Sprint king’s departure bad for athletics

zurich — Usain Bolt’s rivals will, for once, be glad to see the back of a man who has dominated global sprinting for the last decade but the sport of athletics will be far less enthusiastic about bidding a final farewell to the charismatic Jamaican.

Bolt has completed the sprint double at the last three Olympics and had he not been disqualified ahead of the 100 metres final at Daegu in 2011, the 30-year-old could have matched that feat at the last four world championships.

In an era blighted by doping scandals, the Jamaican has almost single-handedly kept the sport afloat but his commanding reign will come to an end when he retires after next month’s world championships, finally allowing other sprinters a look-in.

In the simple matter of who will take his place at the top of the 100 metres podium either at or after London, Canada’s Olympic sprint medallist Andre de Grasse appears to be just ahead of the pack as the leading candidate.

“(De Grasse) shows up when it counts. That’s the mark of a veteran. Even though he has been in the sport not too long,” Justin Gatlin, Olympic gold medallist in 2004 and runner-up behind Bolt in Rio last year, told Reuters.

South Africa also has a new generation of stars, led by Akani Simbine and Thando Roto, although with their national championships taking place in March, peaking twice in one season could hinder their hopes of victory in London.

The door could also open for the United States, a traditional sprint powerhouse but largely forgotten as a threat for a decade since Gatlin and Tyson Gay tested positive for illegal drugs. —