best t-dub video IMO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0SWhgugrTI&feature=channel_page
I was wrong about the rim height - his vert on that jump was 47-50".
Vertical jump, both standing and from a run-up, rally confuses me. I’ve met plenty of guys that have awesome (or at least relatively very good) verticals, especially from a run-up, but they aren’t particularly good at anything else (lifting, sprinting, etc.). Not necessarily bad at other things, but just not even within the same realm as that. My roommate freshman year of college had about a 40" vert off the run @ 6’3", yet was weak as hell (bench 135x1, squat 225x1) and probably couldn’t break 12 and definitely not 11.5 in the 100m.
what would an olympic high jumper’s vertical be?
pretty crappy sometimes compared to what you would think. i know stefan holm and hollis conway were below about 30" for a standing vertical. their running 1 leg verticals are usually amazing though. dwight thomas has a good vert but that’s probably because he’s a bballer at heart.
Check Kadour Ziani 5’10"… http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8GszNJ1NCWo
Reputed highest vert on earth.
He jumps off 1 foot, which in my opinion is more closely correlated to sprinting… and more impressive and elastic. Two-foot jumpers are usually quad dominant, and rapid over 20-30m…
Holm’s vert may not be amazing but this still looks pretty impressive…and isn’t that what really matters 
Kadour Ziani’s vertical has been much hyped on the internet, but isn’t as tremendous as the claims. I’ve never seen any evidence that he can jump more than about 46" (running), but I’d be happy to see some. The claims of 56" or 57" or 58" are not at all realistic. That would put his head 6" above the rim; I’ve never seen a video that shows his head at the rim, and I’ve looked.
Charlie, my sarcasm ability is limited on-line:), what do you mean by this?
He’s great at what he’s doing so his 100m speed isn’t that important. We aren’t asking if Bolt can dunk.
That’s because we know he can :), and I bet he could thrown down some good ones. But I know what you mean.
Well, I often am interested in how high elite sprinters can jump
I always find it interesting to see how transferable and successful athletes could be in other endeavors. More of a thought experiment than anything else though.