Bolt bagged an unprecedented fifth treble gold medal haul at a global championship in the Chinese capital in August, suitably in the same Bird's Nest stadium where his career took off in in the 2008 Olympics.
But the towering Jamaican's feats were overshadowed by revelations that threw track and field's world governing body, the IAAF, into turmoil.
At the same Beijing world champs where Bolt shone, former British double 1500m Olympic champions Sebastian Coe beat Sergey Bubka in a vote to take over from Lamine Diack as IAAF president.
