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FastestThings

Mammals

Cheetah

The ranked speed is Sharp's 1997 timing of an adult cheetah at 29 m/s over 201.2 m. Higher published estimates stay on the page and do not take the rank.

Also known as Acinonyx jubatus
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Top speed

Published as 29 m/sPublished as 29 m/sPublished as 29 m/s

Mean of three trials, 201.2 m course, running start, adult cheetah. Sharp 1997.

VerifiedJournal of Zoology (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 2.8× Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • A football field in 3.2 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 2.2 daysConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 104km/h64.9mph29m/s56.4knRanked figure

    Mean of three trials, 201.2 m course, running start, adult cheetah. Sharp 1997.

    Verified
    Journal of Zoology (opens source in a new tab)Accessed
  2. 93.2km/h57.9mph25.9m/s50.3kn

    GPS collars, peak across 367 hunting runs by five wild cheetahs, Botswana. Wilson et al. 2013. Not a top-speed trial.

    Verified
    Nature (opens source in a new tab)Accessed
  3. 110km/h68.4mph30.6m/s59.4kn

    Value Garland used after citing estimates from 101 to 121 km/h. Not the ranked figure.

    Estimated
    Journal of Zoology (opens source in a new tab)Accessed

Reference

Specs

Species
Acinonyx jubatus
Ranked trial
29 m/s, Sharp 1997
Course
201.2 m, running start, mean of three trials

Context

Background

N. C. C. Sharp timed an adult cheetah at 29 m/s, the mean of three trials over a 201.2 m course with a running start, and published the result in the Journal of Zoology in 1997. That is the measurement this list ranks.

A. M. Wilson and colleagues recorded a peak of 25.9 m/s across 367 hunting runs by five wild cheetahs in Botswana. It is a verified hunt peak, not a top-speed trial, so it is listed and not ranked. Garland's 1983 review used 110 km/h after finding estimates from 101 to 121 km/h. That 110 km/h figure is kept as an estimate.

Head to head

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