Bolt is obviously the world’s fastest human by a sizable margin and he was a superb 400-meter runner as a teenager. In fact, because of his height, he was encouraged to focus on that distance at one time.
In that distance, his current personal best is 45.28 set in 2007, the year before he stole the show at the Bejing Olympics.
Farah is best known for his success at 5,000- and 10,000-meter events. However, he just ran a 3:28.81 1,500-meter, which is one of the fastest times ever for that distance.
Based on all sorts of “rules of thumbs,” this means he should be able to run close to 1:45 for 800-meters—or perhaps faster. People who can go that fast for 800-meters can usually break 47 seconds for 400-meters.
“Every day of the week Mo Farah would win that race over 600m,” says Prof Fowler. “At 400m, Bolt will be 20m in front. By 600m he’ll be gasping, he’ll be bent on his knees and spent.”