very best.”

Outstanding world-class performances were delivered by PUMA athlete when he clocked in 45.94s over 400m hurdles, breaking his own world record of 46.70s. In a much acclaimed race – labelled the ‘Best Race in Track&Field History – the 25-year-old Norwegian was said to have not broken his own world-record, but destroyed it. Between Edwin Moses’ world record of 47.45s in 1977 and Karsten’s world record of 46.70s from July 2021, the 400m hurdles record had progressed by 75 hundredths of a second. Then, in just one race in Tokyo, Warholm improved the world record by 76 hundredths – a performance unseen in 44 years. In addition, the sacrosanct 47 second mark in the 400m hurdles had only been broken six times before the Tokyo Olympic final. In this one race, three hurdlers ran under 47 seconds, with the silver medalist Rai Benjamin breaking Karsten’s old world record, running 46.17s. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, gold medalist Kerron Clement ran 47.73s and in the 2019 Doha World Championships, Karsten won in 47.42s. With these times, a hurdler would only have taken the sixth place in the final.

26-year-old Canadian sprinter André de Grasse raced to Gold over 200m in 19.62s and claimed Bronze in the 100m race in 9.89 seconds. With a track record of having participated in the 100m and 4x100m in the 2015 World Championships, in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the 2016 Olympics, in the 100m and 200m at the 2019 World Championships and in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the Tokyo Olympics, André is the World’s most consistent male sprinter. 27-year-old American Molly Seidel became the third American woman to ever win a medal in a marathon at the Olympic Games, when she finished in a time of 2:27:46, having had only run two marathons before competing at the Tokyo Olympics.

For what was the first time in athletics in the last 113 years, PUMA athlete Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim decided to share the gold medal in the men's high jump, a true symbol of sportsmanship.

Pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis claimed his first Olympic title when he cleared 6.02m to win gold, but also attempted 6.19m, one centimetre higher than his previous best of 6.18m, the current world-record.

Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment surprised the world in an incredibly tight 110m hurdles final when he beat the undisputed favourite Grant Holloway, who had not lost a hurdles race since August last year. At the U.S. Olympic trials, Holloway only missed the 110mh world record by one-hundredth of a second, but in Tokyo, Hansle raced past him to win gold in 13.04s – labelled “one of the shocks of the Games”.

With a jump of 17.98m, Portuguese PUMA athlete and Olympic debutant Pedro Pichardo won gold in the triple jump, setting a new national record for Portugal, and winning the first gold medal for his country of any kind since 2008, and only the fifth ever.

The female 100m sprinters of the PUMA-sponsored Jamaica Olympic Association claimed Gold (Elaine Thompson-Herah), Silver (Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce) and Bronze (Shericka Jackson), having occupied 10 of the 12 places on the podiums since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The above are just a selection of historical performances of PUMA-sponsored athletes, who gathered a total of 22 Gold, 24 Silver, and 20 Bronze medals in Tokyo this summer. PUMA-sponsored Federations scored eleven Gold, 8 Silver and 7 Bronze medals.

For more than 70 years, PUMA has partnered with the most famous and successful athletes. Within PUMA’s brand mission to become the fastest sports brand in the world, the company has continued to focus on creating brand heat and developing product ranges that are right for its athletes and consumers.
 

Elite Performance Products for Elite Athletes


We have continued on our mission to design “stuff that works” and have significantly improved our product offering in our sports performance categories. In order to create PUMA’s fastest, lightest and most propulsive Track & Field spike, we have teamed up with Formula 1 brand Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 to apply engineering insights from Formula 1 and automotive world to create the EVOSPEED TOKYO FUTURE FASTER+ and the EVOSPEED TOKYO FUTURE NITRO FASTER+ for PUMA athletes, including Gold medalists Karsten Warholm and André De Grasse, Canadian 200m sprinter.

“This collaboration was very unique and it has given us the perfect product for us to work on the track - a spike that is really aggressive, with a really good forward propulsion, and it gives me all the tools I need to be the best version of myself,” said Karsten Warholm.

For our Olympic kits – worn by the athletes of 12 Athletic Federations, such as Jamaica, Norway and Sweden – PUMA improved the aerodynamics by optimizing air turbulences behind the sprinters to minimize the air drag that occurs while running at such speed. What usually slows sprinters down are air turbulences behind them caused by the air that is pushed by the athletes’ bodies and flows around them towards their backs. These turbulences will cause an air drag back. By strategically placing little brush knobs at the side of the kits’ sleeves and legs that change the turbulence patterns, PUMA minimized the air drag back.


 

“It is all about the athletes, their physical and mental training and their ability at the key moment to give their best,” added Bjørn Gulden. “At PUMA, we are motivated to help them perform at their very best.”

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