Bolt vs Rudisha 400m

Their PRs are very similar. I think Rudisha relaxes and then cruises by at the end.

Hilarious!

Bolt by a full second...probably more..

look Rudisha is fast and obviously very strong, but realistically he is not running any faster than 44.8'ish - he just won't have the pure leg speed.

Usain Bolt on the other hand has more than enough leg speed (obviously) and given his ability over 300m certainly has enough strength to run in the low 44's and probably even faster.

400 meters is just not far enough to kill off Bolt who even has a history of running the distance in his youth. I gotta agree with the last guy and think that Bolt wins comfortably

I think it would be more of a fair match if they raced 500m. that would mean bolt going up 300m from his bread and butter 200m specialty and rudisha going down 300m from his specialty. what would happen?

'and given his ability over 300m certainly has enough strength to run in the low 44's and probably even faster.'

He's never run under 45 and he has run several as an adult not just as a youth. Don't tell me about what he could do we are talking right now. I would still have him ahead of Rudisha though

Mr. Arms wrote:

Hilarious!

Bolt by a full second...probably more..

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Absolutely. A healthy and fit Bolt crushes Rudisha in the 400 meters. Now the 600 meters -- that would likely be a different story

Bolt. Bolt. Bolt. IF he's in top form. When he was in 19.19 shape, I'm certain he could run 44-low, maybe even 43-high. This year, however, with Rudisha in WR form and Bolt struggling a little, it might be close. I still say Bolt.

500m wrote:

I think it would be more of a fair match if they raced 500m. that would mean bolt going up 300m from his bread and butter 200m specialty and rudisha going down 300m from his specialty. what would happen?

this would be a good race i could see bolt leading til about 450 with rudisha coming on really strong w/ a blazing kick.. just not sure if he's had enough realestate.. i'd give the nod to rudisha since he's killing it right now!

If they both went out right now and raced, Rudisha would probably win. Bolt is in really poor shape, he's not even close to where he was at the beginning of THIS season..

Though if Bolt in championship shape, he goes 43.9 would win easily. But if he is in 400m shape.. he goes 42.9 and wins easily AND breaks the world record.

no one wants to see rudisha race bolt in a 400m. ppl would rather see bolt vs merritt (when he returns) or wariner next season.... but if we're gunna talk bolt vs. rudisha then like a few other guys mentioned.. make it a 500m race. no one should comment about a 400 between them only 500-600m. if they race this both in top form... i'd give the win to bolt but not by much it would be close. a 600 tho i would give the win to rudisha because im sure he could go 1:12 and i only see bolt going about 1:13/14

The 400 doesn't require "pure leg speed".

It requires speed endurance, something that Rudisha has in abundance.

Who knows what turnover Rudisha is capable of? The 800 is a measured race, he's never using as much leg speed as he is capable of. And that stride!

Assuming both in excellent shape, Bolt would blow him away over the first 200, then Rudisha would catch up by the finish. Tie.

Assuming both in their BEST 400m shape, Bolt would win by a small margin, and would set a ridiculous WR doing it. Rudisha would also beat the existing WR. The 400m is a LONG race when judged by energy systems. Rudisha's long stride would serve him well.

Look at how 400m guys run, JW being a good example. Forget about leg speed--doesn't JW go low-to-mid-20.0's for the 200?

To me, Rudisha is like an amplified Wariner in running style.

He split low 43 in the Spring during a season he was taking easy. Imagine him running a open 400m against a elite field during the Summer in a championship year.

Rudisha 400 m: 45.50 (2010)

Bolt 400 m: 45.28 (2007)

i know the title speaks of them racing a 400 but stop talking about them racing a 400. make this more interesting and say 500m or 600m... kinda like everyone was talking about bolt racing bekele but its obvious bolt would win that battle. this on the other hand would be a great battle having bolt race rudisha in a 500m.. most ppl can say bolt would win the 400 but a 500 now that changes the game up completely especially on the mental aspect of it... mostly for bolt since it would be the longest distance he's ever raced.

Rudisha would not be able to make up the ground in the second 200. Bolt is out in 20.5 easily and Rudisha would have to be at least 1.5 seconds back at that point.

Everyone knows that Bolt can/will shatter the 400 WR if he ever trains for the event, and maybe even without training for it. Seriously it's not even an argument. 45.x when he was freaking 16, 43.x split recently, and he's a 19.19 200 guy. If he improves his 200 in the next couple years we could be talking about a guy who can go out in 20.0!

And while I'm at it: Wariner, Merrit, Gay, Bolt, can all break 2:00 easily. Anyone who doesn't think so just has a warped complex that 2:00 is any kind of fast.

UncleB wrote:

Mr. Arms wrote:

Hilarious!

Bolt by a full second...probably more..

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Absolutely. A healthy and fit Bolt crushes Rudisha in the 400 meters. Now the 600 meters -- that would likely be a different story

You're just saying that Rudisha would lose because he is black! More importantly, how did you miss the Israel angle on this thread?

chillll wrote:

Rudisha would not be able to make up the ground in the second 200. Bolt is out in 20.5 easily and Rudisha would have to be at least 1.5 seconds back at that point.

