Usain Bolt more or less dominated the tracks for over a decade. The men’s 100m and 200m sprint was firmly in his grasp and few came close to actually overtaking him. Amassing eight Olympic gold medals throughout his era of glory, the Jamaican not only became the face of the track world but of the Olympic Games in general. 

As is the case with any major sport, the spotlight is on the star attraction. As a marquee star, many tuned into the Olympic Games just to watch Usain Bolt win gold and potentially break yet another world record. 

Olympic gold medallist Edwin Moses believed this is precisely what made sports suffer when Bolt was in his prime. Moses, who specialized the 400m hurdles race himself and won golds in 1976 and 1984, believes that everything else fell short due to the Jamaican taking the spotlight.

“I think the sports somewhat suffered when Usain was always winning,” Moses told Stats Perform. “A lot of the meets wouldn’t even get television coverage unless he was coming into the race. That started happening back in the 80s where TV kind of got addicted. They wouldn’t cover the sport unless they had someone going for a world record.”

Track and Field has gained a lot more attention as a whole without Usain Bolt

At the Tokyo Olympics this year, we witness the first Games without Usain Bolt. The atmosphere was certainly different and a lot of other names emerged together into the spotlight. For once, it was not only about Bolt. 

“Track and field is like a three-ring circus – it takes a family in order to have a good track meet. You have to have all these things going on,” Moses explained. “It’s not just about who’s going to be the fastest man or the fastest woman.”

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Confused fans looked for a person they could hang on to as a replacement for Usain Bolt, and they found many. Be it Athing Mu, Armand Duplantis, or Karsten Warholm, a number of stars were noticed in Tokyo. 

“The field events are just as important as the running events,” Moses added. “That men’s shot put was outstanding. The women’s discus was outstanding, as was the women’s triple jump.”

“No one wants to just watch the 100 meters and the 200 meters and then tune out on everything else and switch the channel – you have to be able to keep people’s attention.” (h/t Barbados Today)

Needless to say, the post Usain Bolt era is shaping up nicely as a number of other sports are being noticed. Michael Phelps’ looming shadow in swimming is also being covered by stars such as Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, and Ariarne Titmus. Paris 2024 will be the perfect moment for this to progress in (hopefully) the presence of a live audience. 

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