Just a little bit of fun comparing the relative speed of all Olympic Track & Field Sprints (100m, 200m, 400m) medal winners.
Just how fast is Usain Bolt?
He completed the 100m Sprint in 9.69 seconds. Running some simple arithmetic we know that his average speed over the course of the race is 10.32 meters per second. We can convert this metric speed to a more familiar (to Americans) 23.09 MPH. Would it surprise you that in Bolt’s winning 200m race that he was slightly faster at 23.18 MPH? According to Sports Endurance, Bolt’s fastest 10 meter split in the 100 was 0.82 seconds which works out to a peak speed of 27.27 MPH. Here’s a list of animals that are faster than Bolt.
- Cheetah (70 MPH)
- Pronghorn Antelope (61 MPH)
- Wildebeast (50 MPH)
- Lion (50 MPH)
- Thomson’s Gazelle (50 MPH)
- Quarter Horse (47.5 MPH)
- Elk (45 MPH)
- Cape Hunting Dog (45 MPH)
- Coyote (43 MPH)
- Gray Fox (42 MPH)
- Hyena (40 MPH)
- Zebra (40 MPH)
- Mongolian Wild Ass (40 MPH)
- Greyhound (39.35 MPH)
- Whippet (35.5 MPH)
- Domestic Rabbit (35)
- Mule Deer (35)
- Jackal (35)
- Reindeer (32)
- Giraffe (32)
- White-Tailed Deer (30)
- Warthog (30 MPH)
- Grizzly Bear (30 MPH)
- Domestic Cat (30 MPH)
- Usain Bolt (27.27 MPH)
- Elephant (25 MPH)
Let’s review, here’s a sampling of things from above that are faster than Usain Bolt — Wile E Coyote, Thumper, Bambi and Whiskers the cat. Not to mention Bears, Lions and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
