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Track and field legend Usain Bolt has responded to comparisons of his 100m speed with French footballer Kylian Mbappe's split.
The comparisons rose after Mbappe was estimated to have clocked a time of 10.9s during a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between PSG and Real Sociedad.
A post on X (formerly Twitter) by BBC Sport started the controversy when Mbappe's speed was called 'just a second slower than Usain Bolt's world record (9.58s)'. The athletic community duly expressed their dissent on the platform.
While fans highlighted the difference of 1.3 seconds in 100m sprints, the PSG forward was also trolled for being slower than female sprinters and that he would rank 63rd on the women's 100m all-time list with a time of 10.9 seconds
The comparison went viral online, with Bolt admitting to laughing off upon first seeing them. Speaking to Jumpers World founder Andreas Trajkovski, the Jamaican said:
"I know I was laughing when I saw it. The girls are running faster than that [10.9]."
Bolt is regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time, and even after more than a decade, no one has been able to challenge his 100m and 200m times. The 9.58s remains one of the hardest records in the world to break but his 40-yard dash timing was recently broken by an American Football player.
Usain Bolt vs Xavier Worthy: 40-yard dash
A few days earlier, a post by Bleacher Report compared Usain Bolt and Xavier Worthy's 40-yard dash after the latter clocked 4.21 seconds at the NFL Combine on 2nd March.
The Jamaican legend had clocked 4.22 seconds in the same event in 2019, tying the league's record as well. However, that was a casual attempt and athletic fans raced to protect the GOAT's legacy.
Such was the dissent expressed over the comparisons that even Noah Lyles joined the conversation to defend Bolt. Lyles took to X and clarified that the 8x Olympic Champion had run 'that time with jeans'.
"Do we have to show the video of him running that time with jeans, no cleats, and no warming up. Just to remind y’all"
