Please, Please, Please Usain, Stay Clean

Make sure all you sports fans are not too far away from your TV screens on Sunday at 12.45 pm because that is the time that Usain Bolt, barring an injury or some kind of miracle, will line up for the men's 100 metres final, conduct his usual antics on the start line, freak out all of his opponents, and jog to a win in a time of around 9.7 seconds which, by his ridiculous standards, is so-so.

The Jamaican is red hot favourite to defend his world 100, 200 and 4 x 100 metres relay world titles he won in Berlin in 2009, a year after winning the triple at the Beijing Olympics, too.

Both 100 metre dashes were memorable because they broke improbable world records, whilst his 200 metres effort in Berlin broke Michael Johnson's long-standing world record which the Forrest Gump-style sprinter claimed back at the 1996 Olympics.

I am lucky to have witnessed all of those runs - from Johnson in the Deep South to Bolt in the Chinese capital and then the German Olympic stadium once the venue of Nazi rallies.

This time Bolt has no Tyson Gay or Asafa Powell, who are both injured, while fellow Jamaican Steve Mullings and American Mike Rodgers, who have both posted fast times this summer, are now both banned due to drugs.

The 2004 double sprint champion, Justin Gatlin, is back however after serving a drugs suspension himself. I once interviewed Gatlin in Lausanne in which he looked me in the eye, criticised all those who had taken drugs before him, and vowed to clean the sport up.

Within two years he, too, had been caught. The world of track and field, indeed, the world of sport prays that Usain Bolt is clean and remains clean.

I, for one, believe he is. He has been posting quick times for a long, long time now and his physique and enormous leg stride helps to make him the freak of sprinting that he is. Watch him on Sunday and enjoy. And if the unthinkable were to ever happen, then athletics may as well lock up their shop and throw the key away.