Super Speed

Supersonic running, reaction

Reality checkNo case exceeding physiological limits; the human limit is Bolt’s 44.72 km/h; the ACTN3 ‘speed gene’ is real.

Bolt’s 9.58 s in Berlin

📜 On record

IAAF · world record · Germany, Berlin · 2009

100 m in 9.58 s, peaking at 44.72 km/h — the fastest recorded human speed.

VerdictA measurement of the human speed ceiling.

🎓 Academic research

Univ of Sydney / Institute for Neuromuscular Research, Yang et al. (AJHG 2003) · Australia · 2003

Almost no elite sprinter carries the ACTN3 double-null genotype, which is ~18% of the general population.

Verdict‘Born fast’ has a genetic basis.

📜 On record

Guinness ‘fastest gun’ · USA · 1960s–2012

Draw-and-fire timed at ~0.02 s, too fast for the eye to follow.

VerdictExtreme reaction and muscle memory, not a superpower.