Bolt and Bekele

[croflash]

Bolt has been asked about the topic during the press conference in Thessaloniki today:

There is increased talk about a 600m race with distance star Kenenisa Bekele. Would he consider it?

“To me running a 600 would be really interesting. It’s been a while since I’ve done it but I think it would be fun. So if my coach decides to let me do it, then I would definitely do it. It would be really interesting. I think a lot of people would definitely want to see that.”

http://www.iaaf.org/WAF09/news/kind=100 ... 54278.html

[Ned Ryerson]

yeah, I think throwing about the idea of a match rase is fun and amusing, but it doesn't make much sense.

there just isn't much to compare these two athletes. radically different disciplines.

also, I have absolutely zero doubt that Bolt would crush, I mean crush, Bekele through 600m.

meanwhile, Bekele would demolish Bolt over 800m.

the 600 and 800 options would be lopsided and uninteresting. 700?

thing is, who cares about this? maybe for fun and as a charity event.

There's a significant aerobic component to a 600m and could spell trouble for Bolt. I think Bekele would win, but not by much.

[110hedgeNYC]

yeah, I think throwing about the idea of a match rase is fun and amusing, but it doesn't make much sense.

there just isn't much to compare these two athletes. radically different disciplines.

also, I have absolutely zero doubt that Bolt would crush, I mean crush, Bekele through 600m.

meanwhile, Bekele would demolish Bolt over 800m.

the 600 and 800 options would be lopsided and uninteresting. 700?

thing is, who cares about this? maybe for fun and as a charity event.

[jazzcyclist]

It may not be fair, but one of the things that Bolt has going for him is that he speaks pretty good "American English", as opposed to many other foreign athletes.

[rabalac]

I hope this nonsense never comes to fruition. Just what is driving the need for these two great men to humiliate themselves like this. Granted, it would not rise (or perhaps SINK) to the level of competing against a horse, but it would be close.

While I don't know this for a fact, (hence I'll speculate) I suspect that the Bekele folks are pushing this freak show, since they have more to gain in the publicity department than Bolt does.

To a certain degree, I can't totally blame Bekele for demanding even a modicum of the golbal attention that Bolt has garnered. I feel for the guy, that with all his dominance over the years in two events no less, he is almost treated like a footnote in media coverage.

Track and Field has been in the tank for years, thanks to the cheating of a few high profile athletes. Bolt has been instrumental (Bekele too) in transforming the sport back to credibility. It would be a damn shame if either of these great athlete were to add their name and prestige to this farce.

Gentlemen, please put your egos aside and continue to preserve the integrity of the sport. Focus on what you do best. Running a bastardized made-for-TV freak show is not worth it.

[jazzcyclist]

It happens, though it depends on the runner and what female event you're using for reference. Guys like Bekele and Geb who are 26:20/3:31 guys would hold there own against a field of top female 400m runners, but anything shorter and they'd be left behind. 1500m specialists have a much better chance to run in the mid to low 22s. It comes down to the way that they're running the times in question. No question that Bekele loses to Sherika Williams in 100m or 200m, while at 400m they're just about even, and anything.

I think a lot of this would depend on what type of training the athlete had been doing. I would think that Bekele after a month of sprint training would be at least a second faster than the Bekele that showed up in Berlin to run the 5000 and 10,000. Of course my theory is again based on anecdotal evidence and personal experience.

[Ned Ryerson]

It is a fact, for both of them. Hutchings recently reiterated Hermens' statement that Bekele's maximum 400m ability is 49 seconds.

Okay then. Now that we're dealing with facts, I don't think 49s is bad for a 10000 guy. I've witnessed a few things over the years such as sub-4:00 collegiate men being thrown onto a 4x400, and based on these anecdotal events, I've concluded that the very best (crème de la crème) men distance runners (Geb, Bekele, Komen, Tergat, etc.) probably have comparable speed to elite women sprinters. Do you agree?

