Not quite as fast as the speed of light (Image: Seiko Press Service / Getty)
Last year, Usain Bolt stunned athletics fans when he hacked 0.11 seconds off his previous world record for the 100-metre sprint. But what’s the ultimate human speed limit?
Intrigued by this question, Mark Denny at Stanford University, California, decided to work out how fast a human could possibly sprint 100 metres. He examined previous records for various athletics competitions – and greyhound and horse races for good measure – since the 1920s, and found that performances in many events followed a similar pattern, improving steadily…
