Bolt is all too aware of the responsibilities that lie on his 29-year-old shoulders. Yet again, it is likely to be down to him to restore credibility to sport following the release of the McLaren Report earlier this week, which uncovered a state-sponsored doping scheme in Russia that has torn perhaps an irreparable hole right through the core of the Olympic Movement.

“I know the sport needs me to win or it needs me to come out on top and that's the same thing I want,” he said.

“We want the same thing, so I'm just working hard and staying focused."

Bolt has carried similar pressure many times before, particularly at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing, where he was declared the saviour of his sport after he beat two-time drugs cheat Justin Gatlin in the 100 metres at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, a venue which had catapulted him into the limelight seven years previously.

Not only was he bidding to retain his world crown, but he was also expected to send out a clear message to others who were considering following in Gatlin’s doped footsteps; you can win clean.

In true Bolt style, he delivered. The moment when he crossed the line ahead of the American, whose presence on the track in the Chinese capital had split opinion worldwide, was seen as a pivotal one for the sport of athletics.

The entire athletics fraternity was seemingly willing him on that day, including former world 1500m champion and Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram, whose piece of commentary on the BBC following the Jamaican’s triumph went viral. “Bolt has saved his title, he’s saved his reputation and he may have even saved his sport,” he boomed in a passionate tone.

Fast forward 11 months and Bolt returned to another venue which harbours joyous memories - London’s Olympic Stadium - for the Anniversary Games yesterday evening. The stakes on the track were not quite as high but off it they were arguably greater.

With the sporting world lying in tatters in the wake of McLaren’s damning and explosive findings, Bolt produced a sublime display which reminded us all why we love sport. In the process, he also silenced critics who have doubted his Olympic credentials following a hamstring injury which threatened his appearance on the grandest stage of them all next month.

Like in Beijing, he could not have timed it better. Tomorrow, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board conduct the most important meeting in the history of the organisation as they gather to decide whether Russia should be exiled completely from Rio 2016.

The IOC can simply send no stronger message than to impose a blanket ban on a country which has almost single-handedly left the reputation of sport in the gutter.

Yet serious doubts remain as to whether they will take that unprecedented leap into the unknown. The diatribe constantly emanating from IOC HQ in Lausanne is one of “collective responsibility versus individual justice”, a mantra which has been used as a bargaining chip by Thomas Bach to duck the issue and shift responsibility onto the International Federations (IFs).

Yes, they are exploring legal options for a total ban on Russia, a move which must be heralded yet also treated with a large pinch of caution, but the likely outcome tomorrow is that Bach opens the door for complete Russian expulsion from Rio 2016 by allowing the IFs to make the final call.

Judging by the response of several IFs this week, the most probable scenario at Rio 2016 is a number of Russian athletes appearing randomly across different sports. They almost certainly won’t be sending the third largest delegation - behind China and Brazil - to the Games as had previously been expected.

Some might view this as the best way to appease both sides of the argument, but in my opinion it would not go far enough.

A prominent view against a blanket ban is this notion of fairness, yet surely Russia has forfeited any right to equity by installing a scheme which has deprived hundreds of athletes of their moment in the spotlight over a prolonged period of time.

Some have questioned whether it would be fair to suspend players in table tennis, for example, considering only one “disappearing positive” - in essence a positive sample switched so callously for a clean one - was uncovered in the sport in McLaren’s report.

Similarly, was it fair to impose a complete ban on English football clubs participating in European competition for over five years because of the actions of a minority of Liverpool fans during the Heysel tragedy in 1985, where 39 supporters lost their lives?

Probably not, but it was a move the footballing authorities thought necessary. It was the only way they thought they could stamp out an endemic culture of fan violence among English teams.

The IOC can look to this example for guidance. The parallels are clear. Perhaps the only way the Russian state will get the message is for them to be banned entirely.

Competitors in sports like table tennis will simply have to be the sacrificial lambs, just as the English teams were all those years ago. Any Russian presence at all at Rio 2016 will throw the validity and credibility of the Games into question, a worrying yet understandable indictment of where the sporting world stands at this present moment.

Several IFs, athletes and officials alike have weighed into the debate, with the overwhelming opinion seemingly in favour of a blanket ban, a phrase which has dominated the headlines this week and will continue to do so long after the IOC cast their crucial vote tomorrow.

It is easy to see why the calls for such action have been as vociferous, as constant as they have been this week. The extent of doping in Russia is so deep-rooted, systemic and widespread that no athlete from the country can be presumed to be clean. Suspicion hangs over them like a dark cloud.

Bolt himself has already offered his two cents worth, claiming he would be “all for” a wholesale ban on Russian athletes at the upcoming Games, while a day before his appearance in London, he applauded the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to uphold the suspension placed on Russian track and field athletes by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

“I always think if you cheat or go against the rules then serious action should be taken,” he said.

“What the IAAF has done is going to send a strong message that we are going to clean up the sport, I definitely think so.”

Should Bolt cross the line in first place in the 100m final at Rio 2016 on Sunday August 14, he will not only cement his position as one of the greatest athletes of all time but his success will also begin to lay the building blocks for sport to undergo what would be its greatest recovery.