Usain Bolt's 40 time

[Hotrodg]

TLDR Version:  Usain Bolt ran a 4.4 40 yard dash at the Olympics.

I got involved in a conversation a while back about 40 yard dash times (my basic assertion is the times you see are largely BS).  It started when someone was claiming a high school kid ran a 4.2

I'll spare you the details but at some point the conversation turned to world class sprinters and converting 100m times to 40 yard times.  It was claimed that Usain Bolt's 40 was 3.54 (it turns out someone at ESPN actually made this claim).  We all (or at least those of us that know better) know this is hogwash.  So....I set out to find out what his actual "40" time was.

First let's start with how the math genius at ESPN came up with 3.54:

1. They took the 100 meter distance and converted it to yards (100 meters = 109.36133 yards)

2. Next, you take the 40 yards distance and divide that by 109.36133 to get the percentage of 100 meters 40 yards is  (36.5759%)

3.  Now take Usain Bolt's record 9.69 100m time and multiply it by .365759 and you get...3.54420471

4.  I little rounding and viola..3.54

Now then, anyone that knows just a little about sprinting (or physics for that matter) knows that this is a flawed method.  A runner does not start at full speed and maintain that velocity for the entire race.  In fact, in the 100 meter runners don't get to top speed until around the 50m mark, well past the 40 yard distance.

So ideally we would have a 40 yard mark on the track and could see what time he crossed it..but we don't.  So....I'll do the best we can.

First off we need to look at his 10m splits.  They are as follows (all times in seconds):

RT (from gun to start moving) 0.165

0m-10m  1.85

10m-20m  1.02

20m-30m  0.91

30m-40m  0.87

40m-50m  0.85

50m-60m  0.82

60m-70m  0.82

70m-80m  0.82

80m-90m  0.83

90m-100m  0.90

Total Time 9.69 seconds

This are the actual electronically timed, video verified splits..no RT, hand timed tricks.

Now then where would that 40 yard mark be?  The answer is the is the 36.576 meter mark.  As such, we'll be taking the total of his splits to the 40m mark.  That happens to be 4.815

Next we do a simple conversion to find that 40 yards is 91.44% of the 40 meter distance.

Now we can convert his 40m time into a much more meaningful 40 yard time.  That time?  4.4  (4.815*.9144=4.402836)

I stand by my assertion that all these 15 year-olds are not running 4.3s

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

not all of them run those 40 times but I know personally---Ricky Wilson (ex Lincoln wr/db/pr) posted a 4.3 40 times a number of times. Quentin Holman (ex WR for Lufkin) ran a 4.28 so did Reggie McNeal in HS so its possible. But 3.54??    C'mon  LOL 

[Hotrodg]

I don't doubt the posted those times.  I do doubt they actually ran 40 yards in that amount of time.

Before anyone brings up "you run harder in the 40 because you dont have to go as far as the 100":

The 40 meter split from the world record 60 meters (Maurice Green in 2001) is 4.64  That extrapolates to a 4.24 40 yard dash.

Now for a real superhuman 40:

Ben Johnson in 1988 ran a since DQ'd world record 50m (the shortest distance recognized in track) of 5.15 seconds.  I don't have his splits so I can't get any closr than using his 50m time but that extraplotes to 3.77 which, is likely a little faster than his actual but coming in sub-4 is certainly possible.

Bear in mind these are the fastest times ever recorded..by the fastest men in the world, INDOORs, on a track, in spikes, with years of training with the best coaches, nutrionists, (and in the case of Ben Johnson performance enhancing drugs) available.

[Guest tigersvoice]

TLDR Version:  Usain Bolt ran a 4.4 40 yard dash at the Olympics.

I got involved in a conversation a while back about 40 yard dash times (my basic assertion is the times you see are largely BS).  It started when someone was claiming a high school kid ran a 4.2

I'll spare you the details but at some point the conversation turned to world class sprinters and converting 100m times to 40 yard times.  It was claimed that Usain Bolt's 40 was 3.54 (it turns out someone at ESPN actually made this claim).  We all (or at least those of us that know better) know this is hogwash.  So....I set out to find out what his actual "40" time was.

