Usain Bolt didn't hesitate when naming which footballer he would've wanted to race in his prime
Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt has already named the one footballer he would have loved to have raced when he was in his prime.
Bolt, 37, officially retired from professional sprinting back in 2017 but still remains the most famous track and field athlete in history.
The Jamaican is an eight-time Olympic gold medallist and the current world record holder in the men's 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4x100 metres relay.
His most famous achievement is setting the fastest time by any human in history over 100m – clocking 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009.
Advert
He also holds the world record for 200m at 19.19 seconds, although newly crowned Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles has set his sights on breaking it at the 2024 Games in Paris.
Speaking earlier this year ahead of the Games, Bolt was asked which footballer he would like to test his pace against.
And his answer was perhaps not the most surprising, given the Olympics are being hosted by France this summer.
"I would love to have competed with [Kylian] Mbappe in my prime to see how close he would be (to him)," said Bolt.
"I feel one day he just needs to run 100 metres and let me see the time."
Bolt recorded a top speed of 27.8mph [44.72 km/h] during his world record run at the 2009 World Championships, while Mbappe has also clocked some impressive speeds in recent seasons.
In February 2021, the former PSG star ran the length of the pitch in 11 seconds during a Ligue 1 clash against Marseille, recording a top speed of 22.4mph.
More recently, he clocked an estimated time of 10.9 seconds over 100 metres during PSG's Champions League win over Real Sociedad during the 2023/24 season.
While we will never get the opportunity to see a prime Bolt take on Mbappe, one YouTube channel has attempted to show just how close a race between the Jamaican sprint king and Real Madrid superstar would be. Check it out below.
Speed Showdown simulated a race between the two men, using Mbappe's fastest ever recorded speed of 23.6mph [38km/h].
The experiment shows a variety of camera angles of the virtual race, including a POV from Mbappe, who is immediately overtaken by Bolt before finishing a distant second.
Bolt recently revealed that his blistering 100m time is not his proudest record in athletics, naming his 200m record instead.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Obi One podcast, Bolt said: "It is the 200m. For me the 200m is my baby."
Former Chelsea star and podcast co-host John Obi Mikel replied: "Everyone thinks it would be the 100m."
To which Bolt replied: "But that's for everybody, because the 100m is the pinnacle. The fastest man in the world.
"But for me, the only reason I did the 100m is because I didn't want to run the 400m! And that's the craziest thing."
Topics: Usain Bolt, Kylian Mbappe, Athletics, Football, Olympics, Real Madrid
Rory O'Callaghan