Usain Bolt would have liked to have been able to run Kylian Mbappe 100 meters at his peak.
But a simulator has already shown how the speeds of the two couples would compare – and the results are fascinating.
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It’s no secret: iconic sprinter Bolt is a huge football fan. He loves Manchester United and even had a trial with the Central Coast Mariners after retiring from the sport.
The eight-time Olympic gold champion has since given up his football career.
But even though he would have easily been the fastest professional footballer if he had his way, he believes Mbappé could have come close to his rapid speed.
When asked which player would be able to match him during his speech at the Laureus Awards in Madrid, the 11-time world champion replied with a smile: “I would love to compete with [Kylian] Mbappe in his prime to see how close he would be.
“I feel like one day he’ll just have to run 100 yards and let me see the time.”
It turns out Bolt can already see how Mbappe would fare.
Well, a simulator version, anyway.
A YouTube video made by Speed Showdown shows a 3D simulation of Mbappe, one of the world’s fastest footballers, taking on Bolt, the fastest human in history, in a 100-meter race.
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The one-minute video shows Mbappe in his French national jersey, while Bolt is in his Jamaica jersey.
Bolt comfortably beat Mbappe with a time of 9.58 seconds to the PSG star’s 10.90.
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The Jamaican set the 100-meter sprint record with a time of 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin – a very high bar for Mbappé to reach.
But in fairness to the World Cup winner, had he competed in the 100m final at the Tokyo Olympics, his simulation time would have seen him finish, just over a second behind the medalist bronze André De Grasse.
A study carried out in 2022 found that Mbappé was the fastest football player in the world, with a top speed of 10.6 meters per second, which equates to around 22.4 mph.
But if he really could have scared Bolt like he does defenders every week, we’ll never know!
