At the 2012 Olympics, Usain Bolt of Jamaica recently won the 100-meter dash with a blistering fast time of 9.63 seconds. This puts his speed at 37.37 km/h or 23.35 miles per hour.
While that is amazing for a human, let us take a lighthearted look at what could beat his top speed:
Top Ten Things Faster Than Usain Bolt
1. Light: Light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second. By the time Bolt left the starting blocks, light had won the race, went home, fixed a sandwich, and returned to congratulate Bolt on second place.
2. A speeding locomotive: Concor trains boast speeds of up to 100 km/h. These would blow by Mr. Bolt.
3. Superman: Everyone knows that Superman is faster than a speeding locomotive, and thus faster than one Usain Bolt.
4. Reindeer: It may not be a Merry Christmas for Bolt when he discovers that a reindeer's top speed (32 mph) is almost 10 mph faster than his (23.35).
5. 1971 Ford Pinto: A friend used to own one of these, and it reached 63 mph at least twice in that time. This makes it faster, but not flashier, than Bolt. According to the specs, a 1971 Ford Pinto could reach a top speed of 91 mph.
6. Lightning bolt: In the Bolt versus bolt showdown, Usain doesn't even come close. The average lightning bolt travels at 136,000 mph.
7. Sneeze: Bolt's top speed of 23.35 mph is nothing to sneeze at, unless you are a sneeze. The hosts of Myth Busters clocked a sneeze traveling 39 mph.
8. Mongolian Wild Ass: The world's fastest donkey outpaces Bolt by a large margin. The donkey travels at 39.8 mph compared to Bolt's 23.35 mph.
9. Cheetah: No performance-enhancers here. The cheetah accelerates to over 60 mph in 3 seconds.
10. Usain Bolt: At the World Championships in 2009, Usain Bolt set the world record with a time of 9.58. Take that, 2012 Usain Bolt!
Christopher Beheler is a lifelong sports fan and has followed the Olympics since 1984.
