KINGSTON, Jamaica — Sports goods company Puma is promising a fashionable design for Jamaica’s athletes at the Olympic Games, which will be technically efficient for the athletes to perform at their utmost best in the quest for glory.

According to Global Head of Product Line Management, Track and Field, José van der Veen and Senior Designer Select Collaboration Apparel, Michelle Riley, Puma’s brush technology will be a key aspect of the Jamaican gear at the Olympics.

The Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 23-August 8, when Jamaica will challenge other track and field superpowers, especially in the sprints, which will have several Jamaicans who are favoured to medal.

“We have a brush technology, which is a new technology we are implementing and launching for the first time on the Olympic kits and those are brushes that are strategically placed in those areas of the garments to avoid the air resistance, to make the products aerodynamic,” van der Veen said.

“The fabric bases for the performance kits as well, it’s branded sustainable feather called econyl. It’s like recycled nylon and it’s coming from fishing nets, which is really unique. So we are really being sustainable without compromising performance or style, which are really good elements,” Riley added.

“So, the fabric still performs at its best level and it’s comfortable for the athletes but also super eco-friendly and then the rest of collection for apparel anyway, is also recycled polyester and nylons, so throughout the collection, we are super conscious of sustainability,” she stated.

The running gear is also made of thermo-regulated fabric, which will help to cool the athletes during the expected heat of Tokyo. These are specifically designed holes at key areas of the kits although these pieces, will not be very fashionable, but is expected to boost performance.

“At the back of the female, we have thermo-regulated fabric and it’s really nice and breathable, so it’s not going to look very sexy and very beautiful but very lightweight, because in Tokyo it’s going to be very hot but it will allow them to get their breathability as well,” van der Veen said.

Riley added: “That piece will be cool because in the past we could do this with blocking measures, but this one is a mono-material. So, it’s a high-speed working area that we engineered with different hole structures to like, kind of resemble mesh, but do so without using so many seams.

“This was another story about innovation. So, we wanted to keep the product really clean and have no irritation or chaffing with like reducing seams but also being able to see all three country colours from whatever direction they are running in. So, for a light apparel, this was really important,” Riley stated.

Meanwhile, according to van der Veen, the podium and opening ceremony kits, which are made in collaboration with a company name First Mile, was developed from 100 per cent fully sustainable recycled polyester.

She said the designers of the jackets also wanted to include some nostalgic memory, as the concept was from the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games’ iconic image, in which black athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos held up a clenched fist during the medal presentation for the 200 metres.

They were protesting racial injustice in their homeland of the United States of America and according to van der Veen, the newly inspired jackets is significant, based on what is currently taking place across the globe.

She said that throughout the Olympic Games collection, the athletes will have different options to choose from as the designers wanted to ensure that they are comfortable.