Would Kylian Mbappe give peak Usain Bolt a run for his money over 100 metres? Thanks to a 3D simulation based on their fastest record speeds, we know now the answer.
Real Madrid face Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow and the Gunners defence will have to have their wits about them at the Emirates Stadium.
Mbappe is one of the quickest players in football but Bolt, who holds the world record for the 100m after crossing the line in just 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
Advert
That time broke Bolt's own record, which he set to win Olympic gold in 2008. No human has ever covered 100m or indeed 200m faster. So how would Mbappe measure up against Bolt if they were to meet on the track as well as in real life?
The legendary Jamaican sprinter recorded a top speed of 27.8mph [44.72 km/h] in Berlin in 2009.
Mbappe's fastest ever recorded speed on the football pitch was 23.6mph [38km/h] and has also been estimated to have reached a 10.90-second pace in a Champions League game for PSG against Real Sociedad.
Advert
YouTube channel Speed Showdown calculated Mbappe's theoretical 100m race using his top recorded speed and pitted him against Bolt at his best.
The outcome, which you can watch below, shows just how quickly Bolt leaves even the impressive speed of Mbappe for dead.
It shows a number of angles of the simulated action including one from Mbappe's POV as he looks up the track at the disappearing back of the greatest sprinter of all time.
YouTube channels have also simulated Bolt's world record time against the average person and a cheetah, as well as both reigning Olympic champion Noah Lyles and Australia's teenage phenom Gout Gout.
Advert
Bolt obviously wins out against all known human opposition even in a 3D rendered environment, though the cheetah saw him off without much fuss.
The cheetah's time of 5.95 seconds isn't under threat but Bolt's world record could be achievable if an innovative 'super track' is approved by World Athletics.
Alvina Chen, a sprinter and the inventor of the world's first 'smart' track, believes it could lead to the nine-second barrier being broken in the future.
Topics: Usain Bolt, Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid
Chris Nee