It happens, though it depends on the runner and what female event you're using for reference. Guys like Bekele and Geb who are 26:20/3:31 guys would hold there own against a field of top female 400m runners, but anything shorter and they'd be left behind. 1500m specialists have a much better chance to run in the mid to low 22s. It comes down to the way that they're running the times in question. No question that Bekele loses to Sherika Williams in 100m or 200m, while at 400m they're just about even, and anything above Bekele is king. It's fast twitch vs slow twitch.

In any case, a Bolt/Bekele exhibition would be a win-win for everyone. Doing something out of the ordinary would garner additional attention for Bolt, more than running another 19.5 against a field of 20sec men. And for Bekele to have his name tied to Bolt for a competition would make him known to a much wider audience than he could achieve, even if he quadrupled next time at Worlds. And I'm confident Bekele would win.

[jazzcyclist]

It is a fact, for both of them. Hutchings recently reiterated Hermens' statement that Bekele's maximum 400m ability is 49 seconds.

Okay then. Now that we're dealing with facts, I don't think 49s is bad for a 10000 guy. I've witnessed a few things over the years such as sub-4:00 collegiate men being thrown onto a 4x400, and based on these anecdotal events, I've concluded that the very best (crème de la crème) men distance runners (Geb, Bekele, Komen, Tergat, etc.) probably have comparable speed to elite women sprinters. Do you agree?

[TN1965]

Should you also include the best 400 and 800 runners in this race?

They will beat both Bolt and Bekele in 600m. So there is no reason for Bolt and Bekele to agree to it.

[Ned Ryerson]

Pretty sure it was a time trial.

Pretty sure? :? Come on, let's deal in facts. And any time that's come in the last couple of years since he's gotten older and started running marathons will be a lot slower than when he was younger and still able to compete in 1500's. I would really like to see this Bolt and Bekele thing happen, if for no other reason, we would no longer have to guess what kind of speed Bekele has if given a few weeks to sharpen up his sprinting legs.

It is a fact, for both of them. Hutchings recently reiterated Hermens' statement that Bekele's maximum 400m ability is 49 seconds.

[jazzcyclist]

Pretty sure it was a time trial.

Pretty sure? :? Come on, let's deal in facts. And any time that's come in the last couple of years since he's gotten older and started running marathons will be a lot slower than when he was younger and still able to compete in 1500's. I would really like to see this Bolt and Bekele thing happen, if for no other reason, we would no longer have to guess what kind of speed Bekele has if given a few weeks to sharpen up his sprinting legs.

[DG]

I heard that Usain ran once 800 in HS, and his PB is 1.53.xx if my memory don't fail(said by glen Mills)

Now, i assume he could improve to 1.49,xx

After the 200m (Brussels09) he said in an interview with belgian tv that his best was 2.06/2.07for 800m.

For a race against Bekele, if the race is 600m he wants to give it a shot.

[Ned Ryerson]

Pretty sure it was a time trial.

[jazzcyclist]

Geb did what he did and does what he does because he's a 49.9/3:31/26:22 runner.

Where did you get this 49.9 figure from? Is that speculation and conjecture?

[Ned Ryerson]

There's a huge difference between winning a world title in a discipline (especially indoors) and breaking a world record in this era. Tamsyn Lewis is the World Indoor Champion in the 800m, so does that mean she's of similar calibre as Jelimo and Jepkosgei?


And there's a huge difference between 12:50 and 12:37, and even more between 12:58 and 12:37. You didn't see Said Aouita and his 1:43.86 PB run sub12:40 or sub26:30.

It's just like you can't expect Michael Johnson, with 43.1 400m speed to be superior or even on par with the best 800m and 1500m runners in the world because of all the fast twitch fibers he has running throughout his body.

Geb did what he did and does what he does because he's a 49.9/3:31/26:22 runner. And he wasn't racing El Guerrouj. Watch when he raced El Guerrouj over 1500m in Stuttgart in 1997. El Guerrouj dropped the hammer on him and got the world record which still stands today.