Nairobi — Sprints world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica completes his busy tour of Kenya on Monday with a courtesy call on President Mwai Kibaki before adopting a cheetah at the Nairobi National Park in the company of Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The world and Olympic champion's first visit to Africa has numerous fans battling to catch a glimpse of the man who has taken the world by storm. Ironically, Kenya has produced numerous world champions and record holders who hardly attract such enthusiastic following.

Jochin Zeitz, the founder of the Zeitz Foundation who is also the chief executive officer of giant sportswear firm, Puma, Bolt's chief sponsors, rightly pointed out that as much as he would like to involve Kenyan athletes in his programmes, they must show interest first.

Of the endless athletics stars, perhaps only former world marathon record holders Paul Tergat, Catherine Ndereba and Tegla Lorupe have taken the cue and transformed themselves into brands.

Global stars like golfer Tiger Woods, tennis ace Serena Williams and footballer David Beckham receive multi-million-dollar endorsements due to public relations skills over and above performances.

This is the path our athletes should follow. We hope they will have learnt from Bolt that they must go beyond gun and tape to realise their full worth.