Usain Bolt wishes he could have raced Kylian Mbappe in the 100 metres in his prime.
But a simulator has already shown just how the pair’s speeds would compare – and the results are fascinating.
It’s no secret that iconic sprinter Bolt is a huge fan of football. He loves Manchester United and even had a trial with Central Coast Mariners following his athletics retirement in 2017.
The eight-time Olympic gold medal winner has since given up his pursuit of a football career, while he even flirted with the NFL at one time and thinks wide receiver may have been his position.
A fan of the Green Bay Packers, he even ran an NFL-style 40-yard dash in 4.22 without spikes and in tracksuit bottoms.
But whilst he would’ve easily been the fastest pro-footballer had he made it, he believes Mbappe could have come close to his rapid speed – he still holds the 100m world record for his 9.58 time in 2009.
The record – set at the Worlds in Berlin – broke the previous time of 9.69, which was also recorded by Bolt.
When asked which player would be able to match him when speaking at the Laureus Awards in Madrid, the 11-time world champion said with a smile: “I would love to compete with [Kylian] Mbappe in my prime to see how close he would be.
“I feel like one day he needs to just run 100 metres and just let me see the time.”
It turns out Bolt can already see how Mbappe would get on, though.
Well – a simulator version of it, anyway.
A video on YouTube made by Speed Showdown shows a 3D simulation of Mbappe, one of the fastest footballers in the world, racing against Bolt, the fastest human in history, in a 100 metre Race.
The minute-long video shows Mbappe in his France national kit, whilst Bolt is in his Jamaica strip.
Bolt comfortably beats Mbappe with a time of 9.58 seconds compared to the PSG star’s 10.90.
Bolt is considered the greatest ever sprinter and one of the Olympics’ greatest competitors. He has competed in three Games and won 100m gold in all of them as well as three in the 200m and two in the 4x100m relay.
In 2012 in London, it was perhaps the most glamorous line up in the competition’s history as Bolt raced against Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay.
But to be fair to World Cup winner Mbappe, if he had raced in the 100m final at the Tokyo Olympics, his simulation time would have seen him finish, just over a second behind bronze medalist Andre De Grasse.
A study in 2022 found Mbappe was the fastest football player in the world, clocking a top speed of 10.6 metres per second, which equates to roughly around 22.4mph pace.
But whether he could’ve actually put the fear in Bolt like he does to defenders every single week, we’ll never know…
News Summary:
- Usain Bolt sets Kylian Mbappe 100m challenge – but now we know how it ends thanks to fascinating simulation
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