'Superhuman' wanted -- Bolt exit leaves vacuum to fill

Usain Bolt's retirement leaves a huge vacuum to fill but athletics is moving in the right direction in rebranding itself after scandals that seriously damaged its image, according to sports marketing experts.

At one point, following serious allegations about former athletics boss Lamine Diack as well as the Russian doping scandal, the sport resembled the Jamaican superstar in his last appearance in a championship final, Saturday's 4x100 metres relay, lying prone down and out on the track.

However, under the leadership of Diack's successor Sebastian Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the governing body say it is beginning to take the right steps in restoring its image.

"The authorities are making it more accessible and improving its presentation and taking it into an urban environment with street races," Jon Tibbs, chairman of leading sport public relations firm Jon Tibbs Associates (JTA), told AFP.

"It is becoming more accessible and more cool but then it has to take into account that it is competing with sports such as parkour."

Michael Payne, who as director of marketing at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is widely credited with transforming both its brand and finances through sponsorship, told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)