Being fast does not make someone ‘Bolt’

“There is a difference between running fast and sprinting”. -My father when discussing what separated a naturally fast person from an elite track athlete. Coaches take talented runners under their wing and teach them the art of sprinting, and that is how we get these track superstars who separate themselves from someone who is able to move fast and merely qualify for the World Championships or the Olympics, vs the former who win medals and set records. I have been noticing a trend, which has been increasing of late as Bolt’s career becomes more of a distant memory. This trend is people comparing any and all accomplishments of speed in any sport to the fastest man the world has ever seen. Perhaps it is because people forget just how fast and dominant he was why they continue to do this, and maybe, sadly, time has erased some of the mysticism surrounding the great man. Most recently, Kylian Mbappe was clocked covering a 100m distance in about 10.9 seconds in his team PSG’s Champions League match vs Real Sociedad. Many media outlets immediately picked up on this and started posting graphics about the accomplishment, ranging from small blogs to gargantuan outlets such as the BBC. They then proceeded to pose a question/statement that can be seen as nothing but asinine; “Can Mbappe break the world record?” or “Kylian Mbappe is only just over a second away from Bolt’s WR!”. While some of the comments immediately pointed out how ludicrous all of this was, some were agreeing or stating if he trained for a little, or “wasn’t running with the ball” he would be able to run under 10 seconds and compete with the worlds best. Most of the comments that did disagree with the headlines stated facts such as “it was a running start”, or “it was not a precise measurement of his time or the distance ran”. Both are true, as these are factors which would definitely make a time be faster than it really was, I was astonished to see that the vast majority of commenters were missing the most glaringly obvious point; 1.4 seconds in sprinting is a LIFETIME. Without bringing it to an exact science, if someone was 1.4 seconds behind bolt in his world record run, he would probably be 30 meters or more behind him by the finish line. Tyson Gay was second in his World Record race of 9.58s in a then American record of 9.71s, still incredibly fast. He was about 5 meters behind, and had so clearly lost he even seemed to slow down right at the end as he was beaten so badly. As far as the running start goes, several men in 4x100m relays have been clocked at under 9 seconds, with the likes of Bolt and Asafa Powell running under 8.7s, showing the incredible impact of a running start. This means that Mbappe during this run might barely have broken 12 seconds if he started it standing still. Now yes, he had the ball at his feet, and Mbappe is a very fast footballer, certainly top 5 in my opinion, but you can start to see just how far away he is. In fact, having watched his pace obliterate defenses, I would agree that he is capable of breaking 11 seconds, but not much more than that.

From last year, when Noah Lyles made his infamous “champions of what?!” statement when comparing the NBA to the World Championships, the sport of Athletics has been a little disrespected and forced to defend itself more of late, educating people on how elite its athletes really are. In the wake of this statement, the official World Athletics Instagram posted this response: https://www.instagram.com/worldathletics/p/C4NaMLBM6lf/. 10.9s is an elite women’s time, but nowadays in this golden era of women’s sprinting, would only get you a place in a global final at best, with sub 10.8 times regularly being needed to get on the podium. In fact, if everyone is in form, even 10.9 would just about fail to make a final. If you are getting ‘smoked’ by the world’s fastest women, what hope do you have when competing with their male counterparts, let alone the greatest who ever lived, who could win the most recent 100m finals while celebrating and jogging? (Yes, for those who don’t know, Bolt has run sub 9.90 times while jogging and ran his old world record time of 9.69s while celebrating 30 meters early). In fact, when compared to the men, a 10.9 clocking is what an elite 13-14 year old would do, or maybe just a ‘good to ok’ 17-18 year old. For example, recent world indoor 60m bronze medalist Ackeem Blake of Jamaica, has a 100m personal best of 9.89s. He was not a standout for most of his youth career, as he came 18th overall in the Class 1 Boys 100m at ‘Champs’ in Jamaica in 2019. He was 7th in semi final 2, clocking yes, you guessed it, 10.9s (10.94s to be exact). It was not till he vastly improved his PB to 10.4 that he was selected for Jamaica’s youth teams, and won a bronze medal for his country at the NACAC under 18 final with a time of 10.41s. Going back to football, other really fast players such as Theo Walcott, Ryo Miyaichi and Marvell Wynne, have clocked times of 10.84s, 10.6s and 10.39s respectively, having had youth experiences in the 100m. Wynne in particular, a former defender for the Colorado Rapids in the MLS, clocked his time as a track athlete in high school, and it is thought to be the fastest time of a current or future professional soccer player. This, while very fast, and indeed faster than the seemingly almost unbreakable women’s world record of 10.49s, is still nothing in the world of men’s sprinting. Adam Gemili, the world Junior Champion in 2012, was a footballer in his youth, and was so good at it he had to choose which sport to go professional in at age 18. His decision paid off, not only with his triumph at the junior level but also as a senior, having won multiple medals as part of the UK’s 4x100m relay team, as well as 4th place finishes in the 200m in both the Olympics and the World Championships. As fast as he is, definitely the fastest person who even dabbled in true professional soccer, his personal best is ‘only’ 9.97s, while being absolutely dominated by Bolt the few times they raced before the latter’s retirement. Speaking of Gemili, the man who came 4th in his Championship race in 2012, was Tyreek Hill, a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL. These athletes are the closest ones to having a case for competing with track athletes in terms of speed, as many of them doubled up in both sports in high school. Hill was exceptionally fast, running 10.29s in the final, missing out of the bronze by 0.01s (Gemili won in a Championship record 10.05, which was only recently broken). Now a star and probably the fastest player in the NFL, hill has put his athletics days long behind him. Oddly enough, he still called out Bolt to a race a few years ago, but only after the latter had retired interestingly enough, and not when Hill was running his personal bests, which coincided with Bolt breaking the Olympic record with 9.63s at the 2012 Olympics. If someone as accomplished as Hill could only even call out Bolt to a race after he retired, what hope could Mbappe have? Bolt, for the record, essentially laughed off Hill’s challenge, and rightfully so. Finally, other examples of NFL players who are so fast but still cannot compete with Bolt include Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalfe, who wanted to see what he could do at the 2021 US Olympic 100m Trials. He was last in his heat with a very respectable time of 10.37 seconds, but still clearly nowhere near Track and Field level ‘fast’. Devon Allen, a two time Olympic finalist and the third fastest man ever over the 110m hurdles did the opposite, and tried the NFL for a season, playing with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 22-23 season. Even he was not a noted sub 10s runner, as his PB in the flat 100m is listed at 10.20s from 2022, the same season he became the third fastest sprint hurdler ever, so he was in great shape.

Apart from Mbappe’s stat, at the 2024 NFL combine at the start of March, Xavier Worthy broke the 40 yard dash time of 4.22 seconds, running a 4.21. This also immediately garnered comparisons to Bolt, which Worthy, to his credit, immediately shut down. He said “No, his 40 was in shoes and sweats. There’s no comparison. I’m not even gonna disrespect him”. The “40” he’s referring to, was in 2019, when an already retired bolt wearing normal shoes and sweatpants, ran a 4.22s 40 yard dash at a promotional event, equaling the old record that was just broken by Worthy. It is good to see a cooler, humble head like Worthy’s prevail, and showing Bolt the respect he deserves, as one would shudder to think just how fast he could run the 40 yard dash in his prime. Mbappe, to his credit, did not comment on any of the hype, but it is still important to educate those spouting such nonsense.