The first Nitro athletics meet ended with Usain Bolt and his teammates standing atop the podium on the edge of the field at Lakeside Stadium.

Nitro Athletics took over Lakeside Stadium for three nights over the past week and a half, with some asking why people attended an event primarily made for television. One of the obvious answers was: "Here to see Bolt".

Mariya Savinova, the Russian athlete who shot to worldwide fame after her picture accompanied nearly every article about her country's alleged state-sanction doping scandal, has been stripped of her Olympic gold.

IAAF chief executive Olivier Gers met Cricket Australia counterpart James Sutherland in Melbourne on Friday as IAAF president Sebastian Coe said elements of the Nitro series could be incorporated into in world championships, and even Olympics.

Crowds left the stadium believing Australia had done the improbable. Bolt was indignant ... until the rules were double-checked.

If there was a perfect night to get run down by a lofty, long-legged Brit, Nitro offered it.  

Though sympathy alone can't alter facts; it can help to make them more bearable.

Teenage sprint sensation Jack Hale will be swung to the back straight on Thursday night setting up the tantalising prospect of him going head-to-head with Usain Bolt.

Sally Pearson's long-time rival, American Dawn Harper-Nelson, has been suspended for three months after testing positive for a banned substance.

The governing body of world athletics (IAAF) has put an immediate stop to changes of nationality by athletes, saying the system has become open to abuse and that rules are being manipulated.

Usain Bolt headed to Sydney next year? You bet, if the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust has anything to do with it.

Nitro's opening night was a qualified success, the new concept living to its promise to be inventive new fresh and entertaining.

While Australia focused on Usain Bolt at the Nitro Athletics, on the other side of the world the country's former world and Olympic champion Sally Pearson finished third at an indoor meet in Germany in her first serious step back on the road from injury.

The question to be asked when you bringing out the fastest man ever is: who do you get to run against him?

Usain Bolt can't remember the last time he was running in February, he is normally in the doctor's hands not the starter's, but he hopes that his farewell year competing in Nitro this week will help set him up to leave the sport in London with three more gold medals.

Pivoting one way on his swivel chair, eight-times Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt said that if only he had been more dedicated when he was young, he might have achieved so much more. "I was reckless," he said.

Usain Bolt's presence for Nitro athletics has ensured that Channel Seven will broadcast the series – on Saturday night it will be live in Sydney and Perth but in Melbourne it will be on delay after the AFL women's match.

Not for the first time Usain Bolt needs to be his sport's saviour. For the sake of athletics he has to be.

Nitro. Everything you need to know.