Tom Wood
A simulated video shows the difference in speed over 100 metres between an average person, world record holder Usain Bolt, and a cheetah.
Check it out - it's not much of a contest but it's an interesting race nonetheless:
Obviously, the cheetah is the fastest animal on land, and Usain Bolt is the fastest dude ever to run across that distance, but – if you can believe it – they’ve never actually faced off on the track.
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That’s mostly because of their busy schedules and the matter of thrashing out the money matters between their two respective teams, but that’s just part and parcel of modern sport, isn’t it?
Of course, that’s not really why, it’s because no matter how fast Usain might be, he’s not fast enough to outrun the cheetah, and there’s a good chance that the wild animal might decide that he’d make a decent snack.
However, in this bold new world where just about anything can be mocked up and simulated, we can use data and information to simulate what a race between the flying Jamaican and the speedster of the Serengeti might actually look like.
Believe us – this ain’t no deepfake.
In fact, it looks like a video game from about 1996, graphics-wise.
However, the most important thing is the numbers, and they’re definitely correct.
So, in the video, we stand from the perspective of the average human – pretty presumptive, is that not? – in the middle of Bolt and the cheetah on a racing track.
Obviously, the cheetah wins the race comfortably, clocking in a time of 5.95 seconds, reaching speeds of up to 75 miles per hour or 120 kilometres per hour.
Even Usain can’t live with that raw pace.
At the time of his record, he reached speeds of 27.8 miles per hour, or 44.7 kilometres per hour.
It’s quick, but it’s still a good way slower than the representative for the animal kingdom.
Usain’s quickest time across 100 metres was 9.58 seconds, set at the World Athletics Championship in Berlin back in 2009.
That shattered his own world record of 9.69, set just a year earlier.
Since then, no one has been able to get near that time.
Well, in relative terms, anyway.
As for the average person – which is to say, us – the simulator has us clocking in at around 15 seconds.
Not sure about you, but that still feels optimistic.
Anyway, it’s all very interesting and shows you how fast both the fastest human ever recorded and the fastest animal on earth can truly be.
How much does it actually teach us, though?
Well, we know not to attempt to outrun either a cheetah or Usain Bolt.
But, you already knew that, didn’t you?