IN MINUTES News and events — visually Animals vs. Olympians When it comes to faster, higher, stronger, animals take the gold over humans — and without much competition RUNNING SWIMMING JUMPING (HEIGHT) Usain Bolt of Jamaica — also known as “Lightning Bolt” — ran the 100 metre in 9.63 seconds at the London 2012 Summer Games, which works out to be almost 38 kilometres per hour. The cheetah is the fastest land animal by far, able to reach speeds over 100 km/h for short bursts. American Charles Austin jumped almost 2.4 metres in 1996, an Olympic record that still stands today. In the animal world, snow leopards have been known to jump 6 metres in the air. Mike Powell, an American long jumper, still holds the world record he created in 1991 of almost 9 metres; the fourth person since 1900 to hold the record for over 20 years. When it comes to far leaping animals, snow leopards are on top once again; able to jump as far as 15 metres (and they probably don’t need the running start we do!) Greyhound House cat USAIN BOLT Squirrel 37.6 19.3 0.05 Garden snail 63.4 48.3 Cougar Snow leopard Eastern Grey Kangaroo MIKE POWELL Horse Typical frog Horse CHARLES AUSTIN Dog Rabbit 0.6 5.4 Snow leopard 6.1 metres 15 metres 13.5 2.47 2.39 1.7 Bolt ran the 100m in 9.58s at the 2009 world championships in Berlin, which is 0.05s faster than his Olympic time Powell won silver medals for long jump at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. Killer whale Dolphin Leatherback turtle MICHAEL PHELPS Goldfish 6.9 1.37 55.5 38 35.4 Guinness world record World record (Huaso, ridden by Alberta Larraguibel in 1949) 2008 Beijing Olympics 1996 Atlanta Olympics Based on a constant 110 km/h speed, the sailfish would finish a 100m race in 3.28s — Phelps’ time was 51.21s. From standing, a cheetah can accelerate from 0-72 km/h in 2 s; most race cars can’t achieve that. The men’s world record for high jump is 2.45m, set in 1993 by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor. Charles Austin’s 1996 Olympic record jump Usain Bolt after winning the 100m in Beijing 0.9 8.95 8.4 World record 1991 World Champion- ships in Athletics Mike Powell’s world record jump JUMPING (LENGTH) London 2012, 100m butterfly Cheetah Around 111 km/h Snow leopards are the smallest of all big cats, but definitely have the most powerful legs. QMI AGENCY Sources: Wikipedia; National Geographic; centralpark.com; hypertextbook.com; neatorama.com As of Dec. 19, 2009, Phelps had set 39 world records — more than any other swimmer; he currently holds 7 of them. After completing his swimming events at London 2012, Michael Phelps is now the most decorated Olympian ever with 18 gold medals and 22 overall in his career. During the 100m butterfly, his average speed would have been almost 7 kilometres per hour. Pretty fast, right? Enter the sailfish, which has been clocked at speeds exceeding 100 km/h. Phelps wouldn’t stand a chance! Sailfish 110 km/h