Usain Bolt vs Mo Farah: Who'll triumph over 600m?
Mo Farah (L) with Usain Bolt
One is the undisputed champion over 5,000m and 10,000m, the other is the fastest man on the planet. It’s going to be a Mo Farah against Usain Bolt over a distance of 600m for charity.
Mo Farah is a Somali-born British runner who is the reigning gold medal winner at both his events (5,000m and 10,000m). He won the double last year as he sensationally bagged two golds in London Olympics, becoming the first Brit to win the 10,000m gold at the event.
Usain Bolt, on the other hand, is the reigning world record holder at both the 100 and 200m events. With a world record time of 9.58s over a distance of 100m, he is the fastest man to have ever lived.
While speaking to Sky Sports, Mo challenged Bolt to a race between 600m and 800m.
“It would be great to do a distance where people vote in – proper athletics fans – on what distance they think is most suitable.”
He then told Bolt: “Are you up for that? Come on, you’ve got to do it.”
Not being one to shirk away from a challenge Bolt immediately accepted the challenge though he did reveal that it would be difficult for him to run the distance.
“That sounds fun,” said Bolt.
“It’s going to be hard but it’s charity so it’s all about fun and enjoyment. I’m up for anything, for anything’s possible,” the fastest man on the earth said.
Indicating that it would be impossible for him to run a distance of 1500m, Bolt said that he was up for 600m.
“It’s (1,500m) way too far,” he said. “Six hundred (metres) for sure I can try because I’ve done 600m in training.”
Farah has recently set a personal record in the 3000m, timing (7 minutes, 36.85 seconds) and has also created a British record in the 1,500m clocking (3:28.81).
Meanwhile, Bolt definitely dislikes the extremely strenuous 400m and accepted to practice the distance only due to his coach’s insistence.
The 600m is obviously not something that comes naturally to Bolt, leading many bookmakers to place Mo as a 7-2 favourite to win the race.
Athletics experts Jon Ridgeon and Darren Campbell are of the opinion that Mo Farah will beat Usain Bolt in a 600m race.
They felt that it was easier for an athlete to step up speed in a race rather than step down, which is obviously going to be the case for Farah.
Also, both experts feel that the race will be a far more painful experience for Bolt as even though he may posses a tremendous amount of fast-twitch fibres, he would not have good endurance pace. Breathing patterns also change for sprinters as most of them tend to hold their breath over short distances.
Keeping all the above factors in mind experts have suggested that running strategy would play a major role in deciding the eventual winner.
“Mobot” or “Lightening Bolt”, take your pick. A mouthwatering prospect for all athletics fans.