Get over Bolt, says athletics chief Coe

Gold Coast: World athletics chief Sebastian Coe blasted the “obsession” with Usain Bolt as Yohan Blake kick- started track and fields new era without the Jamaican sprint king at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.

Coe insisted there was no shortage of talent at the Games, the first major competition since Bolt’s retirement last year left the sport with a gaping void to fill.

Blake, Bolt’s long- time understudy, qualified fastest for the men’s 100 metres final as the athletics programme got underway, closely followed by Adam Gemili of England.

“This obsession with...,” Coe said when asked about Bolt, before stopping himself and adding: “There are plenty of athletes around.

“Are we going to replace Usain Bolt? Probably not, because you don’t replace Muhammad Ali.

“But Marvin Hagler and Manny Pacquiao and ( Julio Cesar) Chavez and the great boxers came through.”

Despite his retirement, eight- time Olympic champion Bolt will be the star attraction when he arrives in Gold Coast on Monday in an ambassador role. The athletics competition is also missing world champion hurdler Sally Pearson, a local resident and the face of the Games, after she pulled out with an Achilles injury. Men’s skeet qualification ( 4: 30am), womens 10m air rifle qualification ( 6: 30am)