# How Long Can Usain Bolt Remain Fast? Part 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 18, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204 "2016-08-18T20:14:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/1 "2016-08-18T20:14:55Z")
Similar to the original thread, but with an alternate definition of “long” - distance, not time. Could he have been able to sustain his otherworldly pace much further than 200 meters? My estimate is that he would hit the wall just before 300 meters. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/2 "2016-08-18T21:29:31Z")
Usain himself said that many people tried to convince him to try the 400m. However, he wanted to concentrate on the 100m and 200m as those were his specialties and by focusing on the 400m, that may detract from the 100 and 200m performances. That being said, he would probably still dominate the 300m. However by the 400m part, I suspect he would be unable to keep up with 400m champions. (Although he would still be very competitive and I suspect could even make the final in the 400m) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/3 "2016-08-18T22:35:05Z")
Agreed that he could make the final in the 400. I would argue that with his speed, were he to have made a effort of it a few years ago, he’d be regularly under 43. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/4 "2016-08-18T22:49:40Z")
Wikipedia has his fastest 400m time at 45.28s. It would be quite a drop for him to go under 43s. Possible maybe but very difficult to achieve. It also has him listed unofficially as the second fastest 300m runner (behind Michael Johnson) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/5 "2016-08-19T04:10:38Z")
The 400m is quite a different discipline and while I think it is possible he could win it, I’m not super sure. 400m runners are visibly leaner than 100m runners, on average, and even a bit leaner than 200m runners. There’s some crossover from 200m to 400m like LaShawn Merritt but not that much. Usain Bolt could have leaned out a bit more but would then be reducing his short distance power. I guess my point is that maybe he could have won the 400m but I don’t think he could have dominated in the 100 AND 400. Training for one would have hurt him in the other. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/6 "2016-08-19T05:28:12Z")
Michael Johnson is probably the greatest 2/4 guy ever, but I still believe that Bolt could have been better, but he lacked the desire. To be a great 400 runner requires more (and harder) work that to be a great 100/200 runner. He could have run faster than 45.38 (in 2007), based upon his 200 time (and his body type). His body type suggests 400, which is, IMHO, precisely why he was slotted there early in his career. Here’s what Bolt has to say about the 400: > [@](#): > > “If was running the 400 …. If it was up to my coach I’d be running the 400m right now. I’ve always bobbed and weaved to try and find ways not to run it. He always said I could break the 400m world record because I have [the talent] it was always a possibility, if I did the 400m.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/7 "2016-08-19T13:01:33Z")
Well, he made the right decision to concentrate on short distance so he could win the 100m. If you’re going to win either, you want to win the 100. It’s the premiere event of the Summer Games. IF you have a choice, man, go for the brighter stage and the biggest endorsement deals. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/8 "2016-08-19T16:23:19Z")
> [@](#): > > The 400m is quite a different discipline and while I think it is possible he could win it, I’m not super sure. Allyson Felix runs the 400m (silver medal) and is on the 100m relay team (good shot at a medal), so it’s certainly possible to do well at both distances. I think Bolt would have trouble competing at the top level of the 800m, which is quite a different type of competition, but with Bolt, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/9 "2016-08-20T01:30:24Z")
I’m curious how he would do in the 5k, 10k, or heck, even the Marathon. Brian ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/10 "2016-08-20T04:38:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, he made the right decision to concentrate on short distance so he could win the 100m. If you’re going to win either, you want to win the 100. It’s the premiere event of the Summer Games. IF you have a choice, man, go for the brighter stage and the biggest endorsement deals. No doubt about that - the Olympic Champ in the 100 is akin to being the Heavyweight Champ in boxing. He could have even been a 400/800 guy, like Johnny Gray (one of my top 5 favorite runners ever), or Alberto Juantorana (who won both events at Montreal in '76). He could have, IMHO, dominated those events much in the same way that he has dominated the 100/200, setting world records in both. But it would have been a much more difficult road, with nowhere near the glamour, status, and earning potential of the road he chose. When he blew up the world in Beijing, I was awestruck, and thought, at the time (and got into a heated argument about in the days after the Games), that a 6’5" 100 meter runner was a bigger deal, and would have a much greater impact on his sport, than Michael Phelps’ winning of 8 golds. I still believe that. Like Gymnastics, Swimming is a sport where a single dominant athlete can pile up medals - ([over 70% of 4 or more medal winners at a single Games comes from one of these sports)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists_at_a_single_Games). In Track and Field,historically, a competitor as tall at Bolt would _only_ be a hurdler, a jumper, or a middle distance runner, never a sprinter. To me, he changed the sport right there, in those 2008 Games. That said, the conditions have to be right for his ripple effect to take hold. The next world class sprinter that is close to his height will almost certainly be from the Caribbean or Africa - an athlete like Bolt, were he to be brought up in the States, would much more likely have landed in football or basketball. > [@zimaane](#): > > Allyson Felix runs the 400m (silver medal) and is on the 100m relay team (good shot at a medal), so it’s certainly possible to do well at both distances. > > I think Bolt would have trouble competing at the top level of the 800m, which is quite a different type of competition, but with Bolt, who knows? First of all - much love to Allyson Felix - that is one of the all time greatest runners ever. Her form is flawless, which, while not necessarily rare, is not very common to see. I believe that she has been put on the 4x1 because she is a great turn runner. As far as him in the 8, as I stated earlier, he could’ve been a world record holder. Wild speculation of course, and YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/11 "2016-08-20T19:51:40Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I’m curious how he would do in the 5k, 10k, or heck, even the Marathon. > > Brian Not well. He’s longer and ganglier than most sprinters, but he still has a sprinter’s build. Distance runners tend to be really skinny. Compare [Bolt](http://workoutinfoguru.1ygkv60km.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Usain-Bolt-body2.jpg) (207lbs) to [Mo Farah](http://hollywoodmeasurements.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MF_Body_1-1-e1470339508224.jpg) (130lbs). All that extra weight needs to carried a long way. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-usain-bolt-remain-fast-part-2/763204/12 "2016-08-21T13:46:14Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Not well. He’s longer and ganglier than most sprinters, but he still has a sprinter’s build. Distance runners tend to be really skinny. Compare [Bolt](http://workoutinfoguru.1ygkv60km.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Usain-Bolt-body2.jpg) (207lbs) to [Mo Farah](http://hollywoodmeasurements.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MF_Body_1-1-e1470339508224.jpg) (130lbs). All that extra weight needs to carried a long way. Also sprinters have different muscle fibers than long distance runners. It would be nearly impossible to be world class in both.