Bolt strongly considering 400, LJ at 2016 Games in Rio

Lagat Fan wrote:

Bolt worshippers doing what they do best in this thread. What next ridiculous claims are they going to make? He's going to break the 800m and 1500m WR and the LJ WR while still defending his 100m and 200m titles? LOL. Get real.

No one can be the best in the world at the 100m and 400m simultaneously, unless you can literally alter your muscles and body overnight, and hence anyone who accomplishes such a feat should be tested thoroughly for gene doping. It's the same reason why you won't see an athlete holding the WR in the 400m, 800m, and the 1500m.

Bolt had the choice in 08 if he wanted to be a 100m/200m man or a 200m/400m man, and its obvious which he chose. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.

I would agree with you, except that Bolt is so doped up that conventional logic (and the conventional limits of human physiology) fly right out the window.

I have no doubt that a juiced Bolt could run elite times in the 100, 200, and 400 all during the same reason. Much like the roided-up East Germans of the 80s had athletes who excelled in the 200, 400, and 800. That type of thing is absolutely unheard of in clean athletes.

I think Gay is possibly the clean (legitimate) world record holder in the 100 and 200. James will likely end up being the clean 400 record holder, but Bolt will drop a juiced 42.9 or faster.

Uncivil Engineer wrote:

And you say this based on what evidence? Besides, he wouldn't be aiming to remain the best at the 100 when training for the 400. Also, he's the most dominant sprinter of all time. And anyone who can crack a 19.18 for 200 obviously has the potential to run, at worst, in the 43s for 400. Do you understand the reasons these things are irrefutable?

This is only going to be my last post to you, as it is quite clear you don't know what you're talking about(I was facepalming throughout reading your delusional misinformation). Anyone who can crack a 19.18 has the potential to do a world-class 400m PROVIDED they don't also have a WR in the 100m. What part of "you can't be the best of the best in the 100m and 400m simultaneously" did you not understand?

Any track and field newbie knows there is a different required skill-set for the 100m and 400m sprints. 100m is all about power, while the 400m requires less power and more endurance. There's a reason why Michael Johnson, the greatest 400m runner thus far, could only run a 10.09 pb for the 100m. Lol at you for thinking that one can simply "train" for the 400m at any age.

Lol u hella dumb blood wrote:

Yes I am sure the fastest sprinter of all time and the only person to ever win two golds in the 100 and 200 is very lazy! You are brilliant.

He's black and this is Letsrun. That's what he was getting at.

I don't doubt that you have a habit of whacking yourself about the face and head. The results of this practice are evident in your dearth of cognitive powers.

Oh, silly me, I forgot how much of a liability a 9.59 100 is for someone looking to run a fast 400.

I will repeat exactly what I wrote above:

he wouldn't be aiming to remain the best at the 100 when training for the 400.

See? There is no "simultaneously" at issue here. If Bolt dedicates himself to the 400, he'll of necessity have to do a lot more aerobic work at the expenses of practicing starts and that kind of thing. At whatever point he reaches his 400 peak, he probably wouldn't be able to run under 9.80 or 9.85 in the 100, no matter how fit.

Getting this now? Throw out "simultaneously."

Oh, the dreaded L-O-L that ends every argument with great force! Except, I never said any such thing.

Again, anyone who likens moving from 200 (bolt's best event, a fact you ignore in favor of focusing on his 100) to 400 to moving from 400 to 1500 is too daft to bother with, so I shall leave you to your face-palming dithering now.

Tried editing my post, but didn't have the option so this will be my last post to you.

I'm not in the mood to responding to your poorly constructed straw-men arguments. I never claimed the difference between the 400m and 1500m is akin to the difference between the 200m and 400m, in fact I claimed the opposite. Your inference is just blatantly wrong and hence your counter against my post completely falls apart. What I was implying, however, is the difference between the 100m and 400m is not unlike the difference between 400m and the 1500m. There's a reason why the 1500m WR like Seb Coe couldn't crack 46, just like MJ couldn't crack 10. However, it is quite possible to be the best of the best at 2 distances (within reason), which is why it is common to be a 100m/200m specialist and 400m/800m specialists are not unheard of. A world-class sprinter specializing in the 100m is typically built very differently than the 400m world-class specialist. For example, the 100m sprinter is going to have a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers than the 400m sprinter on average, simply because the 100m requires no endurance while the 400m requires some endurance.

The problem is, while it's quite possible to be decent over three distances, you have essentially become "the jack of all trades, master of none", and a specialist will thus be superior to you in whatever they have specialized in.

