(SPORTSMAX) – Britain double Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson predicts a dark future for the sport of track and field without Jamaican sprint mega star Usain Bolt.Bolt, the reigning World and Olympic champion, is globally acknowledged as the sport’s biggest ambassador, drawing not only attention to it with his seemingly superhuman exploits on the track but also his larger-than-life personality off it.
There is, however, another element to the athlete’s success. The Jamaican has never failed a doping test in a sport that has been riddled with positive findings, accusations and suspensions.
“For athletics, he’s really important because he’s probably the one reason that we’re not ranked with tractor-pulling and mud-wrestling because he really is an incredible athlete,” Thompson told global new outlet CNN.
“I think that it’s going to struggle once he hangs up his spikes and they’ve only got a little bit of time to find a couple of people who are going to sort of try and take his place,” he added.
The upcoming Rio Games is expected to be the 29-year-old’s last Olympics and he has repeatedly said he expects to hang up his spikes after the 2017 World Championships.