Speed has been something that has always fascinated all of us. Be it fastest runners, cyclists, cars, rockets, or any man made object. In this post, I want to explore the extreme limits of speed we have been able to achieve:
Maximum human sprint speed is strikingly slower compared to other land animals. To give you some perspective check out the maximum speed of some of the speedstars among mammals:
[Note: The progression of motorbiking records are at the end of this post]
[Note: The progression of car records are at the end of this post]
There are however, other faster speeds recorded, the notable being the following:
This list is not complete and will evolve over the years. If you have reference of information that may improve this post. Please let me know via email or comments below.
Fastest Running Speed
Earlier, I had explored the limits of human endurance but this one is all about speed. When we look at speed we have to fix a distance so we can compare. The fastest Olympic category is 100 meters, whereas in Football (American as well as European) it's measured with respect to section of the fields crossed.100 m Athletics
The fastest human running speed ever recorded is 44.72 km/h (27.8 mph), measured between 60 and 80 meter of the 100 meters sprint of the World Championship in Berlin on 16 August 2009 by Usain Bolt. (Bolt's average speed over the course of this race was 37.58 km/h or 23.35 mph.)Maximum human sprint speed is strikingly slower compared to other land animals. To give you some perspective check out the maximum speed of some of the speedstars among mammals:
- cheetahs speed well over 100 km/h (62 mph),
- American quarter horse has topped 88 km/h (55 mph),
- greyhounds can reach 70 km/h (43 mph),
- Mongolian wild ass has been measured at 64 km/h (40 mph).
- Even the domestic cat may reach 48 km/h (30 mph)
American Football
- John Ross ran a 4.22 second 40 yard dash at the 2017 NFL combine.
- The previous record of 4.24 set by Chris Johnson at the 2008 combine.
Football or Soccer
- Gareth Bale is the fastest , reaching 36.9 km/h
- Orlando Berrio – 36 km/h
- Jurgen Damm – 35.2 km/h
- Antonio Valencia – 35.1 km/h
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 34.6 km/h
- Aaron Lennon – 33.8 km/h
- Cristiano Ronaldo – 33.6 km/h
- Theo Walcott – 32.7 km/h
- Lionel Messi – 32.5 km/h
- Wayne Rooney – 31.2 km/h
Fastest Cycling/Biking Speed
Now, the time is to ramp it up. Cycling speeds can go higher than 200 km/h, infact the world record speed is clocked at 334.6 km/h (207 mph) by Bruce Bursford, which he reached on a pedaling treadmill (after being towed to a starting speed of 100 mph). The flat surfaced record has been recently set by Denise Mueller-Korenek on 16th September 2018 where he reached maximum speed of 296 km/h (183.93 mph).Fastest motorbike speed recorded
This is where we enter into the realm of machine assisted or motorized speeds. And the record for the fastest motorcylce speed is with Rocky Robinson, of 605.7 km/h (376.36 mph) which he reached in 2010 shattering the 600 km/h barrier with the Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner motorbike.[Note: The progression of motorbiking records are at the end of this post]
Fastest Car speed recorded
Have you watched Formula 1 cars racing at speeds over 300 km/h? Have you wondered about what the fastest speed attained by a car is? It is 447.19 km/h (277.87 mph) attained in 2017 by Koenigsegg Agera RS with its 5000 cm³ twin-turbo V8 1341 bhp engine.[Note: The progression of car records are at the end of this post]
Fastest Train/Rail speed recorded
I am sure you have heard or experienced bullet trains which can attain speeds above 300 km/h. The world record speed is almost double that, at 603 km/h (375 mph) set by Yamanashi Test Track (L0 Series) trains in Japan. In fact as you'll see most names in the fastest train list (at the bottom of this post) are from Japan with only the French superfast one's coming close.Fastest Airplane speed record
The fastest airplane speed record, which has stayed intact since 1976, was set by then-Capt. Eldon W. Joersz (P) and then-Maj. George T. Morgan Jr. (RSO) where they reached speeds of 3529.6 km/h (2193.2 mph) with the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird#61-7958 (US).There are however, other faster speeds recorded, the notable being the following:
| Date | Pilot | Speed | Model |
| 2010 | Unmanned | 21245 km/h (13201 mph) | HTV-2 Falcon |
| 1981 | Joe H. Engle | 28000 km/h (17500 mph) | Space Shuttle Columbia |
Finale: Fastest speed recorded by any manmade object
Now as the finale let us look at the fastest man made object ever made. This record will soon be with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe which in the years ahead will reach speeds of 692018 km/h (430,000 mph) as it passes across the edge of the sun.
