If you believe what Canova has said, you will understand why no distance runner, no matter how great, and not even any 800m runner, no matter how great, could ever be world-competitive at the 100m.
Thank-you, Canova, for laboriously pointing out what is completely obvious, to those who do not really understand.
About Vaatainen, though--where did you get a 10.8 100m from?
I'm pretty sure you're confusing a date on his Finnish wikipedia page, with a time:
10 000 m – 27.52,78 (10.8.1971 Helsinki)
His 200m pr of 22.1 (hand, no doubt) is OK, though, it's maybe a 22.4 FAT...
Anyway, back to Canova. His use of Powell is not an appropriate basis for comparison. Why not use a 400m runner instead, like Wariner for instance? 400m runners ARE different from 100m runners, even though they both have a high percentage of fast-twich fibers. In that same scenario, Wariner would win--but it is because of the assumptions that Canova has built into his hypothetical. He assumes that the shorter-distance-runner could run the 3000m without using up his creatine phosphate, which is an unsupportable assumption.
If you want to stick with Powell, and assume that he could run 3k in 10 mins without using up his creatine phosphate (not a chance), and the race were left to the last 100m, Powell would win--his victory is built into the assumption that he has the speed endurance to run 3k in 10 mins without dying, an assumption made by Canova himself.
Of course that assumption is unsupportable, and Canova's example fails because of this, but his essential point is correct. He is not speaking about the ACTUAL Powell, but about a THEORETICAL Powell.
Similarly, 800m runners, no matter how great, will not run under 11 secs in the 100m from the blocks, with very few exceptions, and only with lots of specific sprint training, and would have difficulty breaking 12 seconds from the blocks while in the middle of training for 800's.
Notice that Canova's chosen cutoff for fast-twitch fibers is the 400m, NOT the 800m:
"IF YOU ARE ABLE RUNNING FAST 400 m IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FAST FIBERS."
Like I said before in the Rudisha thread, 400m runners are much, much closer to 100m runners than are 800m runners. It is a fact, and that's why Canova chose the 400m cutoff.
"IF YOU HAVE A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF [SLOW] FIBERS, NEVER YOU CAN HAVE A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF [FAST] FIBERS, SO NEVER YOU CAN BE TALENTED FOR [SPRINTING SHORT] DISTANCES."
All that being said, Jeilan's kick in the last 400m of the 10,000m was the closest thing I have ever seen to an actual "sprint" from any distance runner in a competitive race, ever. Look at his form on the back straight, and near the end of the turn--nice! ALMOST sprinting! If you look very closely, you can see him have short bursts of actual, serious speed--in this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ShIWjs8FTo
it happens at around 15-second intervals, at around :15, :30, and :45--his torso leans just a bit further forward, his head comes forward and down just a bit, his stride rate quickens, and he has a burst of speed--but wisely backs off each time, as if he had tried to keep it up from 300m out, he probably wouldn't have made it, as he is not a sprinter. He DID, to his credit, keep MOST of it up after his last burst at :45, which had to last for around only 40 or 50m, which took him only a very few seconds to complete. Excellent, that is the limit of the time he could actually sprint at the end of a race like this.
EXCELLENT! Freeze the frame at :50, and you will see a form that I haven't seen from any other distance runner, ever (admittedly I haven't seen every single race ever run). It is VERY close to that of a 100m sprinter. The way he finished this race, no other distance runner that I have ever seen could have kept pace with him over that last 50m, maybe even 100m. If anybody else were even with him with 50m to go, he would win the race.
Look at that back straight. He is as close to sprinting as a 10,000m racer could ever get without actually sprinting!
Hats off to the guy, good job. He ran PERFECTLY controlled, he was right on that line where he could have the optimum blend of speed and efficiency from 9600-9950m (he went over the line twice, only for an instant, caught himself immediately, and backed off at around :15 and :30, and then finally let himself essentially go at around :45, when he knew all he needed was a couple of seconds and a couple of strides.
Perfect racing of the last 400m, IMHO. He used his individual capacity to its absolute fullest.
GREAT race. I felt with 100% certainty already with 300m to go that he would win. Yes!