Can A Human Beat A Cheetah In A Race?

Cheetahs are the fastest land animals on Earth, capable of reaching speeds over 60 mph. With their lean bodies, large lungs, and powerful hind legs adapted for sprinting, cheetahs seem built to outrun any human competitor.

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: Generally, no. The average human cannot beat a cheetah in a sprint due to the cheetah’s biological adaptations that enable explosive acceleration and speed.

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at cheetah versus human anatomy and physiology to understand why humans cannot match the cheetah’s blinding speed over short distances. We’ll also consider exceptions and special circumstances where a select few elite human runners have come close to, but not quite bested, the cheetah’s max sprint.

Cheetah’s Specialized Design and Running Style

Lightweight Skeleton and Musculature

The cheetah has a lightweight skeleton and slender, aerodynamic body that is perfect for running at high speeds. Their small, rounded heads and flexible spines assist with balance and agility. Cheetahs also have less muscle mass than other big cats, with longer hind legs and a larger heart and lungs to enable rapid sprinting.

The cheetah’s light build accounts for only about 40-50% of their total body weight, compared to 60-70% for a lion.

Flexible Spine

A cheetah’s flexible spine functions like a springy coil to give their strides extra bounce and range of motion. Coupled with their muscular hind legs and aerodynamic physique, the bendable spine generates powerful acceleration and gives the cheetah unmatched agility in swiftly changing direction during high-velocity chases.

Large Heart and Lungs

To enable their incredible speed, cheetahs have evolved disproportionately large hearts and lungs compared to other big cats. Their hearts make up about 1% of their total body weight – more than double a typical feline’s proportional heart size.

Extra-large lungs and powerful heartbeats rapidly circulate oxygenated blood to the cheetah’s running muscles.

Elongated Limbs and Feet

Cheetahs have slender, elongated front and hind limbs that make their strides far-reaching. Their legs work with the flexible spine to generate impressive acceleration. The cheetah’s feet have only the ends of the toes touching the ground, giving them better traction at high speeds.

The hind legs and feet are shorter than the front, aiding maneuverability.

Curved Claws and Traction Pads

Cheetahs have blunt, semi-retractable claws which grip the ground like cleats to prevent slipping during sprints. Unlike other cats, they also have hard traction pads on their paws instead of soft pads.

Combined with their claw grip, this gives cheetahs great traction with the ground when running nearly 60 mph.

Sprinting in Bursts

A cheetah’s body allows it to accelerate rapidly, but only in very quick bursts. They have stamina for a max sprint of around 200-300 meters to catch prey, not for long distances. Since cheetahs have only 1/3 the muscle mass of lions, they must rest in between bursts.

So while unmatched in acceleration and agility, cheetahs lack endurance compared to other predators.

Limits of Human Running Speed and Endurance

Upright Stature

Humans are unique among mammals in having an upright, bipedal posture. This allows us to be very efficient walkers and distance runners, but limits our top sprinting speed. Our center of gravity is high up in the torso, rather than low down over quadrupedal limbs.

This gives us less stability and power when accelerating quickly from a standstill position.

Less Powerful Hind Limbs

Related to our upright posture, humans have proportionally smaller and weaker gluteal muscles compared to quadrupeds. Our glutes provide the explosive power needed for rapid acceleration when starting a sprint from a still position.

Most mammals have larger and more powerful rear legs relative to their body size, enabling them to spring forward rapidly.

Smaller Lung Capacity

Additionally, the size of our lungs and heart are limited by our upright stance. Four-legged mammals tend to have larger lungs and a bigger circulatory system to service active locomotor muscles. For example, horses have a lung capacity around 15 liters compared to human lungs that are around 6 liters.

More lung capacity means animals can take in and circulate more oxygen during sprinting activities.

Inefficient Sweating

Humans also lack the efficient cooling mechanisms that many mammals possess due to less body surface area covered in fur. We rely heavily on sweating to cool ourselves, which is not ideal for speedy sprints over short distances.

The loss of electrolytes and body fluids that occurs with sweating can quickly cause muscles to fatigue when doing intense physical exertion unless those fluids are replaced.

Endurance as Advantage over Short Distances

While humans are limited in short burst activities like sprinting compared to four-legged mammals, we excel in endurance activities. Our upright posture, longer Achilles tendons, and improved thermoregulation give us advantages in walking and running long distances.

However, a cheetah would still easily outpace a human over short distances less than half a mile. Their flexible spine, larger lungs, and muscular hind limbs are perfectly adapted for rapid acceleration and speed.

