Here’s a question for you. What is the fastest animal on the planet?
Interestingly, the answer isn’t a cheetah, a bird or even a quick silver fish. It is in fact (according to the humourist Dave Barry) a cow…..that has been dropped out of a helicopter!
In the animal world where survival is everything there is no substitute for pace and the same could be said of the Premier League, at least, that’s what most managers and TV pundits will tell you.
So, who has the quickest feet in the EPL? The best pick-up and the fastest flat-out speed?
It perhaps shouldn’t come as too much of a suprise to learn that the man in question is Arsenal and England star Theo Walcott.
Theo Walcott on the blocks in a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor IV football boots.
Using data captured over the last two seasons, Castrol have calculated the top speeds of every Premier League player and Walcott came out on top reaching 22.72 mph.
And taking a shock second place, and proving that there’s life in the old dog yet, was Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell who recorded a hugely impressive 22.50mph top speed.
Two big-name strikers came home in joint third place with Chelsea and Ivory Coast front man Didier Drogba reaching 22.27mph, the same as Liverpool and Spain forward Fernando Torres.
Not too shabby in the pace stakes - Chelsea’s Didier Drogba
The results also mean that Nike have three of the fastest players out of the top four with Walcott, Drogba and Torres all in the American brand’s footwear.
Football’s fliers hit incredible speeds and Walcott’s bursts mean he would run 9.9secs for 100m - if he could sustain his top speed of 10.1m per second. To put that in context, using data from the recent 100m final at the World Championships in Berlin, Walcott would have finished fourth behind Asaf Powell, Tyson Gay and the sprint sensation that is Usain Bolt. Bolt won the race in a new world record of 9.58 seconds.
Campbell’s top speed could see him run 10.1secs for 100m - just a tenth of a second slower than Brit Dwain Chambers who reached the final in Berlin where he finished sixth.
(Just to satisfy your curiosity, the fastest animal on earth is the Peregrine Falcon which can dive at speeds of 200mph).
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August 24th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Wonder how fast ronaldo is?!?!
August 24th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
If torres wore vapors do you think he would be a tiny bit faster den drogba?
August 24th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Sol Campbell second? very supriesing!!
August 24th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
i dont believe the boots make you quicker it dont make a diffrents i just like what they look like not what there ment to do. for example it is ment to give you more power or more accuracy it is realy the player not the boot
August 24th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Lennon?
August 24th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
i know but the lightness and blade positioning should make some difference
August 24th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
In conjuction to Paul Smith, I believe that the boots DO infact have little to play on the players speed. The grip been the only subject there that will have something to play, so in theory paul, your wrong
August 24th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Just to settle my curiosity, it did say if he could sustain his top speed he would run a 9.9, Olympic sprinters do at some point have to start off at 0 and reach their top speed in less than 10 seconds, are they taking into account his acceleration from a dead stop?
August 24th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
The blades would make a difference but Torres uses an Intertract sole plate which is from previous version vapors. and you’ll notice vapor stud configs have not changed much
August 24th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Sol Campbell wears Adidas Copas. It’s the player, not the boot.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
derek: no they are not, walcott probably could just about run sub 10 because his muscles are not worked enough soley on sprinting so the article is bending the truth a bit.
All of you who think the Nike Superflys make a difference are wrong. they dont. However Puma V1.08s may enhance a players speed slightly due to the shape that they are, they are the same shape as a sprinting spike whereas superflys arent! obviously the fact that they are very light will have an impact but the V1.08s are the “faster” boot.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
oh and in a 100 metre race i dont think sol would come second because it is his stride that gets him top speed but someone like lennon or defoe will accelerate much quicker and still run very fast so again i think this article is a bit misleading, the only way to tell who is the fastest player is by timing them.
Liverpool fan: ROnaldo wont be that fast because of his running style, he does not run properly so if he learnt how to run well then he would be very fast over 100metres but at the moment he wont be but his acceleration is good.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
The data means nothing really. Ok, Sol Campbell is fast but as others have said, thats his top speed. Thats no use if it takes you twice aslong to get to that speed than other players. He might be faster at the top end than Torres but Fernando would whip him on the pitch racing for a ball.
I’d also say that boots make a slight difference…very slight.
August 25th, 2009 at 3:23 am
yeah, i agree. i was looking to lennon in the top 5.
August 25th, 2009 at 6:36 am
ahh that’s a very good point. alas, we are left but wondering the answer to your excellent question lol
August 25th, 2009 at 6:57 am
i thought anelka was the fastest?
August 25th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
@ hugh… Ronaldo has been taking lessons from usain bolt on how to run properly
August 25th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Lennon would beat them all in a race . . . His stride length for his height, matched with his stride frequency, gives him incredible acceleration. Not sure about his top speed, but in football, top speed doesn’t matter; how often do you run 100m in the game?
The 40m dash is more applicable, and you’d be hard pressed to find someone capable of beating Aaron Lennon over that distance.
August 25th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
ahahahahah Hugh you love Puma thats the slightly difference
August 25th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Agbonglhor? (not sure if spelled right)
Lennon? Ronaldo?
But by the way the walcott thing is crazy that he would finish fourth in the berlin thing
August 26th, 2009 at 12:57 am
What about Dimitar Berbatov??
August 26th, 2009 at 2:02 am
that would be sick…torres would be faster.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:41 am
they do a little bit… but not much
August 26th, 2009 at 4:46 am
This is absolutely fascinating that so many experts of speed use the same forum to post on. Please tell me more, all of you, on which boot is the fastest, or who is the fastest, since it’s apparent that you all know for a fact. The fact is, Gary Neville is the fastest man in the UNIVERSE because he wears a mustache and his nose is long. I mean, his running style and fashion sense make all the difference in the world… I marvel in brilliance of all of you, experts.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
id imagine either some lanky defender or agbonglahor (sp?) would be the quickest over 100.
but as someone said 100 meters times dont really mean anything in football.
i would have thought walcott would run the 100 in a time around 11 secs. just cause he isnt trained to run
September 10th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Walcott would NEVER run under 11secs no footballer could. It takes the likes of bolt and gay a lifetime to become as fast over the distance as they are! A footballer would tie up and not be able to hold their top speed! Even if they reached it!
September 11th, 2009 at 6:37 am
this is stupid there talking about FRAIZER CAMPBELL
September 13th, 2009 at 12:32 am
This Is Really Interesting I would have thought ronaldo is the fastest but clearly not well he cant be now hes at madrid and the last comment i read it said we were talking about fraizer campbell its not its sol and to put this arguement to bed ryan had the best comment sol campbell wears copas its clearly the players ability bot the boots.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
bit misleading calculations I think. Walcott can’t run 9.9 secs for 100m even if he can sustain 10.1m/s top speed, unless he can accelerate to it in no time at all.
The top sprinters will run in excess of 25mph going full pelt - Bolt above 27mph if I recall correctly.