Comparing Usain Bolt to racehorses

[Real_Rush]

This isn’t exactly Olympic equestrian related, and hesitated to put it under the racing forum, so mods please move if it would be more appropriate elsewhere…

The general consensus is that if a thoroughbred ends up growing really big (like 17 hands or more), that at some point their size will impact their speed. Of course there are always exceptions to this “rule”, but by and large the adage holds true. During the current Olympics, I finally learned that Usain Bolt is 6’5" (my dad is 6’6", so I have a firm grasp of how big-framed that is). I’ve never really paid attention to his stature in past Olympics, but upon learning his height, I started noticing just how much bigger he is overall compared to his fellow competitors.

Do you think Bolt is the exception to the rule for sprinters? If not, then why is he able to excel so well at speed events but large thoroughbreds do not? Or am I simply trying to compare apples to locomotives? :winkgrin:

[Foxtrot_s]

I hear you but can’t answer!

Its a matter of physics. At some point the ratio of stride, turnover and speed
meet at an optimum point. He’s just a phenom…and being black there is that certain genetic magic.

Like endurance horses, little Arabians with their wiry build do not have to pack the extra muscle of a warmblood and can more efficiently use energy and loose heat.

Little Andre de Grasse is 5’10" and his "little’ legs turn over at a faster speed, with a shorter stride, but do not quite make up what Usain has.

I’ll miss him.

[GoodTimes]

CBC did a quick little comparison of a couple different athletes. They did say that Bolt is an exception, his very quick turnover or cadence is the reason he can start so well and keep it up. He takes about 40 strides per 100m. In comparison De Grasse at 5’10" has an exceptionally high turnover, but has to take about 46 strides.
Typically averaged height guys take 43/44 strides.

I don’t know if anyone has ever really studied him. I’m sure there are researchers dieing to know his exact muscle structure right down to the cells. How much lactic acid he produces, etc. Apparently Michael Phelps produces about half to 2/3 as much LA as other swimmers, a big benefit in that sport where they have to come back to swim multiple times a day, and multiple days in a row.

[MHM]

@Foxtrot's;8807174

…and being black there is that certain genetic magic.

I beg your pardon?

[Highflyer]

I think that part of the issue with size in racehorses is that the bigger they are the more slowly they tend to mature. This is not as much of an an issue for runners. I’m also not sure that the 100/200 meter are comparable to any of the distances Thoroughbreds run.

[Foxtrot_s]

Excuse me? I went to school in Eldoret where they have a major training centre. I was raised at over 8,000 feet and eleven miles off the equator, which I had to cross every time we went to school. It amazed me how good these athletes were, and I never really knew why. They come from generations of living at high level, come from the “cleft stick culture”, run barefoot all their lives, cover amazing distances just to get life done, like fetching water, collecting firewood…

So, don’t suggest I’m racist - all over the world black athletes are track athletes and they have my respect. I’ll take extreme offence at what you are suggesting,
MHM, or is it politically incorrect to mention black/white?

[redhorse5]

http://www.livescience.com/10716-scientists-theorize-black-athletes-run-fastest.html

I read this article years ago and I think what foxtrot means is that the body type is more of an advantage.