Head-to-Head: Elite Human Sprinters vs. Cheetahs

Usain Bolt vs. Sarah the Cheetah

When it comes to sprinting speed, few living creatures can rival the cheetah. With a recorded top speed of 75 mph, cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animals. But how would the world’s speediest human, Usain Bolt, stack up against these big cats in a race? Let’s compare the G.O.A.T.

sprinter to Sarah the cheetah.

At his peak, Usain Bolt set a world record in the 100m sprint at 9.58 seconds. This translates to an average speed of 23.35 mph. Impressive for a human, but that wouldn’t stand a chance against Sarah, who can sustain speeds over triple Bolt’s top pace.

Even the fastest human runners only reach speeds around 27-28 mph momentarily during a sprint. Cheetahs like Sarah can maintain over 60 mph for much longer durations.

In a 100m dash, Sarah would blaze past Bolt within seconds. There’s simply no contest when it comes to continuous speed. However, some key advantages Usain does have are his rapid acceleration off the blocks and ability to reach top speed within seconds.

But despite Bolt’s quick start, he wouldn’t stand a chance of keeping up with Sarah once she hit her stride.

Overview of Human World Records

When analyzing the limits of human running speed, the 100m world records provide useful insights. Let’s look at some of the key numbers.

• Men’s 100m world record holder: Usain Bolt – 9.58 sec
• Women’s 100m world record holder: Florence Griffith Joyner – 10.49 sec
• The men’s record averages out to 23.35 mph over 100m.
• The women’s record averages out to 21.34 mph over 100m.
• No human has officially broken the 27 mph barrier, even momentarily during a sprint.

The evidence shows that the fastest humans max out around 23-27 mph momentarily during all-out sprints. But no runner can sustain speeds over 27 mph for more than a few strides. So while humans hold the advantage in acceleration, top-end speed is no match for cheetahs.

Other Elite Sprinters Falling Just Short of Cheetah Speed

Though Usain Bolt stands alone as the fastest human ever timed, many other elite sprinters have come close to hitting the limits of human speed.

As the data shows, even the world’s next fastest sprinters fall well short of cheetah levels of speed. The closest humans can come is around 23 mph maintained for 9-10 seconds during an all-out 100m dash.

But cheetahs like Sarah can run over 60 mph for significantly longer durations up to a minute at a time during a chase. So while humans may hold the edge in acceleration, cheetahs dominate in the most important metric for speed: top end sustained velocity.

When Humans Have the Home Field Advantage

Downhill Running

As elite and athletic as cheetahs are, humans do have a few key advantages in certain scenarios. One is downhill running. Due to our harder feet and ability to lean forward and “fall safely”, humans can gain speed much faster than cheetahs on a steep downhill slope. Researchers have found that a 150-pound human can hit 28 mph on a steep 15% grade, whereas a cheetah tops out at around 60 mph on flat ground.

So on the right downhill terrain, humans can close the speed gap. This has been demonstrated in mountain running races like the Pike’s Peak Marathon, where elite runners have topped 40 mph on the descent. Of course cheetahs don’t have the benefit of training specifically for downhill running.

With Mechanized Assistance

Another advantage humans have is our intelligence and use of technology. While cheetahs obviously have only their natural abilities, humans can use mechanized assistance like motorcycles, race cars, and even jetpacks to reach much faster speeds. In recent years, jetpack racing has emerged as an extreme sport, with top speeds over 50 mph.

And competitive motorcyclists routinely hit 200+ mph on specially designed courses. So with the boost of machines, the fastest humans can outpace even the world’s quickest land animal. However, one could argue this goes against the spirit of a “man vs beast” type competition.

In Cooler Temperatures

An environmental factor that favors humans is cooler race conditions. Because cheetahs have difficulty cooling themselves and can overheat quickly, their top speed declines significantly when air temperatures rise. According to a 2018 study, cheetahs begin overheating at an ambient temperature of 86° F. In contrast, elite human runners routinely compete at high levels in summer heat, albeit not always at their peak potential.

So in a 50 meter dash at temps below 80° F, a world-class sprinter just might have a chance, if the cheetah happened to be “off its game” that day.

Conclusion

While no human can match the cheetah’s top speed over short distances on flat ground, elite human sprinters have come close to the cheetah’s record. Under specific conditions such as cooler weather or downhill slopes, a select few Olympian runners could potentially outpace a cheetah over a very short sprint.

But the cheetah’s evolutionary adaptations, including a flexible spine, enlarged heart and lungs, and blunt claws for traction, give this big cat a decisive advantage for acceleration and speed over the majority of terrain.

The cheetah’s slender, aerodynamic build may be specialized for speed, but the human physique evolved for remarkable endurance. Over middle to long distances, the tables turn, and we leave the panting cheetah in our dust.

So while you’ll never outrun a cheetah on the savanna, with proper training, you could outlast one.