a lot of "he could probably do it if (insert useful conditions), because (insert Justin Gatlin time)"

this seems like one of those things that will not happen, or will end in injury ... 35 is not as old as people are thinking though ... you are still able to compete near your peak level at 35 ... you just can't consistently outcompete someone younger whose peak levels require less exertion/concentration, so you don't see older players in professional sports as often ... veteran players can shine bright for a game or a series, but if it was best of 100 the younger, faster players would dominate ... the things that go are recovery, and muscle growth, but isolated output can still be very high for a healthy 35 year old, and duration of consistent training over the past few years is the real factor here ... Koon seems like an ultra-nit, and people who enjoy endurance training/running tend to do it for their entire life ...

This made me remind a bet someone from my town took. There was a world snooker event (or whatever its called) in my country and every pool player that participated in any federated event could participate in the qualifying rounds.

He bet he could win at least a frame to a ranked snooker player. There were also several british professionals in the qualifiers but he has the luck of drawing one 8-ball champion of my country, which is also an amateur player. Lost 4-0 to him and maximum break was less than 20. The 8-ball champion also didn't manage to qualify next round. Both were probably drawing dead.

ashman and busquet leveraged top 1% genetics into big $ wins in physical prop bets. not sure i would bet against koon doing the same. he has more time and access to better training than he did at 22, so i wouldn't be shocked if he is able to match that time. if he wins with a 10.94 and the bet is void if he gets injured, im kind of guessing he's a flip?

I wouldn't call myself an "expert" per se, as I was never an athlete. But I've covered track & field on and off for 26 years, worked on the media crew for the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials plus the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Hopefully, that's enough to opine on whether or not a 36-year-old former D-II sprinter can hit close to his collegiate PR without sufficient training.

No, but MrPoon is.

He couldn’t do it with Alberto Salazar providing him with special candy.

Scumbaf

h

not sure

In a previous life I was one of the better 1500m runners in the us (top 5 at us nationals). I lived and breathed track for a long time. If you have the opportunity, bet heaps against koon if this has to be a wind legal FAT timed attempt on a track. Obviously there are plenty of ways to angle shoot this bet if allowed. I could run 4 minutes in the mile today without any conditions on the bet (downhill, wind aided, PED use etc...)

Very impressed he ran that fast in college btw, interesting dude.

Lamar Jackson's HS 100 time wasn't sub 11. (I think)

+1
If Koon said he's done a sub 11, why would you bet against him? He's clearly training still

Pool plebs lol.

Because 10.9 is lightning.

And this is typical Koon. Numerous times the guy has been one card away from being stuck infinite amounts of money, rivered a miracle, & then started spouting delusional life advice.

If this happens I’d be happy to bet 5 figures.

Thanks, I looked into him. That is pretty crazy... most sprinters peak in their 20s, he peaked in his 40s. I was thinking of Messi, I think he might be 36 now, still fast. Or other athletes that performed well at 36: MJ.

My bad. 10s or 11s sounded like no big diffence, but it makes sense what you say.

How many of those guys are white that ran under 10.9 age 35+?

More importantly, how many of those 10.9 35+ year olds had a PR of 10.8 or slower when they were younger? Probably zero. And anyone who thinks he might have some leg up on training at his age are disregarding the fact that he trained hard in college. You guys think he wasn't trying in college?

I would say it's a hard no. The amount of people on the planet who can run under 11s in 100m is VERY small. The people on the planet who are 35 and can run 11s is scary small; that plus lack of proper track training in years, I would say it's very close to 0%

I really hope he does it.

on the surface this seems like the dumbest debate, but i find it compelling that the guy is willing to put a couple million up to try something that most people with his level of training/experience still wouldn't even bother attempting. kinda interesting. dude is a beast and a legit athlete, that's for sure.

The cognitive dissonance in this thread that results from Koon running 10.94 will be earth-shattering

So, not 10.9?

10.94 is technically 10.9.

Depends on various factors including if you use another digit or not.

A German sprinter famously missed the 2004 Olympic qualifying standard of 10.21 because he was timed at 10.211 which is technically a 10.22. So 10.940 might technically be a 10.9 but 10.941 might not be.