Bye-Bye Bolt, Farewell Farah, Hello Future

As the World Athletics Championships came to an end in London on Sunday night, the curtain also closed on two of the most formidable careers in the history of athletics.

Sir Mo Farah

Sir Mo Farah, Britain’s most successful ever athlete, finished his glittering track career with a gold medal in the 10,000m and a silver in the 5,000m. It was the first time in six years Mo had been beaten in any of the two events in a World Champions or Olympic games. His utter distraught at the end of the 5,000m race was testament to his warrior character, and it took the efficient teamwork of his three Ethiopian competitors to finally ensure he did not win the gold medal this time around.

Despite that however, Mo has been the jewel in Britain’s crown over the past six years, making his dominance over brutal marathon running look very easy. Mo was consistent. Consistently good.

As he now turns his attention to road marathon running, Britain is left to wonder whether we will ever have someone else as great as him.

Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet, has been an icon of the sport for the past decade, bursting onto the scene in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and subsequently breaking the 100m and 200m world records at the 2009 Berlin World Championships. A charismatic and loveable figure, he has transcended the world of sports and is one of only a handful of athletes that are instantly recognisable in other spheres outside of athletics. 

Aside from his athletic prowess and total domination of his disciplines, he has become a beacon of hope to a sport that has been ravaged by its problem with doping.

Athletics has long had a serious problem with drugs and has struggled in the past to adequately test athletes for banned substances. A staggering number of world records set in the 1980s, many of which remains unbroken till this day, along with the revelation of doping by stars such as Marion Jones and Dwain Chambers, have continued to cast a dark cloud over the sport.

The explosive discovery of Russia's state-sponsored doping program last year, which led to the expulsion of the entire Russian athletics team from the 2016 Rio Olympics and the London World Championships, brought athletics to an all-time low and threatened to completely undermine the sport's credibility.

However, Bolt's consistently superb performances in Rio, winning three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay, restored the public's hope and confidence in the sport. In some very dark days, he has been their ray of light.

  

So who replaces them?

It seems clear from the London Championships that there is a changing of the guard occurring, with many great young athletes rising to the surface. The sport is in transition mode, but as it says goodbye two of its veterans, it can also say hello to a number of exciting young talent.

Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar)

At the age of 26, Mutaz completely dominated the high jump this year, sailing over the bar without knocking it down once. The Qatari secured his first major gold medal without even breaking a sweat.

Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain)

Dina broke her foot in March 2017 and was unable to train for 6 weeks. It was a huge doubt whether she would be able to even attend this year’s Championships, but she put on an impressive display to race in the women’s 200m, finishing in 4^th place.

 Men’s 4 x 100m relay (Great Britain)

The most incredible performance of the Championships goes to the men’s 4 x 100m relay team, who stormed past favourites the USA and Jamaica to win GB’s first gold medal in this event. The team, made up of CJ Ujah, Adam Gemili, Danny Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, gave a masterclass in relay running, with oil-slick baton changes and powerhouse running. All of Britain was on their feet, and so was I!