Elaine Thompson, Jamaica’s rising star of female sprinting, has signed a professional contract with American sportswear giant Nike.

Thompson, 22, who attends the University of Technology (UTech), won her last two Diamond League races in the famous Nike gear, instead of her usual blue and yellow UTech outfit.

She took to social media on Facebook on May 8, 2016, posting “thanks to Nike for these lovely colours” along with a selfie.

Nike is one of the world’s largest suppliers of shoes and apparel.

They have signed some of the biggest sporting stars in the world.

The company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and it is fitting that they have signed Thompson, who could be destined for great heights.

The former Manchester High student announced herself to the world in 2015 with some fast times, culminating with a spectacular 200-metre silver medal at the Beijing World Championships in 21.66 seconds, the fifth-fastest time ever over the distance.

Under the guidance of Stephen Francis, one of the best coaches in the world, Thompson was transformed from an ordinary high school athlete, to one of the globe’s finest over both the 100m and 200m.

While attending Manchester High, Thompson’s biggest achievement was a fourth-place finish in the Class Two 100m in 12.01 seconds. The winner was Diandra Whitehorne from Vere Technical who ran 11.52 seconds.

But Thompson, who was spotted by UTech coach Paul Francis — the brother of the MVP track guru, Stephen — as far back as the Class Three level, was given a track scholarship in 2012 despite her moderate success at Champs.

In her first year at UTech, Thompson was consistently running in the 11.8-seconds bracket and that was lowered to 11.41 in 2013. In her third year under the guidance of the Francis brothers, Thompson improved further to 11.19 seconds in 2014.

On April 1, 2015, she then captured the Intercollegiate 100m crown in a record 11.09 seconds, running into a headwind of -1.1 m/s. Only 11 days later, she won the UTech Classic in a world-leading 10.92 seconds.

It was the seventh-best performance by a Jamaican woman at the time and had made her the 11th Jamaican woman to dip below the 11-second barrier, behind the likes of Merlene Ottey, Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson.

If anyone had doubts about Thompson’s 10.92 clocking, these were quickly laid to rest when she easily defeated a world-class field at the 2015 Jamaica International Invitational Meet, clocking 10.97 seconds. That field included Commonwealth Games champion Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria, Allyson Felix of USA and Jamaican Olympic silver medallist Kerron Stewart.

By then, Thompson was widely regarded as an elite athlete. She went on to log a personal best 10.84 seconds over the 100m to go with the sensational 21.66 in Beijing.

Thompson, who is the training partner of none other than the great Fraser-Pryce, has started 2016 in very good fashion with her new found professional status.

She is taking the Diamond League by storm, winning the Rabat and Rome 100m races in 11.02 and 10.87 seconds, respectively, and leading the standing with 20 points.

She secured bronze in the 60m at the IAAF World Indoor Championship in March and great things are expected from her at the Jamaica national trials where she is expected to vie for 100m and 200m spots to the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil in August.