With Usain Bolt still undecided on whether he’s competing at next year’s Commonwealth Games, SPIKES thought we’d try to turn him on to Glasgow with some serious – and not-so serious – speculation about what events he would or could compete in…

1 – 100m/200m and 4x100m relay

Okay, not a lot of originality here, but who doesn’t like to watch the greatest sprinter in history dazzle in his specialist events? Runners from across the Caribbean and English teams will keep him honest, but another gold medal treble would sit nicely on his already rather crowded mantelpiece.   

2 – 4x400m relay

With a 45.3 400m clocking behind him as a 16-year-old, his potential is frightening. Should he not decide to stick his head above the parapet in the individual 400m, then an outing in the men’s 4x400m would certainly ramp up the interest in this event. It would give Jamaica, the current World 4x400m silver medallists, a great shot at gold, too.

3 – 400m

Unlikely perhaps, but just say Bolt fancied the challenge. If he spent the winter preparing for the one-lap dash in Glasgow, who knows what might happen? One thing’s for sure, Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada would be fully committed to seeing off the challenge in style, which means we’d have a cracking race on our hands. Bolt v James suddenly sounds like a brilliant plan and would certainly generate plenty of noise north of the English border. Start campaigning now!

4 – Long Jump

Mr Bolt has hinted in the past at his desire to do the long jump and with his blistering speed alone – no matter how basic his technique – an eight-metre plus jump must surely be within his grasp. It’s true he’d face some stiff competition led by England’s Olympic champion Greg Rutherford, London 2012 runner up Mitchell Watt of Australia, and a strong South Africa presence. But if Usain did go for it, you might just believe a man can fly…

5 – High Jump

And on the subject of flying, we’re just putting this one out there, but what about the high jump? Well, the lightning Bolt’s tall and a natural showman, which should make him the perfect fit, right? We’ve no idea what he could jump, whether he’s tried the event or even has any desire to, but it would be interesting to see him give it a bash. In fact, the huge support he’d illicit from the crowd might well lift him over the bar all by itself. Would he threaten his rivals, led by Canadian record holder and world bronze medallist Derek Drouin? Probably not, but he’d certainly be the fastest high jumper in history.

6 – Lawn Bowls

Okay, we’re getting silly now – or are we? We’ve trawled through all the other sports on show at Glasgow 2014 and decided we’d like to see him try his hand at lawn bowls. We wouldn’t want to see the Jamaica sprint maestro come to harm in the boxing ring or injure himself diving from the 10m board, so why not a bit of genteel bowling? Now that would create some interest in the sport. He could even create his own event of speed bowls…

Talking of which, we also reckon he’d be fab at Speedgolf, but sadly it’s not a Commonwealth sport – and if you don’t believe it exists, click here!