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Manchester United fan Bolt hit a top speed of 24.04mph as he won two golds at the World Championships in Berlin.

Arsenal's Walcott clocked 22.72mph and Sol Campbell took a shock second place in the top-flight race with a 22.50mph top speed.

The top speeds have been calculated by Castrol using data captured over two seasons.

Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres would be in a photo finish for third with their joint top speed of 22.27mph.

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.

Double Olympic champ Bolt ran 9.58secs to break the 100m world record in Berlin.

Campbell's top speed could see him run 10.1secs for 100m - just a tenth of a second slower than Brit Dwain Chambers ran at the World Championships.

Bolt admits his preparations ahead of his 19.19secs 200m record had been blighted by United's loss to Burnley.

But he said: "They will bounce back and there'll be no worries."

The Fastest Prem Stars

CAMPBELL 22.50 mph

DROGBA 22.27 mph

TORRES 22.27 mph

ANELKA 22.05 mph

FABREGAS 22.05 mph

A COLE 22.05 mph

CLICHY 21.82 mph

ROONEY 21.82 mph

GERRARD 21.60 mph

ROBINHO 21.60 mph

Edited August 25, 200916 yr by b00gamaster

I think there is also a who's the fastest at the 100m in the Premiership and the list is far more of what you'd expect. I think Lennon is first, Walcott second. Can't remember the rest, but yeah, that is interesting though. It's just that tops speeds won't be sustained by most for that long.

I always thought that Anelka would be faster than Drogba.. go figure..

I was surprised at Sol Campbell running that fast, but then realised it was because he had 200 spuds fans chasing him :Whistle:

it's an irrelevance- no-one runs 100m in a straight line in football, top speed matters less than acceleration/ speed over 5-10 yards.

oh and obviously agility, speed of turning, size of turning circle, reaction time...

e.g. sol campbell and ryan giggs- both surely still very quick over 100m, both noticeably slower than they used to be on a football pitch.

Amazed SWP isn't on the list

what matters in the game is the first 10 yards and how quick a player is with the ball at there feet..

Kaka and robben for instance seem just as fast if not faster with ball at feet, drogba for all his assets will never be lightening with the ball at his feet

I find these very, very suspect.

Campbell, Fabregas, Drogba - none of these are fast football players. I have no idea where they get that data from.

Maybe they recorded how fast Drogs used to hit the deck!

what matters in the game is the first 10 yards and how quick a player is with the ball at there feet..

Kaka and robben for instance seem just as fast if not faster with ball at feet, drogba for all his assets will never be lightening with the ball at his feet

The fastest player I have ever seen with the ball at his feet was Sheva when he was around 22/23. Made the likes of Robben, SWP and Kaka look like they were running in treacle.

Sadly we got him when that pace had long since departed.

I remember seeing on the official site that bolt was a chelsea fan.

These speeds only show the top MPH reached which is pretty insignificant since much of sprinting is how fast one accelerates and how fast one can run after can maintain their deceleration, human beings can only accelerate up to 60m at which point you are decelerating and that is the world's top sprinters at 60m.

Anyone watching Arshavin vs Liverpool last year would nominate him after watching him steam across half the pitch in about five seconds in order to get onto one of Sagna's through passes.

Sol Campbell...you're having a larf. Lennon and SWP can outrun him all day long.

Yeah some of those are certainly suspect, but Campbell is just plain laughable. Not sure which two seasons they used to capture the data, but I can recall him being easily outpaced by a number of strikers in recent years and he would never be on my list of speedy defenders.

Surely G*llas is faster for a start?

Yeah some of those are certainly suspect, but Campbell is just plain laughable. Not sure which two seasons they used to capture the data, but I can recall him being easily outpaced by a number of strikers in recent years and he would never be on my list of speedy defenders.

Surely G*llas is faster for a start?

Toure was one of the fastest central defenders a couple of years back. Gallas is surely up there. Talking about full backs, Clichy, Evra and Ashley are all pretty quick.

Dennis Rommedahl (although he no longer players in the EPL) was always an absolute speed demon.

Dennis Rommedahl (although he no longer players in the EPL) was always an absolute speed demon.

the gronks was a flying machine. annoying, but a flying machine.

the gronks was a flying machine. annoying, but a flying machine.

Gronks was fast but I don't think he was quite as fast as Rommedahl. The Danish national team in the early '00s had some serious pace.

Gronks was fast but I don't think he was quite as fast as Rommedahl. The Danish national team in the early '00s had some serious pace.

I heard Peter Schmeichel could cover the 100m in 60 seconds flat. He'd have to stop for a hot dog and a pint halfway along, of course...

Dennis Rommedahl (although he no longer players in the EPL) was always an absolute speed demon.

I can't remember where I read it, but Rommedahl was said to be able to run 100m in 10.3 seconds- that's insane for someone who presumably had little formal athletics training.

Marc Overmars was unbelievably quick as well, as was Gronkjaer.

I would have to disagree with just- the fastest player i've ever seen with the ball at his feet is Lionel Messi. I've never ever seen anyone accelerate like him while dribbling with the ball.

With field sports, sprints are usually done over 40 yards. This data is only on top-speed- that is, the highest possible speed a player can go. Sol Campbell having a high top-speed means little if he can only sustain it for less than a second.

I remember seeing some pretty interesting stats when SWP was still a Chelsea player and the stats claimed that SWP was faster running with the ball than without it. I wonder if they had got their number mixed up...

Drogba faster than Anelka, and as fast as Torres?! No way!

What bout Gabby Agbonlahor..??

Thought he would of been pretty fast...

Edited August 26, 200916 yr by Fitzy89

Drogba faster than Anelka, and as fast as Torres?! No way!

Anelka's pace is frightening! I am guessing far faster than Drogs!

What bout Gabby Agbonlahor..??

Thought he would of been pretty fast...

I agree, but theres more chance of seeing Gabby Roslin in there judging by that table.