Castries, St Lucia — Digicel Caribbean Limited yesterday announced living legend, world record holder and the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, as its Chief Speed Officer (CSO).

With his unprecedented “three-peat” at the Olympic Games in Rio, Usain has taken his rightful place in the annals of history and sealed his position as the greatest athlete ever. The unique “job for life” comes in tandem with the agreement of a lifetime partnership between Digicel and Usain Bolt – an honour only a very small number of the absolute greatest athletes in the world have ever achieved – and a first for Digicel.

Digicel has been a proud sponsor of Usain Bolt since 2004 when he was fresh out of high school. Fast-forward 12 years and 21 major championship victories, Bolt continues to entertain the world with his lightning bolt speed and captivating personality.

In his role as Digicel CSO, he will get up close and personal with Digicel customers in a number of ways from both a commercial and community point of view and will continue to inspire, motivate and captivate customers and fans across the globe for many years to come.

The innovative new partnership will see him bringing his unique understanding of speed to customers via Digicel products, networks and marketing and partnership initiatives — and to aspiring youth athletes via speed camps, motivational and mentorship sessions. Digicel will also support Bolt in his passion for giving back by bringing technology solutions to young people that will help them develop and grow.

And to ensure that customers get to celebrate his lifetime contract with him, Digicel will reward one lucky customer in each country with a free lifetime post-paid contract via a social media competition to be run across its markets worldwide.

Peter Lloyd, director of marketing for Digicel Group, said: “We are honoured to be turning our 12-year relationship with Usain into a lifelong relationship. Our relationship with Usain transcends sport — he is a unique human being who inspires millions of people across the world. We take pride in having been the first to offer superfast LTE and fibre to the home services in our markets across the globe and to be delivering a truly cutting edge communications and entertainment experience to our customers. As our Chief Speed Officer, we expect Usain to challenge us constantly to deliver awesome experiences to our customers be it from a product, service or community perspective.”

In accepting the new role and his lifetime contract, Bolt said: “I’m very humbled. It’s been an amazing journey with Digicel – they have been there for me since I was 17 years old and now we will be together forever. As Digicel CSO, I am opening a new chapter and will be making it my mission to ensure that speed stays at the top of the agenda.”