One by one the stars from sport and screen paid sweet homage to Usain Bolt, each homily more doe-eyed than the last. First Asafa Powell thanked him “on behalf of the Jamaican people”. Then soapy tributes from Cara Delevingne, Thierry Henry and Virat Kohli were relayed on a giant screen. And when Idris Elba appeared to tell him “I am so impressed with you, brother; you are an exemplary athlete and an amazing human being” the impression that the Brewery in London was hosting a revivalist meeting not an athletics press conference was complete. Fortunately Samuel L Jackson turned out to be not only coarser but more heartfelt.

“Hey Usain,” he said, chuckling away. “Thanks for all the thrills, thanks for all the chills. Thanks for being the outstanding dope-ass motherfucker you have always been.” The man who has won eight Olympic gold medals, 11 world titles and broken six world records during a glittering career responded to this unbending faith with an appreciative smile, and a humbled reply. “It is great to be recognised by great people”.

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But no one recognised Bolt’s greatness – in what was his last media appearance before the world athletics championships begin in London on Friday – more than the event’s compere Colin Jackson. At one point the former 110m world record holder told him: “You say you are a legend – when other athletes do that they sound really arrogant, you don’t. How do you do that?” At another Jackson admitted that come the 100m final on Saturday, which will be Bolt’s last individual race before he retires, “there may be tears in the stadium, and I may be one of them”.

True, Bolt’s press conferences are always a little quirky. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, for instance, he was asked his thoughts on the Palestine question – while at the Rio Olympics a Norwegian reporter told Bolt he loved him before rapping at him. But rarely do they start out this sycophantic. Yet when questions were finally allowed from the hundreds of journalists from around the world, a steelier side to the Jamaican emerged.

For the most part he was playful, intelligent and thoughtful. Yet when he was questioned about perhaps his biggest rival for 100m gold, Andre De Grasse, he bared his teeth. It started when the Jamaican was asked who might fill his shoes when he retires. “I am not going down that road,” he replied. “The last guy who I said was going to be great disrespected me. So I am not going to say who is going to be great.” To many that was clearly a pointed reference to De Grasse, the young Canadian who won a 100m bronze and a 200m silver behind Bolt at last year’s Olympics and has run a wind-assisted 9.69sec this season.

Last year they appeared good friends. However since then De Grasse has upset the Jamaican by saying “everyone knows he’s slowing down a little bit” – and by claiming Bolt deliberately booted him out of a 100m race in Monaco because he was too dangerous an opponent. Relations have been the frosty side of Siberian since. When asked about his relationship with De Grasse, Bolt feigned disinterest. “I don’t know,” he said. “I see him around. I say ‘hi’. That is it, I guess. I don’t know how to describe that. I don’t have his phone number or anything. We just say ‘hi’.”

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Later, when it was put to Bolt that the Canadian might be his biggest challenger in the 100m final, he merely shrugged his shoulders. “The seven people that are going to be in that race with me,” he replied. “They are my best challengers.” The questioner persisted. Where did he see De Grasse’s career going in the future? “I don’t know,” he added. “In the past he has won a bronze medal, won a silver medal, we’ll see what happens in the future, it’s all about consistency.” Each time he responded the same message came across: this is an athlete desperate not to tarnish his legacy with a defeat in his final major championships.

Yet Bolt – rightly – believes that he remains the man to beat; and the one the world will be hailing again after the final. Indeed, when a Jamaican journalist dared to ask what would happen if he lost, he shook his head in shock that a fellow countryman would ever contemplate such a thing. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that,” he said. “We won’t have that problem, don’t worry about it.

“The last 100m I ran was a 9.95sec so it shows I’m going in the right direction,” he continued. “I’m not worried. It’s a championship, so it’s about who can keep their nerve. I’ve been here many a time so I know I’m ready. It’s just go time, so let’s go.” The press conference concluded with Bolt being presented with a new pair of purple and gold spikes by his sponsors. “My school colours were purple and that’s where it started,” he explained. “The gold is straightforward – I’m the golden boy.”

Despite his protestations of being an underdog in London, few doubt that he will lose that tag any time soon.