Usain Bolt has admitted he will never be able to replace the adrenaline rush of his legendary track career.
The World Athletics Championships get underway in Oregon on Friday with the sport still missing him as much as he does the thrill of competition.
“I loved the buzz of the major Championships, the energy of the crowd, the excitement, the atmosphere,” said the sprint icon. “It is impossible to replicate that feeling.
“Some athletes embrace it and some athletes find it difficult in those moments. I was always someone who performed best at the Championships. I definitely miss that.”
Bolt brought down the curtain on athletics’ greatest showman, during the Worlds in London five years ago, at the age of 30.
He walked away a 19-time global champion and remains the fastest man of all time.
“I was ready to retire as I had achieved everything I wanted to achieve in the sport,” Bolt told Mirror Sport.
“The motivation wasn’t there to continue training hard day in day out. These days I am very happy to watch it on TV.”
Seb Coe, boss of World Athletics, dared to hope he would stay involved and help revamp the sport after hanging up his golden spikes.
The Jamaican agrees that “athletics needs to come up with new formats to engage new fans, sponsors, media”.
But the dad-of-three says he is “even busier’ since retirement and “at this time” has no plans to return.
The onus therefore falls on others to step up and reverse ratings which have plummeted since his 11th and final world title.
Coe is on record as urging the post-Bolt generation to "recognise they are in the entertainment business” and be more like the Jamaican, who stopped the world whenever he performed.
Track great turned pundit Michael Johnson added his voice, saying: “We must attract new people to grow this sport. And they are attracted to stories”.
But sprinter Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who captains Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Eugene, claims the picture is nothing like as bleak as is painted.
“Since Bolt left the sport there hasn’t been that international intrigue, but now it’s more competitive than ever,” he said. “I think it’s in a beautiful place.
“Bolt was a supreme outlier who will never be replaced, a ‘generational talent’. But we haven’t had so much talent running at this level, this consistent, for a very long time.
“I implore the media to light a fire in people’s bellies by highlighting what’s going on, allow them to understand what we’re doing is actually greater than what’s been done in the past.”
The coming days will reveal the truth one way or the other. In the absence of Bolt, athletics will pray Mitchell-Blake has a point.
HOW USAIN BOLT LIT UP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR A DECADE
2007 Osaka
Marked his Worlds debut as a 20-year old by taking 200m silver behind Tyson Gay.
2009 Berlin
Broke world records in 100m (9.58secs) and 200m (19.19secs) en route to 3 gold medals
2011 Daegu
Sensationally DQd from 100m final for false start. Returned to win 200m.
2013 Moscow
Reclaimed 100m crown with bolt of lightning striking stadium at exact moment he crossed finish line
2015 Beijing
Upset the odds to secure perhaps his greatest win, being convicted doper Justin Gatlin to 100m title.
2017 London
Retired from the sport after injury-wrecked his farewell race.