Parker Solar Probe will break the current record held by Helios 2, which had reached 391070.6 km/h (253000 mph) in an trip around Sun in 1976. Below is the list of the current top 10 fastest man-made objects:
| Object | Speed |
| Helios 2 | 252792.5 km/h (157078 mph) |
| Helios 1 | 228526.85 km/h (142000 mph) |
| Voyager 1 | 62136.77 km/h (38610 mph) |
| New Horizons | 58536.67 km/h (36373 mph) |
| Stardust | 46439.23 km/h (28856 mph) |
| Apollo 10 Capsule | 39897.25 km/h (24791 mph) |
| Discovery Space Shuttle | 28002.59 km/h (17400 mph) |
| Space Shuttle Columbia | 27358.85 km/h (17000 mph) |
| NASA X-43 A | 11265 km/h (7000 mph) |
| Rocket Sled | 10385 km/h (6453 mph) |
Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali Ahead!!
List of speed records over the years
Fastest bike speed records across the years
| Date | Rider | Make | Engine displacement cc (cu in) | Speed |
| 1978 | Don Vesco | Lightning Bolt streamliner | 2,030 cc (124 cu in) | 509.76 km/h (318.6 mph) |
| 1990 | Dave Campos | Easyriders streamliner | 3,000 cc (180 cu in) | 518.45 km/h (322.15 mph) |
| 2006 | Rocky Robinson | Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner | 2,600 cc (160 cu in) | 551.7 km/h (342.8 mph) |
| 2006 | Chris Carr | BUB Seven streamliner | 2,997 cc (182.9 cu in) | 564.69 km/h (350.88 mph) |
| 2008 | Rocky Robinson | Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner | 2,600 cc (160 cu in) | 580.83 km/h (360.91 mph) |
| 2009 | Chris Carr | BUB Seven streamliner | 2,997 cc (182.9 cu in) | 591 km/h (367.38 mph) |
| 2010 | Rocky Robinson | Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner | 2,600 cc (160 cu in) | 605.7 km/h (376.36 mph) |
Fastest Car records in the recent years
| Date | Car Model | Speed | Engine |
| 1986 | Porsche 959 | 319 km/h (198 mph) | 2849 cm³ twin-turbo flat-6 444 bhp |
| 1987 | Ruf CTR | 342 km/h (213 mph) | 3367 cm³ twin-turbo flat-6 469 bhp |
| 1993 | McLaren F1 | 355 km/h (221 mph) | 6064 cm³ V12 618 bhp |
| 2004 | Koenigsegg CCR | 387.87 km/h (241.01 mph) | 4700 cm³ twin-supercharged V8 806bhp |
| 2005 | Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 | 408.47 km/h (253.81 mph) | 7993 cm³ quad-turbo W16 987 bhp |
| 2007 | SSC Ultimate Aero TT | 412.28 km/h (256.18 mph) | 6345 cm³ supercharged V8 1183 bhp |
| 2010 | Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport | 415 km/h (258 mph) | 7993 cm³ quad-turbo W16 1183 bhp |
| 2017 | Koenigsegg Agera RS | 447.19 km/h (277.87 mph) | 5000 cm³ twin-turbo V8 1341 bhp |
Fastest Train/Rail speed recorded
| Date | Speed | Line | Country | Train | Power |
| 2015 | 603 km/h (375 mph) | Yamanashi Test Track | Japan | L0 Series | AC (Maglev) |
| 2015 | 590 km/h (367 mph) | Yamanashi Test Track | Japan | L0 Series | AC (Maglev) |
| 2003 | 581 km/h (361 mph) | Yamanashi Test Track | Japan | MLX01 | AC (Maglev) |
| 2007 | 574.8 km/h (357 mph) | LGV Est | France | SNCF TGV POS Set No. 4402 | AC |
| 1999 | 552 km/h (343 mph) | Yamanashi Test Track | Japan | MLX01 | AC (Maglev) |
| 1997 | 550 km/h (342 mph) | Yamanashi Test Track | Japan | MLX01 | AC (Maglev) |
| 1979 | 517 km/h (321 mph) | Miyazaki Test Track | Japan | ML-500R | AC (Maglev) |
2 comments:
Great compilation of fastest speed recorded by mankind :)
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Sachin. Great appreciate your comment. Very encouraging for me. :)
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