Kylian Mbappé seems to be one of the fastest footballers in the world. Some articles may have headlined in the past "Mbappé faster thanUsain Bolt ". Some, a little less affirmative, have rather titled: “Mbappé faster than Usain Bolt? ". We will see in this article that this is not the case!

Does Mbappé run faster than Usain Bolt?

Let's rest the characteristics of Mbappé's speed:

• During his sprint, his maximum speed was 37,6 km/h
• More his average speed was 32,4 km/h

So why are so many media asking this question? They actually compared Usain Bolt's average 100m speed with Mbappé's top speed. Indeed, as we saw in the article on Usain Bolt, his average speed was 37,58 km / h, slightly less than the maximum speed of Mbappé. So if Mbappé was able to maintain this speed over 100 meters (therefore by not doing a standing start!), he would go faster than Usain Bolt

Why this result is not correct

We cannot compare an average speed to a maximum speed. Maximum speed is very hard to maintain! Just like Usain Bolt who reaches 44,72 km/h but does not maintain it!

So if we want to compare cabbage with cabbage:

• Usain Bolt has a top speed of 44,72 km/h. As a reminder, it's 37,6 km / h for Mbappé. In terms of maximum speed, Usain Bolt is therefore 7km/h faster (probably a little less now because he has aged!)
• Usain Bolt has an average speed of 37,58 km/h over 100 meters. It would be 32,4 km / h for Mbappé on a sprint in a football field (which in addition is less than 100 meters and therefore the speed is easier to maintain). Usain Bolt is therefore more or less 5 km / h faster than Mbappé from this point of view.

Conclusion: Usain Bolt is in every way faster than Mbappé. Just as Mbappé is in every way a better footballer than Usain Bolt.