Iran Has a Sub 10 Seconds 100m Man on Their Soccer Team

A bloke from my town's professional soccer team always was claimed to be capable of a 4min mile.

My coach took the team for a couple of running sessions.

Afterwards one of the team said to my coach something along the lines of "I bet your athletes wouldn't do that session would they."

My coach said: "No. They'd do more, with less rest and do it faster. Most of them are 17."

He very much doubted the guy would run 5min for a mile.

But on the terraces he was known as the guy who could run 4min for a mile.

My friend is the running-back for our school and he runs a 10.5 sec on the 100, so I can believe 10 sec.

A large number of elite soccer players can go sub-11. It's perhaps an interesting factoid about a player who's not otherwise that accomplished but it's certainly nothing extraordinary. A fellow named Peter Lovenkrands who plays for Glasgow Rangers has been said to be good for 10.5. He's a tall skinny guy, definitely does not look like a track athlete. And why would he? He isn't one. Could he have broken 10 if he had switched to sprinting in his teens and built up the physique and technique for it? Not impossible.

But look at it this way: If a striker can gain two meters on a defender in a 30-meter sprint during a soccer match, that's a huge advantage. So obviously if world-class soccer players were as slow as some of you think, there would be hundreds of good sprinters (10.2-10.4) crossing over to this way more lucrative sport. They wouldn't have to have control like Ronaldinho, just learn how to shoot properly at full speed.

But that doesn't happen because plenty of soccer players are very fast. I don't believe the sub-10 story for a second (unless it's in yards) but there are probably some who run 10.3 or under.

Highland Terrier wrote:

A large number of elite soccer players can go sub-11.

...but there are probably some who run 10.3 or under.

Not a snowball's chance in hell. Dennis Rommedahl was touted as being capable of 10.2. When asked about it, he said he might be capable of 11.5. The fastest I ever heard of was Malcolm MacDonald who did 10.8 in a Superstars' competition. You might get one or two guys to run about 10.6, but that's about it. Soccer training doesn't lend itself to blinding speed.

Where do you get 15 flat 5k speed from a 12 flat two mile? I dream of breaking 15 flat someday but I was able to gut my way through a 12 flat two mile off of zero specific training during high school. I had just been playing soccer with my team all summer. On the first day of high school preseason camp we did the Cooper. 1/3 of us managed two miles. By the end of the season only the keepers couldn't do it.

When I was playing soccer I ran 11.8 FAT. At better tournaments, while I was playing either on the wing or up top, there were always defenders who could match me step for step. DEFENDERS, not strikers. Everyone on my team raced against each other in sprints once per week and I was about the fifth fastest. We weren't timed, but low 11s seems plausible. These were 16 year olds.

As far as the "only 7 miles in 90 minutes" argument goes, I suggest you try playing soccer. It's basically a 90 minute sprint workout with jogging recoveries. Actually, it's harder than that because you're not sprinting in straight lines. Also, if you've never been a sprinter you might not realize this, but running at 100% is so much harder than running at 95%. Soccer players cover a lot of distance at 100% and that can trash you. Also, you're changing directions constantly, you're crouching low on defense. It's utterly exhausting. After taking a few years off from soccer and developing into something of a distance runner (2:58 26.2) I joined an amateur team last year. I thought that all of the running I'd done would make me so fit for soccer. Actually, I was sucking wind the entire time and I couldn't walk up or down stairs normally for a week.

I should also mention that although running a fast 5k is not what soccer fitness is about, I've seen plenty of respectable distance efforts from soccer players. My brother was a 4 year starter in college but his speed and endurance were considered his achilles heel. His body fat (tested in a tank at a lab) was 4% and he ran the mile a year earlier in 4:50. I also know of an oft injured, 35 year old minor league pro who broke 3 hours in the marathon. A kid that I played amateur ball with ran 48-49 in the 400 (probably the best distance for soccer players). Another teamate of mine debuted in the 800 at 2:02...DEBUTED!

What I'm trying to say is that it's easy to get a little high on our own running abilities. Granted, the average jogger is in awe of how fast a real competitor can run. However, there are plenty of guys out there who can and do run respectable times off of a combination of talent and moderate cross-training volume.

Well, that's nice, he still can't outrun a cruise missle from the good ol' US of A.

This thread is so stupid and pointless...thank you again wejo for starting another useless thread!!

actually i thought it was pretty interesting...better than some other threads

T henry runs 47 on 400m

oh, and morocco has some 3:43 milers --- all DOPED UP WITH EPO.

Dear,

Sallam Alaikoum (Peace on you),

First off all I am sorry to tell you that a large portion of the bad ideas you have about the Middle East and Muslim people is due to the bad publicity in the West and your incomplete knowledge of that part of the world(ME).

Related to this topic, I to doubt the Iranian player claim. Based on the following, Iam a Lebanese soccer player and I played against him from what I have seen from him on the field he is at my speed. Am the fastest in my country at best I was able to score 10.42 after a summer camp.

I know a lot of fast soccer layers mostly not highly rated that are fast and can run at less than 10.6 but I doubt that a known soccer player was able to run less than 10.3 in the last 10 years.

Pherekydes wrote:

Dennis Rommedahl was touted as being capable of 10.2. When asked about it, he said he might be capable of 11.5.

The official Danish 100m record is 10.29. Pretty sure neither Rommdahl nor Lovenkrands are within half a second of it.

(Why, of all people, do Danish players become the subject of these rumors? I remember a report saying that the fastest man in Denmark's Euro 2004 squad was Martin Laursen, a tall center back.)

Ka BOOOM wrote:

Well, that's nice, he still can't outrun a cruise missle from the good ol' US of A.

Ah, so THAT's the American excuse for being fat and lazy. You'll never have to outrun an enemy? Makes sense. Off to Dunkin Donuts again.

Doubtful. I coach JO track and every season I get kids who play elite soccer who supposedly can run.

Bottom line, next to basketball, I've never seen such out of shape (for running, sprints or distance) kids than the soccer crowd.

Come on guys

I am persian, Iam 99% sure I am faster than all the players in my soccer team and I run a 10.9. No soccer player runs under 10.5.

I think roberto carlos can run a 10.6 and he is the fastest.

Don't insult maurice green with saying things like iranian soccer player runs sub 10.

Thank u

hello, today i am comparing apples and pears.

theo walcott 10.30

dennis rommedahl 10.20

ryo miyaichi who is probalby unknown to people following football, 10.84, at least he was to me before he went to arsenal and i follow football a lot.

at least you were right with the 10.6 from carlos

there are so many players turning down sprinting careers so please cut your rumour based talk.

How many times will I read a thread without checking the dates? Dimmit.

Sia wrote:

Come on guys

I am persian, Iam 99% sure I am faster than all the players in my soccer team and I run a 10.9. No soccer player runs under 10.5.

I think roberto carlos can run a 10.6 and he is the fastest.

Don't insult maurice green with saying things like iranian soccer player runs sub 10.

Thank u

No soccer player runs under 10.5? Bullshit. 10.5 is not as fast as you think. It's fast, but not that fast. There are some really quick high school forwards just in the U.S. that can run in the 10.6-10.7 range.

I'm willing to bet 10.5-10.7 is pretty average for a professional forward. Some of the really fast ones can probably run 10.2-10.3. Sub-10.. well, probably not.

Another reason why Espn is a piece of crap network. Fvck those morons and Fvck the stupid sport of soccer. Yay look at me I play soccer yeah your real real cool you fvcking turd brain.