Digicel Appoints Usain Bolt as Chief Speed Officer (CSO)

Digicel Caribbean Ltd today announced living legend, world record holder and the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, as its Chief Speed Officer (CSO).

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With his potential 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, Usain continues to entertain the world with his lightning bolt speed and captivating personality.

In his role as Digicel CSO, Usain 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 Usain 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 Usain 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 postpaid 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 twelve 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, Usain 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.”

About Digicel Group

Digicel Group is a total communications and entertainment provider with operations in 33 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. After 15 years of operation, total investment to date stands at over US$5 billion worldwide. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.

Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, the West Indies cricket team and is also the presenting partner of the Caribbean Premier League. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of grassroots NRL programs, women’s business initiatives and the Amicale soccer team in Vanuatu.

Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes. Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.

About Usain Bolt

Arguably the most naturally gifted athlete the world has ever seen, Usain St Leo Bolt, created history at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio when he achieved the ‘Triple Triple’, three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games. Usain’s journey to worldwide stardom started at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where he won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, all in world record times. He followed this up with three gold medals in the same events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London to write his name in the history books as the world’s fastest man. Then one day before his 30th birthday, he completed the same triple at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio to cement his legacy as a legend in world sport.

In addition to his nine Olympic Games gold medals, Usain won eleven World T&F Championships titles. He completed the 100m, 200m and 4x100m sweeps at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, 2013 World Championships in Moscow and 2015 World Championships in Beijing. He won the 200m and 4x100m at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011.

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Contact information

Digicel
Antonia Graham, +1 876-564-1708
antonia.graham@digicelgroup.com