Bolt would probably win some of the track cycling events. I don’t think he would do well on the road course, since those are long events with tough hills.
He would probably do well in the long jump events.
He would probably win, but get DQed for not using a bike.
Based on this I’d say he’s got a good shot at the 200m and triple jump, too. Or is triple jump more technically demanding than it seems?
I doubt it. First, running muscles and cycling muscles are not the same. Second, there’s quite a bit of technique and tactics in track cycling. I doubt Bolt has ever been on a track bike in his life. He’s more likely to end up in a heap with his bike at the bottom of track than on the top step of the podium.
I just want to say that women have been competing directly against men in equestrian for decades and women have won several medals. However, I did not realize that a woman has never won an individual gold medal in eventing-until today. I believe the horse was also a girl. (Meanwhile, the bronze medalist was 62 and in his 8th Olympics!)
Also, with a little training, Bolt would probably be a good weightlifter. Sprinting and weightlifting (as well as long jump) all use fast twitch muscle. The muscles you use to start a sprint are the same leg muscles you use to snatch or clean and jerk.
Shooting was gender neutral in the Olympics before 1984. There is some sort of gender equality in the current Olympics with team shooting - an equal number of men and women on each team.
I threw both the light and heavy javelin in high school, as junior boys used the light one, and then switched to the heavy when they were old enough to compete as senior boys. I always found the lighter javelin much easier to throw, but assuming he’d had similar high school experiences, I’d expect him to have at least some familiarity with throwing a lighter javelin.
It is pretty unusual for an athlete to be world class at two unrelated events. And a reason why the best athletes in any event usually have a similar body type.
There are very few events, if any, where someone untrained could challenge not only someone who has trained for decades but is also consistently among the best in the world, regardless of sex.
That said, male times are better than female times in most events. But these are highly trained athletes. I think a general athlete like a decathlon winner would be the best choice rather than a running specialist. Bolt would not be a competitive weightlifter for many reasons, some of them technical.
Upper body muscle is obviously needed for weightlifting, but I suspect it’s actually a drawback for sprinting: Muscles anywhere but your legs are just adding more mass that needs to be accelerated.
Getting the movement right for the triple jump to maintain movement is challenging. It depends on if he was a jumper in high school or college before he became a decathalete. If he’s got some background training you’re probably correct. I straight up missed the 200m so there is definitely one more he’d win so he might have an outside chance at 10 medals.
Most states don’t allow javelin or hammer in high school any more (19 do). My first experience was in college so I was getting used to the motions and the women’s really threw me off when we’d screw around with it. He’s good enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t take him long.
I am not going to pretend to be an exercise physiologist, but the truth is that the majority of power in Olympic weightlifting comes from the legs and glutes. The arms are only used to stabilize the weight. It is entirely different from the muscles used for power lifting or bench pressing, for example. The best analogy is that Olympic weightlifting is essentially a vertical jump. It requires a quick burst of energy from the lower body along with core stabilization. That is why Olympic weightlifters have impressive vertical leaps.
This is actually a good summary of the muscles used in Olympic style weightlifting.
That is also why sprinters tend to train with Olympic-style weightlifting as opposed to power lifting.
If you look at the body composition o weightlifters and sprinters they are similar with increased lower extremity muscle mass as compared with upper body. However, sprinters tend to have significant upper body musculature, especially as compared to distance runners. Just compare the arms of an Olympic sprinter to those of a distance runner.
Since Jim Ryun first did it in 1964, the 4 minute mile has been accomplished by high school (male) athletes 16 times. Women runners of any age have only made it to the 4:12 mark. The men’s record is now 3:43 and change.
A potentially interesting rephrasing of this question is… take all the athletes at the 2021 Tokyo olympics. For each sport in which women compete, pit the female gold medalist (individual or team) against any male Olympic athlete other than the ones who actually compete in her sport. In how many sports would the woman still win?
So, obviously 100% clear that no male non-gymnast could beat a woman in woman’s gymnastics. But could a male bicyclist or soccer player or just some other very very fit person compete in, say, middle distance running, based on pure athleticism? Could you find enough elite male athletes who also play soccer at a fairly high level to assemble a team who could compete against the Swedish women’s team?
I think the number of sports where the men would have a chance would be small, but probably not zero.
If you were allowed athletes in the same discipline but not the exact sports I think the number would be quite high. If a male 10000m runners ran the marathon, they might well beat the women. If a male street skateboarder competed in park skateboarding, he would likely win base on difficulty. Male Tae Kwon Do athletes could probably beat the women boxers in their weight classes.
Here’s the list of Olympic sports: Summer Olympic Sports List | Olympics.com
I’d guess that the basketball players might be the best all around athletes who could medal in the most Olympic events against women. They will have experience with sprinting, endurance, weight lifting, jumping, etc. They will tend to have height and weight advantages over most women. I could see their advantages bringing medals in many events like volleyball, rowing, wrestling, rugby, soccer, and others.
Ryan is the only junior to break four. All the others were seniors.
He also has the only sub-four in high school-only competition, 3:58.3 at the 1965 Kansas HS State Meet.
I think you’re seriously discounting the technical skills required in events like volleyball, rowing, rugby, etc. While the men were trying to keep the row boat straight, the women would be rowing laps around them.
Men trained in a particular sport vs. women trained in that same sport = men wins
Men not trained in a particular sport vs. women trained in that same sport = women wins
I may be dense, but IMO it doesn’t get much deeper than that.
Not always true. There are sports that rely on pure strength where untrained men who are excellent athletes may beat the best women in the world. Many male athletes train using Olympic lifting moves so they may exceed women who compete in those events, for example.