Rudisha vs Michael Johnson 600m who would win???

I think Johnson would have trouble break 48 seconds right now.

physiology 101 wrote:

I think Johnson would have trouble break 48 seconds right now.

Get him his gold spikes and he'll be running sub 43.50 again.

Is MJ doped or clean? Either way, my money is on Rudisha, the GOAT.

I'd put my money on the guy who hasn't been retired for several years.

noIamnotmalmo wrote:

Is MJ doped or clean? Either way, my money is on Rudisha, the GOAT.

Clean, as he was clean throughout his career

These sorts of threads come up all the time on this board, and the thing is, 200/400 guys usually can't go much further than 400m before their performance falls off. A speed based 400m runner is going to have a hard time at anything over 500m, whereas someone like Rudisha who is a decent 400m runner can do anything from 400m-1200m. At 600m Rudisha would kill MJ at his prime. 500m-550m would be a better distance.

With all the interest these theoretical races bring, it's pretty strange to me they never get set up. Why not have a post WC meet with odd race distances like 150m, 300m, 500m, etc? It'd be a great opportunity for athletes to set world's best times also (WR are only for the standard distances).

Whatever happened to the Bolt versus Bekele and Bolt versus Farah match races?

Guppy wrote:

200/400 guys usually can't go much further than 400m before their performance falls off.

Correct. You've got about 50 seconds of anaerobic power before you have to switch over. A 400 specialist develops mostly anaerobic power and would have little left at 450.

noIamnotmalmo wrote:

Is MJ doped or clean? Either way, my money is on Rudisha, the GOAT.

1) Take a look at MJ's 1996 physique and then guess which substances he was on not including EPO, which doesn't "show".

2) DR would win this hypothetical race very easily.

Michael j vs rudisha right now: rudisha (by like 10 seconds) michael j in middle of career vs rudisha: Michael j

My opinion, both in their primes.

If you have both run a 47 or 48 who is more tired?

I would say Johnson is more put out by a 47. DR goes through in 49 in 8s all the time. Then rudisha pulls away. I don't even think it would be close.

How can anyone envision a race where rudisha doesn't win. After 400 the sprinter would be toast whether it goes out in 45 or 50.

Juantoreno

Rudisha.

Agree with all the endurance points made above, but also consider this:

600 is 50% longer than 400 but only 25% shorter than 800. i.e. it is comparably closer to the 800 than the 400.

This is one of the easier ones.

Rudisha takes this for sure.

I think Duane Solomon would take Michael in his prime in a 600 as well.

Johnson himself said he sucked at 800 and hated to run overdistance for his 400 in training.

He and Hart went for the 400 based not so much on running a lot of overdistance, but to replicate the build-up of lactic acid by running shorter distances at 400 race pace with a relatively small rest inbetween. Call it sprint interval if you wish. The quality of the runs and maintaining running form while tiring is better than when you force a sprinter to do serious overdistance.

Merrit is a runner who does that kind of the same way. Speed based.

Kirani James does the opposite; he's more of an endurance based 400 runner who most likely is able to produce a more than decent 800 if he shed's a few pounds and not so much a world class deuce.

Kirani James ran 20.41 for 200 back in 2011. Why would he have to shed some pounds? He's listed at 5'11 and only 146 lbs. James is only an inch taller than Nick Symmonds and 19 lbs lighter.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Guppy wrote:

200/400 guys usually can't go much further than 400m before their performance falls off.

Correct. You've got about 50 seconds of anaerobic power before you have to switch over. A 400 specialist develops mostly anaerobic power and would have little left at 450.

Bad physiology

MJ would win, hands down. It is easier to build endurance when the speed is there, rather than the other way. The one rare exception is maybe a Galen Rupp who developed speed after endurance, but again that's the harder and much less common road.

mj would destroy rudisha if both were in their primes. Rudisha would die coming thru 400 in 46 and that's a jog for mj. And even though mj was a speed guy most of his training was strength based stuff. repeat 200s and over distance. I don't see him dying after 400m. remember 45 is a jog for this guy. At world record fitness he shut it down at 350 and ran 43.9. rudisha would literally be 2-3 seconds behind him if he picked up the pace he runs for 800m and rudisha going faster thru 400 then normal vs mj jogging thru 400, id put my money on mj for the last 200.

REMEMBER MJ JOGS 45 WHILE THAT WOULD BE A PR FOR RUDISHA.

GET SERIOUS