The Games, which are due to begin on Sunday (October 3), will be missing a number of global sporting icons including Bolt, the triple Olympic and world champion, his compatriot Asafa Powell, the defending Commonwealth Games 100 metres champion, and several of Britain's top cyclists, including Sir Chris Hoy.

More recently, England's triple jump world champion Phillips Idowu and Australian discus world champion Dani Samuels withdrew citing fears over health and security while South African 800m phenomenon Caster Semenya has become the latest world champion to pull out of the Games after she failed to shake off a back injury.

But, despite the absence of the some of the world’s top athletes in India, Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell believes the event will simply create new stars as the Commonwealth Games has done in the past.

Fennell (pictured) told insidethegames: "It is still very important [to see the top sporting stars compete at the event] but there is no denying the fact that the Commonwealth Games do not rank as high as the Olympic Games or the World Championships.

"You can’t change that, it is just a fact of life.

"But what we can change is some of that perception [that it is not a major event because we have had top athletes, right over the years and we have had new stars coming onto the scene through the Commonwealth Games.

"Let’s not forget that there are many, many examples when top athletes have opted for some other event or do not turn up and new athletes come on the scene.

"I’m talking across the board with all sports, not just track and field athletics, so that’s always a wonderful thing to see."

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