Resorting to ad-hominem techniques, huh? No wonder the average IQ of the Bolt-worshipper is probably lower than 60. With your reasoning skills and apparent intelligence, I sure hope you aren't a licensed engineer for the sake of the general public.

Ther seems to be an echo in here.

Hmmm. Let's examine this claim.

No one can be the best in the world at the 100m and 400m simultaneously ... It's the same reason why you won't see an athlete holding the WR in the 400m, 800m, and the 1500m.

If you meant this to imply that the 100-to-400 transformation (I used 200 instead of 100 because it is Bolt's best event, and moving from 200 to 400 is clearly more facile than moving from 100 to 400) is NOT similar to a putative 400-to-1500 transformation, you didn't express this very well.

You're correct that in each case you're talking about the longer event being 4x as long as the other. However, in physiological terms there is a major difference. At the world-class level, you have to run for about 35 seconds longer in the 400 than you do in the 200. The difference between the 400 and the 1500 is about 2:50. There is no comparison. And again, I noted that yoru comparison blows because Bolt is better at the 200 than he is at the 400, which you'd expect of a 6' 5" athlete whose start is not his asset.

So, accept that Bolt's 100 is icing on the cake and that his true wheelhouse will prove to be 200/400.

In most cases, yes. But has the world ever seen a sprinter like Bolt? Just imagine what he could do if pressed to actually train hard and not stay out until 4 a.m. chasing after Ukranian synchronized volleyball equestrian chicks or whatever.

I really hope Bolt starts training for the 400 meters. It will be that much better to see Kirani James absolutely demolish him in the finals.

Lagat Fan wrote:

Resorting to ad-hominem techniques, huh? No wonder the average IQ of the Bolt-worshipper is probably lower than 60. With your reasoning skills and apparent intelligence, I sure hope you aren't a licensed engineer for the sake of the general public.

The irony in the above passage is glorious.

Also, I am not especially enamored of Bolt. Nowhere did I even imply as much; all I have done is forecast his abilities and make a case for them, same as you. But the fact that you equate predicting success for an athlete with worshipping that person underscores how shallow and parochial your thinking is.

You've got to show me some evidence that Bolt is on PEDs. Otherwise, I've got to beleive he's clean. So far, there is absolutely nothing to suggest he's using.

Yeah Bolt has passed every drug test!!!

Just like Lance!!!

What is Bob Sled?

JerseyTrash wrote:

100 / LJ yes. 200/400 yes. 400 / LG - must be a fine spliff.

LOL. Correct.

Uncivil Engineer wrote:

But of course, he's just too lazy and physically frail to run one whole lap around the track at 100% intensity -- he could do that in his youth, but at the advanced age of 25 those salad days are well behind him.

There's an axiom on this site (see: Galen Rupp) -- the cynicism of the throaty mob is generally in direct proportion to the future performance of the target.

Well said. UnEng is always on point.

Virtually Certifiable wrote:

Bolt is no better than 46 for the 400 and that ain't gonna get ya to the starting line at the OG.

Oh, isn't it? Handily enough, he managed a 45...at age 16.

You utter moron.

ventolin^3 wrote:

if he concentrated on it, he'd have to be looking for

8.75 - 9.25

i woud expect

9.00 - 9.10

next year if he trained this winter for it

>9.00 within a year? I understand your optimism given his ridiculous top end, but I think execution is going to be a bit harder than that.

First of all, who is going to coach him in the LJ? Glen Mills? I admit to not following the jumps that closely, but I really can't recall any great Jamaican jumpers. Certainly the record is bleak relative to the obvious sprinting challenge. And that's because the difference between good and great is just so technical. I'm sure you have read or watched videos on how obsessive and scientific Lewis and Powell were to get those last 30cm.

Not saying Bolt can't do it, just saying it won't be so straightforward, especially in his current training context.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

ventolin^3 wrote:

if he concentrated on it, he'd have to be looking for

8.75 - 9.25

i woud expect

9.00 - 9.10

next year if he trained this winter for it

>9.00 within a year? I understand your optimism given his ridiculous top end, but I think execution is going to be a bit harder than that.

I admit to not following the jumps that closely, but I really can't recall any great Jamaican jumpers.

That's because there ain't been any. Nice logical deduction there Watson.

dwight phillips is a low 10 sprinter and dominated the lj in the aughts.

Before you actually blow Kirani, you might want consider thi: His top 2 performances rank as 37th and 178th all time. Bolt has 6 of top 10 200m times ever. Are you really that confident the greatest sprinter of all-time can't go around one more half lap??