I can't help but laugh how some distance guys on this board think that a 4:30 is easy.
When I did my just-sub-5 in my early 40's, it was after 5k and 10k training on a treadmill, with intervals, for a whole winter season, and after I got sick and lost a bunch of weight.
Plus, I was never an elite sprinter, let alone the most extreme dual-world-record-holder sprinting has ever seen in the modern era, as is Bolt.
Bolt is TOTALLY OPTIMIZED to run the short sprints. If he is 205, he is carrying 20-25 lbs more than I am. I guarantee he does no 5k training, EVER, unless it is a jog to get loose.
I'm not saying that he could NEVER run a 4:30 mile--I'm saying that right now, there is absolutely no way that he could do it. I don't see how that is difficult for some distance guys to believe, since it was distance guys on this board who endlessly contradicted me when I suggested that either Wariner or Spearmon might run sub-4:30 with not too much training.
I suggested that if any sprinters were able to do it, it would be guys like Wariner or Spearmon--Wariner in particular. Bolt is a short-sprint specialist, who hangs on for the 400m.
ANYONE should be able to run a sub-4:30? That is also laughable. OK, let's reduce that to something more realistic: any decent male 20-30yr old varsity athlete in a sport that requires fitness should be able to do it, with some training. That is still wrong, and still ignores physiologic differences and training adaptations. A lot of big guys who play rugby have fairly decent endurance, and certainly require fitness to play at the level they do, but could never come within view of even a 6:00 mile.
Do you know why Bolt doesn't run a mile? BECAUSE IT WOULD BE THE HARDEST THING HE HAS EVER DONE. It would be punishment of the highest order. He is right now the GOAT of sprinting, and could not run a 4:30 mile.
Who cares? The only way it would be interesting would be if he was in a mile race in which there was good money on the line, against other elite sprinters.
I would totally pay to see that. I wonder why nobody has put together such a race, I think it would attract a large audience as a novelty.
In fact, it could be a dual-event meet--some combination of 100m/1mile times, for money.