A bulwark against fake sport - Usain Bolt quits the track

THE relentless rolling on of time changes everything and nothing. 

What was true yesterday or even decades ago generally remains so. However, one of the things that constantly evolves are the benchmarks defining greatness in sport. What was a great performance in Rome in 1960 is barely a make-up-the-numbers also-ran today; a gold medal performance in Rio de Janeiro may not suffice in Tokyo. Sports’ roll of honour is a constant work in progress. Only the most successful, the celestial and the most beautiful performers are guaranteed a permanent place on it.

One athlete guaranteed a lasting place in that pantheon ran his last race on Saturday night. Usain Bolt, Jamaica’s charismatic force of nature, has dominated his sport like no other. His record seems an Everest that may never be conquered again. Even if that assertion is framed by the limits of our imagination it is hard to conceive that Bolt’s achievements will ever be equalled. That is, however, what those lucky enough to have seen Emil Zátopek, Fanny Blankers-Koen, or Mark Spitz in their pomp thought too. When and how Bolt’s record will fall seems the only real question.