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2017: Identity crisis leaves athletics without Bolt!

On the track, there was plenty to cheer though with Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim making giant strides.

By Sajith
Usain Bolt


Bengaluru, December 21: Amidst grappling with a spate of doping scandals, 2017 also saw athletics bidding adieu to the last of its superheroes in Usain Bolt.

It was an irony that the champion Jamaican sprinter, who has been a household name since 2008 Beijing Olympics, had to bow out in ignominy after limping out following a hamstring injury in the 4x100M relay race in the London World Championships.

This followed his failure to defend the 100M crown, a race, which was won by the once dope-tainted Justin Gatlin, whose victory was understandably greeted with a chorus of boos from the crowd.

Bolt Speaks On What He Would Do Post Retirement

Though not in the same league as bolt, British legend Mo Farah, who also hang up his boots will also be missed sorely. But unlike Bolt, Farah had the privilege to bow on out a high as the long-distance runner clinched the yellow metal in his pet event (10,000M) at the London Worlds. Farah has hinted though that he might compete in marathon in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

On the track, there was plenty to cheer though with Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim making giant strides in his quest for breaking Cuban Javier Sotomayor's long-standing record of 2.45M.

Mutaz Essa Barshim

The 26-year-old continued from where he left at the 2016 Rio Olympics where he won the silver.

2017 was Barshim's year as he remained unbeaten in 11 competitions, won gold at the London World Championships with a leap of 2.35M (a first for the tiny Middle East country), clinched the Diamond League crown and was duly adjudged the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) World Athlete of the Year at the Annual Gala in Monaco.

Barshim has a personal best of 2.43M set at the IAAF Diamond League Brussels meeting in 2014 and having produced eight of the 10 best jumps in the world this summer, there is an imminent threat to Sotomayor's record of 2.45 set in 1992.

Just like Barshim, South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk also kept his reputation intact as he added the 400M world crown to his Rio gold in addition to winning the 200M silver at London.

Belgian heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam who was crowned IAAF Women Athlete of the Year also excelled on the global stage. The 23-year-old took the world title to add to her Olympic crown and broke through the 7,000 points barrier.

Australia's comeback queen Sally Pearson defied the age to win 1OOM hurdles gold at London Worlds, her second after 2011 Deague Worlds, while South Africa's Caster Semenya, put the gender row behind her to win the 800M gold at the same stage.

An exciting battle is building up in the women's 100M between US sprinter Tori Bowie and Jamaica's Elaine Thompson. There was a sense of de ja vu at the London Stadium when Bowie, who had lost to Thomson in Rio turned the tables on her.

For Indian athletes, it was yet another year of disappointments though Gopi Thonakal saved the blushes by becoming the first Indian to win an Asian Marathon Championships.

Overall, athletics as a sport continued to face an identity crisis owing to the spate of scandals. The big void created by Bolt's retirement won't be easy to fill though. It is too early to anoint Canadian Andre de Grasse and South Africa's Akani Simbine as his potential successors and their flop show in London was just a pointer in the case.

It is also a poor reflection on the sport that athletes from Russia, who have dominated Olympics and World Championships from times immemorial continue to remain banned from IAAF competitions following the now-famous report of Richard McLaren, presented to the World Anti-Doping Agency last summer, showing there was a state-sponsored system of doping in the country in the run up to and during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe, was among the audience when Gatlin outshone Bolt to win the blue riband event in the London World Championships.

Sebastian Coe

Himself, a two-time Olympic medallist, Coe had been a long-time advocate of zero-tolerance policy on dope offenders.

In the run to his IAAF presidency campaign, the former middle-distance runner had proposed a series of radical reforms to clear out sport of its present mess and also to make it more appealing as he wants do to away with its predictable scheduling.

These reforms are expected to come into effect only by the 2019 World Championships in Doha. But the earlier it is done, the better for the sport which looks to regain its lost glory.

Story first published: Thursday, December 21, 2017, 20:39 [IST]
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