Last year I wrote an article on the state of the sport and the need to plan and build the sport over the next four years leading up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. It wasn’t enough for the sport to become engaging in an Olympic year, rather there was a need for a strategic four-year ramp up, building infrastructure and excitement to legitimately build a fan base to activate come 2016. It’s similar to when a business sets a multi-year plan to grow with the end goal clearly defined. Now three years out from the next Summer Olympics, this strategy is still needed.

The Post-Bolt World

Usain Bolt announced this past week his plan to retire after the 2016 Olympics. The face of the sport will step away, enjoying his millions in earnings and undoubtedly partying on the beaches of Jamaica, forever celebrated as a national icon and one of the greatest Olympians of all-time.

Bolt’s announcement, while certainly not surprising, brings forth the question of what the track and field landscape will look like in a post-Bolt world. Track and field lives off the energy of Bolt. Before that it was Michael Johnson. Before that it was Carl Lewis. The sport has had an international star or two or three for what seems like forever, but who is lining up to take over Bolt’s spot after 2016?

Bolt has the characteristics of a modern day celebrity. He’s charismatic, he understands the value of interacting with the media, he’s a showman on and off the track and backs it all up with incredible performances. All of this defines him as the face of international track and field. If it weren’t for Bolt, the sport would largely go unnoticed until 2016, besides the random PED bust.

One of my chief concerns surrounding the sport the past bunch of years comes down to the lack of rivalries and star power. For whatever reason, many of the top stars in the sport lack international name recognition, especially among general sports enthusiasts. Even worse, the few true stars in our sport more times than not avoid going head-to-head until major championship meets. Both of these issues concern me and should concern those leading the sport.

Time to Sprint Forward and Launch

The sport, the A and B level stars, the organizing bodies, the agents, sponsors and the most avid media members and fans, need to ban together over the coming three years. It’s time for the sport to look forward, dream up big ideas, then go implement them. Waiting for another Olympiad to pass, waiting to anoint the next “King or Queen of Track and Field” shouldn’t happen after 2016. If it does, our sport will be in even more trouble than it currently is.

With the 2013 track and field season coming to an end in Brussels last week, right now is when those most involved and passionate need to be lining up the big ideas and actions to be launched in 2014. It’s time to move, it’s time to go, it’s time to develop the sport at a much higher level, not relying on one athlete or one meet every four years to sell the sport.