Organizers of next year’s IAAF World Championships in London denied Usain Bolt’s decision to stage his retirement race there "had been commercially-motivated," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. London 2017 CEO Niels de Vos insisted Bolt’s "sole incentive for signing off at the Olympic Stadium" would be to walk away "a world champion," rather than securing "one final payday for him and his sponsors at the taxman’s expense." The U.K. Government "plans to make next year’s championships -- for which ticket prices were unveiled on Tuesday" -- the last athletics event at which foreign competitors will be exempt from the U.K.’s "stringent income tax laws." Bolt had previously boycotted Britain because of those laws "and also admitted last year that he decided to race in London rather than retiring after this summer’s Olympics at the behest of his sponsor, Puma," which pays him $10M a year. Asked what incentive six-time Olympic and 11-time world champion Bolt had to compete next year, De Vos said, "To be a world champion. That’s it." De Vos revealed London 2017 did plan to "exploit commercially the narrative of Bolt’s farewell to the sport" -- which has already included pricing tickets to reflect his 100m world record -- but insisted the event would be "way bigger than any one individual" (TELEGRAPH, 4/19).