USAIN Bolt, Jamaica's sprint king, has earned an extended sponsorship contract with sporting goods company Puma AG until the end of 2013, making him the world’s most highly sponsored runner.
Although the terms of the contract were not released, Puma chairman and chief executive officer Jochen Zeitz said Bolt would be "the best paid athlete in track and field history."
"He's an iconic global sports star and as such he's now remunerated," Zeitz told the AP.
"It's good, man. I'm happy. I'm very happy with the figure," Bolt, who turned 24 on Saturday, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Puma first sponsored Bolt in 2003 when he was a 16-year-old.
This year Puma unveiled the “Bolt Collection,” a range of apparel, footwear and accessories co-designed with the sprinter.
The 100 metres and 200 metres world records set by Bolt during the Berlin world championships had a “media value” of more than 83 million euros (US$105 million) for Puma, said the German company.
Earlier this month, Bolt said that he would cut his 2010 season short because of his ailing back. The announcement came only days after he lost a 100-meter race in Stockholm to Tyson Gay — his first loss in an individual race in two years, also in the Swedish capital.
