Animal Speed Stats: Usain Bolt and Other Record Holders vs. Animals

Posted on July 28, 2012

Craig Sharp from the Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance at Brunel University compiled these light-hearted comparisons of the extraordinary athleticism of humans and animals for an article in the Veterinary Record. Sharp says even Usain Bolt, the current fastest man in the world, couldn't outpace greyhounds, cheetahs, or the pronghorn antelope.

Usain Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds; a cheetah ran the same distance in 5.8 seconds
Usain Bolt ran 200 meters in 19.19 seconds; a cheetah covered the same distance in 6.9 seconds, Black Caviar (racehorse) in 9.98 seconds, and a greyhound in 11.2 seconds
Michael Johnson ran the 400 meters in 43.18 seconds compared with 19.2 seconds for a racehorse and 21.4 seconds for a greyhound
David Rushida ran 800 meters in 1 minute 41 seconds, compared with 33 seconds for the pronghorn antelope and 49.2 seconds for a greyhound
A cheetah is around twice as fast as the world's top sprinters at 64 mph (104 kph). But the pronghorn antelope also puts in a very respectable 55 mph (89 kph). The fastest racehorses manage 55mph (88kph) and greyhounds come in at 43 mph (69kph).
Humans can run at a maximum speed of 23.4 miles per hour (37.6 kph), which gives them the edge over the Dromedary camel. But only just, as Dromedary camels can run at a top speed of 22 mph (35.3 kph).
The North African ostrich, which reaches speeds of 40 mph (64kph), is the world's fastest running bird
An endurance horse ran a full marathon in 1 hour 18 minutes and 29 seconds, compared with the 2 hours, 3 minutes and 38 second record of Patrick Makau Musyoki
In the long jump, a red kangaroo has leapt 12.8 meters compared to the 8.95 meters Mike Powell achieved
The red kangaroo's high jump of 3.1 meters exceeds Javier Sotomayor's at 2.45, who is also easily beaten by the snakehead fish, which can leap 4 meters out of the water
Peregrine falcons can reach speeds of 161 mph (259 kph), while ducks and geese rival cheetahs, with speeds of 64 mph (103 kph) in level flight
When it comes to power, pheasant and grouse can generate 400 Watts per kilo - 5 times as powerful as trained athletes. The tiny hummingbird can manage 200W/kg
In terms of strength, an African elephant can lift 300 kg with its trunk and carry 820 kg. A grizzly bear can lift 455 kg, while a gorilla can lift a whopping 900 kg
Marathon runners might find it hard to beat camels, which can maintain speeds of 10 mph (16kph) for over 18 hours, or Siberian huskies, which set a record in 2011, racing for 8 days, 19 hours, and 47 minutes, covering 114 miles a day.

Professor Sharp says, "Citius, Althius, Fortius [Faster, Higher, Stronger] is the Olympic motto, but if we allowed the rest of the animal kingdom into the Games, and it was to select the peregrine falcon (161 mph), Ruppel's vulture (37,000 feet) and the 190 ton blue whale as its representatives, we could not offer much competition."

However, Sharp notes that no single species matches the physical versatility of human beings and that is what the Games are designed to display to best effect.

ANIMALS