Could a domestic cat outrun Bolt on 100 meters?

My cat has instant full speed on demand . Mr Whiskers could sprint 20 meters , stop , lick his paws , and do this 5 times and beat Bolt by 20 meters.

This Cat would lose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fVvfEPWk8M

100 Metres Final wrote:

So 100 Metres in the all species Olympics

Lane 1: Squirrel

Lane 2: Domestic Cat

Lane 3: Horse

Lane 4: Bolt

Lane 5: Meerkat

Lane 6: Hippo

Lane 7: Wolf

Lane 8: Rabbit

Who wins?

First place to jackrabbit (although not technically a rabbit, but close enough)

Second place to domestic cat

Answering OP - Fit, healthy, young adult domestic cat DESTROYS Bolt in 100 m.

That cat would destroy Bolt in the shuttle run at the all-ground-species combine.

According to this article, greyhounds have run approximately twice as fast as humans at every event from 100m through 10000m, while a team of dogs pulled a sled over the marathon distance in 1:31.

100m 5.02 s

200m 10.3

400m 21

800m 50 (first indication of slowdown)

1500 1:41

5000 6:19

10000 13:09

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201207/dogs-versus-humans-in-the-olympic-games#:~:text=The%20world%20record%20high%20jump,Sotomayor%20in%20the%20high%20jump

.

I timed my cat over 100m the other year.

8 seconds

So yes, a cat - or at least my cat (part bengal part moggy) - would beat Bolt

SS Entershikari wrote:

I timed my cat over 100m the other year.

8 seconds

So yes, a cat - or at least my cat (part bengal part moggy) - would beat Bolt

This is interesting. How did you get your cat running for 100m nonstop - and in the right direction!?! ?

- empele10

I used to have farm with a track where I would gallop racehorses. There was a feral cat that lived near the farm who was often hunting for mice in the field next to the track. Several times through the years he would bolt onto the track and blast the length of the backstretch ahead of a fairly fast moving horse. Bolt would not have a chance.

I later caught the cat and he lived to be around 19. Oddly he could catch a rabbit but he couldn't or wouldn't jump out of a horse stall with a door only about four feet high.

Cats are like that. they wont jump over anything they can't see on the otherside

No HR Dept wrote:

Cats are like that. they wont jump over anything they can't see on the otherside

He only needed to jump up onto it. All the other cats didn't hesitate.

A regular house cat would destroy Bolt over 100m. I know this because believe it or not, I was chased by an insane tuxedo cat at my local high school on the track. It was sitting under some bleachers when I was running around the track. On one of my laps, it bolted out from about 40 meters away. For the hell of it, I went into a dead out sprint. It caught me in like 4 seconds. It ran right up to me hissed, then ran away. It’s speed was crazy. For reference, I ran 10.64 in college

This old thread was never settled, even after I mooted the question since humans can throw spears at animals and don't have to outrun them. The best spear throwers can easily kill cats before they even sense danger.

But it's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of animals aren't faster than humans. You can outrun an ant, a spider, an earthworm, a slug, a snail, a centipede, a caterpillar, and even a lot of flying things like mosquitos. Very few snakes can keep up, mostly not lizards (stay away from crocs though) rats and mice are quick but lack top speed. So does the squirrel that fat cat couldn't catch. You can catch leprosy from an armadillo, but an armadillo can't catch you. We're pretty fast!

zxczxcv wrote:

According to this article, greyhounds have run approximately twice as fast as humans at every event from 100m through 10000m, while a team of dogs pulled a sled over the marathon distance in 1:31.

100m 5.02 s

....

I suspect that's incorrect (as are the others in the list, I'm sure). Nat Geo have a thing where a cheetah ran 5.95 seconds and that's the WR for a cheetah. There is no way a greyhound even beats it, let alone by a full second. That's about 15-20m. Ain't happening.

That's the fastest time for a zoo cheetah with no real ambition to run flat out.

11 is also ancient.

No doubt the Greyhound time is more accurate and a Cheetah is capable of under 5.

100 Metres Final wrote:

So 100 Metres in the all species Olympics

Lane 1: Squirrel

Lane 2: Domestic Cat

Lane 3: Horse

Lane 4: Bolt

Lane 5: Meerkat

Lane 6: Hippo

Lane 7: Wolf

Lane 8: Rabbit

Who wins?

I would love to see this.

Metoo wrote:

The top speed of a domestic cat is slightly over 30 mph. Bolt hit 27.78. So could a cat outrun him or is there an issue with cat endurance?

The cat could probably maintain that speed over 100 meters easily due to its light weight.

I don't know if Bolts myostatin deficiency would be enough to make up for the cats light weight factor.

wtfunny wrote:

zxczxcv wrote:

According to this article, greyhounds have run approximately twice as fast as humans at every event from 100m through 10000m, while a team of dogs pulled a sled over the marathon distance in 1:31.

100m 5.02 s

....

I suspect that's incorrect (as are the others in the list, I'm sure). Nat Geo have a thing where a cheetah ran 5.95 seconds and that's the WR for a cheetah. There is no way a greyhound even beats it, let alone by a full second. That's about 15-20m. Ain't happening.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/8/120802-cheetah-sarah-cincinnati-zoo-fastest-record-science-usain-bolt-olympics/

The cheetah also has some varying degree of myostatin deficiency enabling it to build a crazy power to weight ratio.

I wonder what a cheetah could do if there was a way somehow to get it to somehow be able to lift weights through some sort of device. Or maybe have it wear a weighted vest and run on a treadmill on an incline or something like that.

There's got to be a way to take that natural 80mph speed and get it up over 120mph through weight training.

Dude! Cats and other animals going fast has nothing to do with light weight or myostatin. Are cheetahs crazy muscular? No more so than most wild predators, and much skinnier.

Here's the deal with fast animals: aerodynamics. A cheetah is built like a spear and slices into the wind. It's also low to the ground so air doesn't get under it. Nothing slows it down except having to keep moving its feet backwards at 60mph, which doesn't take that much effort - a baseball pitcher can move his hand 100mph.

It makes you realise that almost all animals are built to be sprinters.