RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Not so fast, Usain Bolt.

Please don’t run away from us after this Olympics. Don’t even think about putting an end to the greatest show in track.

The Olympics need you badly. The sport of track needs you desperately.

On a beautiful night in Rio, the most beautiful sight at the Olympic Stadium had to be Bolt chasing down Justin Gatlin and pulling away to an unprecedented third straight Olympic gold in the race that crowns the fastest man on earth.

Bolt preened like the superstar he is, then ran yet a race to back it up. Then he preened some more, much to the delight of those who came to watch history.

The golden shoes were a nice touch, but the gold medal was far more impressive. It was No. 7 over three Olympics for Bolt, and the odds are he will have two more before these Olympics come to a close.

If that is truly the end, as Bolt has said it will be, he will go into the record books as the greatest sprinter ever. But Bolt has always been more than that, ever since he announced his dominance of the sport with three gold medals in his Olympic debut eight years ago in Beijing.

The mere mention of his name Sunday night prompted roars in the stadium. The victory lap he took carrying a stuffed Olympic mascot was an added bonus, a chance for the crowd to stick around and show him some love.

Several hundred of them stayed more than an hour after the race, chanting Bolt’s name and shrieking with excitement each time it appeared he might come out to acknowledge them.

He’s the undisputed star of a sport that doesn’t produce stars anymore, a runner so popular in his native Jamaica that he is often compared to the iconic reggae master Bob Marley.

And as a runner who has never tested positive for anything, he may be the only thing holding together a sport so decimated by doping that the entire country of Russia was banned from track and field at these Olympics.

Bolt would take a long, lingering victory lap around the stadium, finally stopping in one end to unlace his gold spikes and take selfies with fans. They wanted more, and he delivered once again, turning his yellow hat backward before kneeling down and doing his “To the World” pose.

And over the loudspeakers, Marley’s “Jammin” echoed through the stadium.

He’s a showman extraordinaire and an athlete unparalleled. The combination is exquisite, with the only downside being the world only gets to see him this way once every four years.

The only hope is that his retirement plans are as short as his races.