Footspeed - wikipedia Footspeed Sprinting is a sport that requires development of footspeed Footspeed, or sprint speed, is the maximum speed at which a human can run. It is affected by many factors, varies greatly throughout the population, and is important in athletics and many sports, such as association football, rugby, American football, track and field, hockey, baseball and basketball. Contents 1 Factors in speed 2 Limits of speed 3 See also 4 Notes Factors in speed The key determinant of footspeed in sprinting is the predominance of one distinct type of muscle fibre over another, specifically the ratio of fast - twitch muscles to slow - twitch muscles in a sprinter 's physical makeup. Though fast - twitch muscles produce no more energy than slow - twitch muscles when they contract, they do so more rapidly through a process of anaerobic metabolism, though at the cost of inferior efficiency over longer periods of firing. The average human has an almost - equal ratio of fast - twitch to slow - twitch fibers, but top sprinters may have as much as 80 % fast - twitch fibers, while top long - distance runners may have only 20 %. This ratio is believed to have genetic origins, though some assert that it can be adjusted by muscle training. `` Speed camps '' and `` Speed Training Manuals '', which purport to provide fractional increases in maximum footspeed, are popular among budding professional athletes, and some sources estimate that 17 % to 19 % of speed can be trained. Though good running form is useful in increasing speed, fast and slow runners have been shown to move their legs at nearly the same rate -- it is the force exerted by the leg on the ground that separates fast sprinters from slow. Top short - distance runners exert as much as four times their body weight in pressure on the running surface. For this reason, muscle mass in the legs, relative to total body weight, is a key factor in maximizing footspeed. Limits of speed The record was 44.72 km / h ( 27.8 mph ), seen during the final 100 meters sprint of the World Championships in Berlin on 16 August 2009 by Usain Bolt. ( Bolt 's average speed over the course of this race was 37.58 km / h or 23.35 mph. ) Maximum human sprint speed is strikingly slower than that of many animals. Compared to other land animals, humans are exceptionally capable of endurance, but incapable of great speed. For example, cheetahs can attain short bursts of speed well over 100 km / h ( 62 mph ), the American quarter horse has topped 88 km / h ( 55 mph ), greyhounds can reach 70 km / h ( 43 mph ), and the Mongolian wild ass has been measured at 64 km / h ( 40 mph ). Even the domestic cat may reach 48 km / h ( 30 mph ). See also Walking speed, the normal pace humans walk. Notes ^ Jump up to : Quinn, Elizabeth. `` Fast and Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers '', About.com, retrieved November 26, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Ziegler, Mark ( 18 April 2005 ). `` The NFL treats 40 - yard dash times as sacred. But if those numbers are true, many players are faster than Olympic gold medalists and their clockings should be eyed with a dash of doubt ''. Union - Tribune San Diego. Retrieved 26 February 2014. ^ Jump up to : Herper, Matthew. `` What 's The Human Speed Limit ? '', Forbes.com, May 14, 2004, retrieved November 26, 2007. Jump up ^ International Association of Athletics Federations Biomechanical Research Project : Berlin 2009 ( PDF ), archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2014 - 05 - 14, retrieved 2017 - 04 - 09 Jump up ^ How Fast Is Usain Bolt ? Engineering Sport Jump up ^ `` Humans hot, sweaty, natural - born runners '', Physorg.com, April 16, 2007, retrieved November 27, 2007. Jump up ^ Kruszelnicki, Karl. `` Fake Flies and Cheating Cheetahs '', Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1999, retrieved November 27, 2007. Jump up ^ Rinehart, Janet. ( 1 ), Iowa Quarter Horse Racing Association, retrieved November 27, 2007. ^ Jump up to : American Museum of Natural History. `` Speed of Animals '', Infoplease.com, retrieved November 27, 2007. Stipp, David ( 4 June 2012 ). `` All men ca n't jump ''. Slate. Retrieved 7 September 2012. Resnick, Brian. `` The animal kingdom 's top marathoners ''. Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 7 September 2012. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Footspeed&oldid=844765993 '' Categories : Athletics ( track and field ) terminology Running Velocity Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from September 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Hrvatski Edit links This page was last edited on 7 June 2018, at 01 : 09 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how fast can a human run in km/h
Answer: 44.72 km/h