Baseball has its A-Rod, golf has its Tiger, tennis its Fed.
And now, track and field has its Usain Bolt.
In a post-Olympic year, typically a down year in terms of interest, athletics enjoyed one of its most successful runs in recent memory.
Ravaged the last two decades by doping scandals, inept marketing, and a disinterested media, the sport has survived only on the merciful life support of die-hard track fans and dedicated athletes.
Then, in four-year intervals, the Summer Olympics would provide an adrenaline-like injection for a temporary boost.
In Beijing, despite the anti-climactic no-show of sprinter Tyson Gay and hurdler Liu Xiang, Dr. Bolt went to work. With three gold medals and three world records, he got the patient out of bed and jogging up and down the halls.
The recovery continued through the winter indoor season, the collegiate outdoor season, and into the various national qualifying for this year's World Championships in Berlin.
There, the good doctor signed the patient's release by dramatically demolishing his own world records in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.
While Bolt has been the single-most factor ...
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