In the world of elite track and field, you generally have an idea of how athletes will perform. If runner "A" has faster times than runner "B" at distance "X," you expect runner "A" to win. But what if runner "A" ran a completely different event against someone they have never raced against?
Back in the day when I was in high school, at some of the smaller meets (non-district/regionals/state) there would be a "big man relay." Just for fun, the throwers from each school would participate in a 4x100m relay. I'm pretty sure the crowd yelled the loudest during that event because it was entertaining. Track meets can always use a little more entertainment.
With that in mind, there are a few races I think we'd like to see. One recently popular topic on LetsRun is titled "Bolt vs Bekele in a 600m." Usain Bolt is the world record holder in the 100m (9.69) and 200m (19.30). Kenenisa Bekele is the world record holder in the 5000m (12:37.35) and 10,000m (26:17.53). I say Bekele would win it because distance runners can sprint more easily than sprinters can run distance. That's the theory anyway.
Of course there are always some match-ups that should have stayed imaginary:
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