Did Usain Bolt Really Run A 4.22 40-Yard Dash At The Super Bowl? Our Stopwatch Says He Didn’t Come Close

By Robert Johnson
February 6, 2019

By now you have likely heard that over the weekend legendary sprinter Usain Bolt showed up at the Super Bowl festivities in Atlanta and ran a 4.22-second 40-yard dash, which would tie the NFL Combine record of John Ross set in 2017. Don’t believe it.

When I first heard that Bolt had allegedly done this, I almost immediately thought to myself, that sounds too good to be true. And the #1 thing I’ve learned in sports over the last 20 years is that if something seems too good to be true in sports, it almost always is too good to be true.

Article continues below player.
Embed from Getty Images

Bolt’s 4.22 seemed unrealistic to me for a number of reasons. For starters, simple probability. The odds of tying any time down to the exact one-hundredth of a second are very, very high. Plus he wasn’t even wearing cleats. And then when you realize that everyone wins with a tie, it truly seems to be good to be true.

Bolt wins as he still appears fast even though he’s retired. The NFL wins as Bolt didn’t break their record and he gave them a ton of free publicity in parts of the world where the NFL isn’t a big sport.

So, this morning I got out my stopwatch and timed Bolt’s run five times. I never had it faster than 4.59 seconds.

See for yourself (The two times in the video were 4.70 and 4.59 and then I did it three more times off camera at 4.59, 4.66 and 4.60):

Talk about Bolt’s run on our world famous fan forum / messageboard. MB: Did Usain Bolt really run a 4.22 40-yard dash at the Super Bowl?? It wasn’t anywhere close to that on my stopwatch

Want More? Join The Supporters Club Today
Support independent journalism and get:
  • Exclusive Access to VIP Supporters Club Content
  • Bonus Podcasts Every Friday
  • Free LetsRun.com Shirt (Annual Subscribers)
  • Exclusive Discounts
  • Enhanced Message Boards