--- title: Usain Bolt: Athletics 'Will Die' Unless Doping Stops description: Ahead of his final race at the World Championships, Usain Bolt warned that dopers have to "stop or the sport will die" canonical: https://time.com/4883505/usain-bolt-athletics-die-doping-stops/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-02T03:55:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:49:46.754Z article:section: Sports og:title: Usain Bolt Warns Doping Could Be Downfall of Athletics og:description: "Stop or the sport will die." og:url: https://time.com/4883505/usain-bolt-athletics-die-doping-stops/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45573b4f3c5f7e80/6988d811e76ad25a6f62e8f2/gettyimages-825252508.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 16th IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017 - Previews og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Usain Bolt Warns Doping Could Be Downfall of Athletics twitter:description: "Stop or the sport will die." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45573b4f3c5f7e80/6988d811e76ad25a6f62e8f2/gettyimages-825252508.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Usain Bolt Warns Doping Could Be Downfall of Athletics by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Aug 2, 2017 3:55 AM CUT  Usain Bolt at a press conference at The London Stadium in London, Aug. 1, 2017. Usain Bolt at a press conference at The London Stadium in London, Aug. 1, 2017.Michael Steele—Getty Images by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Aug 2, 2017 3:55 AM CUT Ahead of his final race at the World Championships in London, Usain Bolt [warned in an interview](http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/40796425 "undefined") that dopers have to “stop or the sport will die.” “Hopefully athletes will see what’s going on and what they need to do to help the sport move forward,” Bolt told BBC Sports. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist will retire from athletics after running in the 100m and 4x100m relay races in the Worlds, which will begin Friday. “Personally I think we were at rock bottom,” the 30-year-old Jamaican said, referring to [revelations](http://time.com/4421019/russia-olympic-doping-report/ "undefined") of a state-sponsored doping scheme in Russia. “After the scandal on Russia I don’t think it gets any worse than that.” “Doping is always a bad thing and it’s never pleasant because you put in the hard work and the sport starts going forward and then you have other guys bringing it back,” Bolt told the BBC. **Read More:** [_This Is Usain Bolt’s Unlikely Inspiration_](http://time.com/4506056/usain-bolt-inspiration/ "undefined") “Over the years we’re doing a better job, it’s getting clean and we’re catching up to a lot of athletes,” he added. “There’s an understanding that if you cheat you will get caught. Over time the sport will get better.” Though he said his body is sending signals that “it’s just time to go,” Bolt believed “without a doubt” that he is still the fastest person in the world, and that his world records are “safe for now.” \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/40796425 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4883505/usain-bolt-athletics-die-doping-stops/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4883505/usain-bolt-athletics-die-doping-stops/"},"headline":"Usain Bolt Warns Doping Could Be Downfall of Athletics","datePublished":"2017-08-02T03:55:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:49:46.754Z","description":"\"Stop or the sport will die.\"","url":"https://time.com/4883505/usain-bolt-athletics-die-doping-stops/","keywords":["athletics","Usain Bolt","doping","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45573b4f3c5f7e80/6988d811e76ad25a6f62e8f2/gettyimages-825252508.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45573b4f3c5f7e80/6988d811e76ad25a6f62e8f2/gettyimages-825252508.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"16th IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017 - Previews","caption":"16th IAAF World Athletics Championships London 2017 - Previews","creditText":"Michael Steele—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/athletics/","name":"athletics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4883505/usain-bolt-athletics-die-doping-stops/","name":"Usain Bolt Warns Doping Could Be Downfall of Athletics"}}]}] ```