Usain Bolt signed his first sponsorship deal with Puma in 2002. The agreement followed his breakthrough victory in the 200-metre event at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, where he became a world junior champion at age 15.
That early partnership connected Puma with a sprinter who was still years away from global senior stardom. Bolt later developed into the defining athlete of Puma’s track-and-field image, winning Olympic and world titles and setting world records in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4×100-metre relay.
A common mix-up is the year 2003: some Puma material describes the company signing the 16-year-old junior sprinter then, while standard biographies and the commonly cited career timeline place the sponsorship deal after his 2002 junior triumph. For this quiz’s wording and source, 2002 is the accepted answer.