First let's start with how the math genius at ESPN came up with 3.54:

1. They took the 100 meter distance and converted it to yards (100 meters = 109.36133 yards)

2. Next, you take the 40 yards distance and divide that by 109.36133 to get the percentage of 100 meters 40 yards is  (36.5759%)

3.  Now take Usain Bolt's record 9.69 100m time and multiply it by .365759 and you get...3.54420471

4.  I little rounding and viola..3.54

Now then, anyone that knows just a little about sprinting (or physics for that matter) knows that this is a flawed method.  A runner does not start at full speed and maintain that velocity for the entire race.  In fact, in the 100 meter runners don't get to top speed until around the 50m mark, well past the 40 yard distance.

So ideally we would have a 40 yard mark on the track and could see what time he crossed it..but we don't.  So....I'll do the best we can.

First off we need to look at his 10m splits.  They are as follows (all times in seconds):

RT (from gun to start moving) 0.165

0m-10m  1.85

10m-20m  1.02

20m-30m  0.91

30m-40m  0.87

40m-50m  0.85

50m-60m  0.82

60m-70m  0.82

70m-80m  0.82

80m-90m  0.83

90m-100m  0.90

Total Time 9.69 seconds

This are the actual electronically timed, video verified splits..no RT, hand timed tricks.

Now then where would that 40 yard mark be?  The answer is the is the 36.576 meter mark.  As such, we'll be taking the total of his splits to the 40m mark.  That happens to be 4.815

Next we do a simple conversion to find that 40 yards is 91.44% of the 40 meter distance.

Now we can convert his 40m time into a much more meaningful 40 yard time.  That time?  4.4  (4.815*.9144=4.402836)

I stand by my assertion that all these 15 year-olds are not running 4.3s

Nicely done.  I want to adopt and then become the manager/agent for any 15 year-old that has or is running a 4.3 forty - legitimate, that is.

[The Real Black and Gold]

ya know, i'm not so sure that there is an exact science to all of this.

They don't time your 10 at the NFL combine and then multiply it by four.

The beat way to do it is with 40 yards and a stop watch.

But i garuntee you that Usain Bolt is alot faster than any 15 year old out there running 4.3's

[BigNutBuck]

When I see people spouting off about high school kids running 4.3's and 4.2's I just laugh.  A 4.5 is fast, a 4.4 is unbelievablly fast.  Look at the times at the NFL combine, laser timed 40's, and you'll see that very very few people run 4.3's.  I don't automatically assume that someone who can run a 10.5 100 meters is a 4.4 forty guy either.  Like noted before, good 100 meter runners get faster as the race goes on, to run a 4.4 or 4.3 forty you better be quick out of your stance first of all, then gradually gain speed.  A 4.4 forty guy may barely break 11.0 in the 100. 

There are alot of schools that run about 39 yards and claim its 40, or some coaches have quick fingers on the stop watches.  If and when a kid can claim a top 40 time at a combine or summer camp I will believe it, but when I hear a 4.3 forty I take it as a 4.4 or 4.5.  I know every now and then you have a freak that can pull it off, but more times than not they are fabricated times.

[retiredoldcoach]

I recall a kid in Orange that was timed by his hs coach at 4.3    He went to a combine and ran a 4.6

The coach timed the forty about as good as he coached football.

[bronco1]

The 40 time is over-rated!

When a player can run below 5 seconds in the forty he is moving pretty quick. If a player can move quick and stop fast then regenerate fast, I will take that over a record breaking forty any day. Case in point Dayton's A.J. Dugat does not have a great 40 time but man he can move with a ball in his hands and this is probably a good description of alot of famous east texas football players.

[silentassasin]

Here is my two cents about this. I was watching the new reality show with Michael Irvin on SPike where he is giving some guys a shot at being on the Cowboys roster this year. He timed their 40's in pads after they had just gotten done doing windsprints and drills and then said that this was the real 40 time they would use in a game anyway.

I agree with him. I know that in high school football especially the kid that can move laterally with quickness is more dangerous than the pure break away runner. Sure once you get in the open field the sprinter is going to pull away but he has to get there first. One of the best players I ever saw was a kid who never cracked lower than 4.65 but when he had the ball in his hands he was magic. I think he had consecutive 1000 yard seasons for three years in a pretty darn tough district at the 5A level. This kid could turn on a dime and make you look silly trying to catch him, almost like a mini Barry Sanders without Barry's strength.