Amidst all of the darkness that surrounds track and field athletics at the moment, the sport retains one bright spot; Usain Bolt.

The Jamaican remains one of the world’s true sporting superstars - an individual who transcends his domain and is recognisable to even the most casual of sports fans. At the Olympic Games this summer, Bolt will be going for the treble treble - that is, he is aiming to win gold in the 100metres, 200m and 4x100m relay for the third consecutive Olympics. It is a feat that is unprecedented and in all likelihood, will not been seen again for a generation, or perhaps even longer.

Bolt’s preparations for Rio were thrown into disarray last weekend though. At the Jamaican trials, he ran 10.04 seconds to win his 100m semi-final but then withdrew from the final, citing a hamstring injury. He did not run the 200m at all. The 29 year-old later announced that he had suffered a grade-one tear in his hamstring - the mildest form of muscle tears - and that he would be seeking treatment immediately. He was reported to have flown to Europe to receive treatment from the world-renowned doctor, Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt, who is currently working with Germany’s Euro 2016 football team.

Selection criteria for the Jamaican Olympic team states that an athlete must have run the qualifying time, as well as having finished in the top three at their Olympic trials but medical exemptions are allowed, and Bolt is a near certainty to be named in the Jamaican squad later this month. So, the signs are that Bolt will be in Rio to defend all three of his titles.

Earlier this year, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, the Olympic champion emphasised that his motivation had not waned and his desire to win was as strong as ever: “That would really set me apart”, he said, on the topic of winning his third treble. Bolt has yet to give a definite retirement date- after the 2017 World Championships in London has been mentioned - but whenever he hangs up his spikes, it is likely that Rio will be his last Olympic appearance and so his final chance to achieve this astonishing feat.

As has been seen time and time again in elite sport, a stellar reputation is not enough to guarantee success though. In Bolt’s absence, Yohan Blake, the former world 100m champion, did the sprint double at the Jamaican trials, winning both the 100m and the 200m. It is athletes who hail from further afield that are likely to be Bolt’s greatest rivals in Rio though.

Trayvon Bromell, a 20 year-old American sprinter, shows much promise, as does the Canadian, Andre De Grasse. But Bolt’s biggest challenge is likely to come from Justin Gatlin. The American’s story is well versed and two doping bans, as well as a lack of remorse, ensure that he is well and truly tagged as the bad guy of athletics. But he is in supreme form, winning the US Olympic trials last weekend in 9.80 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

In last year’s world championship 100m final, Bolt was behind at halfway but in the end, pipped Gatlin to gold by just 0.01 seconds. Even before his recent injury, which could hamper his Olympic preparations significantly, the signs were that the 100m final in Rio would be equally compelling. So for those who are desperate to see good triumph over evil, as the Bolt-Gatlin rivalry has been painted in many quarters, the Jamaican’s hamstring troubles are worrying.

When Bolt won that 100m world title last year, the BBC’s Steve Cram said as he crossed the line: “Bolt has saved his title, he’s saved his reputation, he may have even saved his sport.” The notion that one man has the fate of his sport in his hands sits uncomfortably with me; surely no individual is bigger than athletics, a sport which has such a proud and distinguished history.

Bolt is not athletics’s biggest superstar merely because he runs the blue-riband event; he is also the sport’s greatest showman and most compelling entertainer. He is perhaps the only individual who can distract observers from the on-going doping controversies which threaten to cause irreparable damage. There will, almost certainly, be a number of remarkable performances in Rio next month but the issue for the sport is that most casual fans care far more about Bolt than they do about everyone else put together. If Bromell or De Grasse won 100m gold, it would be a truly remarkable feat. But unfortunately for athletics, the good news story that most are looking for is for Bolt to make history with another three gold medals. He has one month to regain fitness and be in good enough form to win the treble. It may be this feat, and this feat only, that will be able to, for a short time at least, remind everyone of just how great athletics can be.