Usain Bolt has many successors

Attention breaking news: We are looking for a star who will bring fame to an entire sport. A little guidance on this. He should have the charisma that Usain Bolt once had and of course he should be able to produce corresponding results. Show talent would be appropriate, after all, the person has to be able to radiate so intensely beyond the athletics stadiums of the world that even people who otherwise don't have much to do with this sport want to be there. If you are interested and have relevant proof of activity, please register with the International Association of Track and Field Athletes. The headquarters are in Monaco. Please refer to the information on the Internet for the address.

Fortunately, a search operation alone is not enough. Athletics is active and is currently carrying out a huge application campaign with the World Championships in Budapest in the hope that a candidate will emerge for the vacant position over the next few days. Everyone at the controls of athletics knows that there can be no other Usain Bolt. I don't find that particularly tragic either. You just have to detach yourself from the big and fast Jamaican who has screwed the world records for 100m and 200m into almost unfathomable dimensions. In this context, people often talk about times lasting forever, although we of course know that eternity in this case ultimately only lasts for a certain period of time. At some point someone always comes along who runs faster, jumps higher and throws further. At least candidates are already in the starting blocks.

Noah Lyles applies In the sprint it is mainly Noah Lyles. The 26-year-old American won the 100m in Budapest, which is still probably the most prestigious competition at a world championship. He won with a world record of 9,83 seconds. Sure, that's fast, but it's still a long way from Usain Bolt's world record, which he set in Berlin in 2009 with 9,58 seconds. Lyles is intensively concerned with this brand. He firmly believes he can beat it, as well as the Jamaican's 200m mark, which is an even more incredible 19,18 seconds. Lyles has at least done a fair amount of manicure. His fingernails have little stars on them. “Stars for the star” he said in an interview Eurosport . A strong gold chain is already dangling from his neck and he is already jumping around like a derrvish after his races in the admittedly mistaken hope that he can be such a little Bolt.

But he still has time and two more chances in Hungary. Like the great role model from Jamaica, he will try to win the 200m and the relay is still pending. Based purely on the medal haul and his showmanship, which still clearly needs to be improved, his application could be seriously examined. On the other hand, athletics officials don't have to worry. The fear that the Bolt era would be followed by dreariness and lack of interest has not come true. Athletics thrives on its versatility, which seemed almost forgotten during Bolt because everyone was seduced by the charisma and successes of the sprinter from the Caribbean. Now there is more attention again for other disciplines that, at first glance, may not have the same appeal as the 100m run, but which, upon second glance, offer unusual insights and great fascination. Let's take the example of hammer throwing. Ethan Katzberg is successful in Budapest. © APA/afp / FERENC ISZA

In Budapest there were not only a lot of throws over 80 meters, but also a 21-year-old Canadian, Ethan Katzberg, who breathed new and, above all, young life into this discipline. He disciplines himself as if he were skateboarding. Casual, modern, fresh and cheeky. That's what's coming. Anyway, Katzberg, who looks as if he has just put aside the hatchet he used to chop wood for the winter in his house in British Columbia to quickly swing the hammer in Europe. He showed that this is not a form of athletics just for big, even huge guys who struggle with being slightly overweight. It's similar with the women's discus throw and Valarie Allman, who at first sight would never be believed to be superior to everyone else. The Olympic champion from the USA also cuts a good figure on the dance floor. And of course there is Ryan Crouser, who actually managed to make the shot put socially acceptable through his record hunt (the world record is now an incredible 23,56 meters. The ball flew only five centimeters less in his victory in Budapest. He's coming along Cowboy hat and wild mane at press events. He is eloquent and in demand. US shot putter Ryan Crouser. © ANSA / ROBERT GHEMENT

All of them, the latter, benefit in some way from the absence of an overshadowing superstar like Usain Bolt. There is almost a certain upswing, a kind of defiant reaction from all those who have so far not been able to develop as they should have always. The officials of the track and field athletes were only too happy to be dazzled by Lightning-Bolt and are of course very happy that there are also the Norwegians Karsten Warholm and Jakob Ingebrigtsen and of course “Mondo”, the Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, who is already there is seen as the great savior of athletics, although, as I said, this is the wrong approach, because the strength of the core sport of the Olympic Games is and remains its versatility and diversity. And surprisingly to many who like to wallow in pessimism, young people still want to get into athletics. Duplantis is 23 years old, the World Cup runner-up in the 100m, Letsile Tebogo from Botswana is only 20 years old and the World Cup fourth place from Jamaica, Oblique Seville is also part of the boy band at 22 and a hope for the future. The first few days in Budapest have shown that athletics is alive and well despite all the prophecies of doom. And it is also a fountain of youth. Definitely for me.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist, author and Eurosport commentator devotes his column “Sigi's Peaks” to the entire diversity of sport. Sometimes with a smile and a wink, sometimes seriously or deliberately provocative and sometimes with a personal touch. There should be something for everyone.

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Usain Bolt has many successors

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