OT - Can Usain Bolt just run a 40 please?!

Submitted by jaggs on

Ok, I've seen numerous calculations and such about what Usain Bolt would run a 40-yard dash in. Some are insanely low (sub 4.0) and some seem really, well, slow for the WR holder (4.33).

Simply taking his 100m time and stopping at 40 yards doesn't do it, there is his reaction time to the gun factored in there. Whereas NFL electronic time starts on movement.

This yahoo article brings up some interesting points on why you can't do this. ie Bolt gets starting blocks, accounting for movement vs reaction to gun etc...

Some links to guesstimates of his times:

http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Usain-Bolt-would-…-?urn=fantasy,184570

4.22 - http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=582

3.9-4.0 - http://speedendurance.com/2009/08/06/40-yard-dash-times-for-usain-bolt-…

4.0-4.2 - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080820113402AAXfPNV

I am sure someone out there smarter than me can solve this riddle. How fast would Bolt run an NFL style, electronically timed 40-yard dash?

MGOARMY

August 25th, 2009 at 12:30 PM ^

LOL that's great. I read something on yahoo I belive about using what he was electrically timed at when he broke his last world record, and stopping the time at exactly 40 yards it was a 3.77. Obviouslly wouldn't be as fast at Lucas Oil Field for the combine, but I would imagine he could pull off a 4.1ish time. If Matt Millen was still the Lions GM he would have already started working on signing him.

Ziff72

August 25th, 2009 at 1:09 PM ^

Bolt comes on at the end so his 40 time might not even be that good. With that said there is no way in hell it is sub 4.0 as some posts I have seen have suggested.

Blue in Yarmouth

August 25th, 2009 at 1:46 PM ^

I would say that 99.9% of the time, when you know you are faster than your opposition you wait to pour it on toward the end. The main reason for this is because you know you can overcome a poor start and not have to worry about the false start. I would imagine that if he didn't have to worry about a false start as in a 40, he would be pretty damn fast. Having said that, it is entirely speculative and I can't be sure one way or the other. I can say that I believe the statement "his 40 time might not even be that good" sounds very unlikely to me.

Jeff

August 25th, 2009 at 3:06 PM ^

I don't think that is fake. The post specifically said the last 40m. He would be at full speed and with no acceleration a 2.95 is completely possible.

According to the splits listed at Pro Football Reference from his Beijing 100m race he ran the last 40m in 2.55 second.

So, if anything the fake might be that it's too slow.