100/200 champ vs. 400 champ in the 4x4 !!!

[CoachK3311]

2012 Olympic Games have a rare match up we could see in the men’s 4x4. The match up could happen between LaShawn Merritt vs. Usian Bolt. If Merritt wins the 400 and Bolt wins the 100 & 200, we could see the head to head matchup in the anchor leg of the 4x4. This has not happen since 1988 Olympic Games Flo Jo vs Olga Bryzgina. Can Meritt hold off Bolt and Could Bolt run down Meritt??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m00D9Gpyzg

[user4]

lets think about the possibilities:


1 ) US is in the lead by more than 5 meters going into final leg. In this case Bolt the 100/200 specialist can not draft behind Merritt for first 300m. No contest US wins.

2) US in lead by less than 2 meters, Bolt (100/200 champ) tucks in behind Merritt and rides as effortlessly as possible behind Merritt for 300m. He then makes a dash for the finish line. Strong chance of a Jam win!

3) Bolt knows that he may face defeat in the 100m from his countryman Blake, and so he calculates that it is best to accept silver at the 100m and henceforth trains to guarantee gold at 200, 4X100 and 4X400. He therefore pushes his speed endurance effectively becoming a 300m specialist. In this scenario he takes the baton 5 meters down on Merritt and has a better than 50/50 chance of nipping him at the tape. Jam gold in the 4X400.

4) Most likely scenario: US is in the lead by more than 8m handing off into the final leg ... US victory with Bolt held back by Merritt
.

[Jackaloupe]

"US is in the lead by more than 5 meters going into final leg. In this case Bolt the 100/200 specialist can not draft behind Merritt for first 300m. No contest US wins."

Do you seriously think Bolt wouldn't close that gap right off? Your scenarios--two relating to race strategy, the third an unlikely switch in actual training strategy that his coach would never follow--hardly apply to Bolt, who'd eat up any 5 m gap in "two shakes", then get all he could out of his superior 200-300 m speed. No way he runs it like a sensible 400m runner: maintaining contact, then battling it out on the homestretch. His only chance would be to establish a strong first 200 +, then try to relax enough to have something left--wisely counting on the energy of the crowd to bring him home. After all, neither he nor anyone else has any clue how he'll do; it's easier to speculate on how he'd do it.