The new five-year agreement follows the announcement by Puma that they are sponsoring Saint Lucia’s promising young sprinter Julien Alfred.

The 22-year-old University of Texas student won the silver medal in the 100 metres at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Earlier this year, she became the first woman in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to break the seven-second barrier for 60m.

Alfred is a three-time individual NCAA Division I champion and, last month, won the gold medal in the 100m at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador.

"Julien is an incredible athlete, one we believe will continue to make history on the track," Pascal Rolling, head of sports marketing at Puma, said.

"She is the true embodiment of 'Forever Faster' and our ambition to be the fastest brand on the planet - we’re thrilled to have her join the Puma family."

The company will be hoping she is as successful as a young Jamaican sprinter they signed at the start of his career - Usain Bolt, who wore Puma equipment for his whole career, including his eight Olympic gold medals and his world records over 100m and 200m.

"Puma has such legendary status in athletics, so the decision to join their family was an easy one," Alfred said.

"I feel that together we can achieve great things on and off the track."

Saint Lucia will be pinning its hopes on Alfred becoming the country’s first Olympic medallist in the French capital next year.

They have made their debut in the Olympics at Atlanta 1996 and have competed in every Games since.

For the re-arranged 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Saint Lucia sent five competitors - three in swimming, one in athletics and one in sailing.

The best performance came from Levern Spencer, who finished equal 22nd in the women's high jump.