Everyone knows that Bolt can/will shatter the 400 WR if he ever trains for the event, and maybe even without training for it. Seriously it's not even an argument. 45.x when he was freaking 16, 43.x split recently, and he's a 19.19 200 guy. If he improves his 200 in the next couple years we could be talking about a guy who can go out in 20.0!

And while I'm at it: Wariner, Merrit, Gay, Bolt, can all break 2:00 easily. Anyone who doesn't think so just has a warped complex that 2:00 is any kind of fast.

I think everyone overestimates Bolts ability at 400m. Michael Johnson was a 200/400 runner (more of a 400 runner actually) and he ran 10.0x, 19.32 and 43.18. Bolt has done 9.58, 19.30 and 45.28 (plus 45.3 as a 16 yr old). So he is WAY faster at 100m, almost exactly = at 200m, and then way slower at 400m. The fact that he ran 45.3 as a 16 year old shows that he has the ability to run a wr at 400m, but his 100m/200m training has somewhat slowed his ability over the longer distance.

Let me say that again: just because he is faster over 100m and 200m does not mean he is faster over 400m. In fact, quite the opposite. Anyone who thinks he can easily shatter the 400m wr has little to knowledge of sprinting. Johnson was supremely conditioned. Usain Bolt is anything but. And Bolt has gotten WAY bigger in the upper body in the past few years...something that is not necessarily helpful to 400m racing-look how big Bolt is compared to the 43xx squad-Wariner, Merrit, Quincy Watts and Harry Reynolds. We've seen Bolt run 45.xx many, many times, often looking like he was easing up in the last 50m. He probably wasn't easing up by choice. 400m races hurt, and Bolt is not really used to that. Rudisha has a pr of 45.5, and I wouldn't be shocked at all if he ran a half a second to a second faster than that. We've never seen an 800m guy with this kind of raw power AND endurance. Coe and Kipketer and Cruz were all VERY well conditioned (particularly Coe), and all of them could run sub 46 for 400m, but they did not have the raw power that rudisha has.

My money would be on Rudisha if the race was next week, but on Bolt if the race was in 6 months+ (assuming both are healthy).

Also, I don't think it is ever easy enough to assume that 100/200 sprinters could be highly successful at 400m. There are just so many factors that we don't know-the 100m and 200m don't really test the aerobic system at all. What if Bolt has a tiny heart or lungs that don't function well? Those are not issues in the shorter events but in races that are over 30 seconds they are-at least enough to slow them 1-2 seconds over the last 100-150m, and possibly more. They often can hold on for a time of around 45-46 seconds, but that is a LONG way from 44 low.

And over 800m sprinters would look rediculous over the last lap-60s/400m pace is a lot to ask of the heart and lungs, regardless of how powerful your legs are or how slow that is compared to your 200m race pace. It wouldn't be the pace that would trouble Bolt and Gay over 800m- it would be the distance-it would feel rediculously easy over the first 300m, the effort would hit them around 400m, and between 500m and 600m they would completely fall apart-probably reduced to a jog. You can lose a lot of ground over 200m if you are dead on your feet. A well conditioned runner might lose a second or two over the last 200m, but sprinters would lose ten or more. I would actualy pay good money to see it. Some might have the conditioning to hold on, but a lot would not-there is no way to tell who would be able to, because it is dependent on factors that we can't see.

Black Pot wrote:

UncleB wrote:

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Absolutely. A healthy and fit Bolt crushes Rudisha in the 400 meters. Now the 600 meters -- that would likely be a different story

You're just saying that Rudisha would lose because he is black! More importantly, how did you miss the Israel angle on this thread?

Look who brought uo the Israel angle. And Rudisha would lose cuz he's black? Even for the run of the mill Zionist dupe you are one dumb cow

I guess his 43.5 split (everyone's seen the video - it's at worst a 43.high split) without any real work for the distance is no indicator of anything. I'm pretty sure he was winning all those 45.x races recently, and celebrated making sure everyone knew that he wasn't very fatigued afterwards.

So a 6'5 prodigy who runs 45.low at 16 yrs old, and goes on to a 19.19 200 (and along the way just happens to split faster than most 400 runners ever without training for the event at all) breaking the 400 WR is overestimated? Are you kidding?

You're also saying the hands down best sprinter of all time - who you will at least admit has a good shot at the 400 record - can't break 2:00 in an 800. You're saying 43 second 400 runners can't easily break 2:00 for an 800. Come on. Good high school 400 guys run around 2:00 ALL THE TIME. I can't believe you would think someone with an additional 4-5 seconds off their quarter wouldn't breeze through 2:00. You really have no idea what's going on in their bodies, you're just stating very general information about why sprinters as a whole aren't usually great at the longer distances

You said that Johnson (19.32) was extremely well conditioned and ran 43.18, and argued that Bolt was not well-conditioned. If anything, that raises his 400 potential should be train for it. Bolt is only 23. His training has been pretty gradual and easy. His coaches haven't grinded him down at all. This is common knowledge.