Which Sports Has the Fastest Athletes in the World?

The speeds of some athletes are remarkable considering their training isn’t sprint specific. Sprinters are the fastest athletes in the world, but what ball sports has the fastest athletes?

5. Trea Turner – 33.63 km/h (Baseball)

Whether baseball players are stealing bases, or turning a double into a triple, running between bases is fundamentally important. In 2021, Trea Turner clocked speeds of up to 20.9 mph. It’s not at rugby league territory but it’s remarkable still, considering that sprinting would be far from a baseball fundamental they would be training for.

4. Alphonso Davies – 36.53 km/h (Soccer/Football)

In 2020 Alphonso Davies clocked the fastest speed recorded in Bundesliga history at 22.7mph. This lad could probably represent Canada at the Olympics. The Ghanaian born left-back/winger weighs 75kg and is 1.83m tall and you can see his phenomenal pace below. What a pleasure it will be to see him represent Canada at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year. His fast, but still, not as fast as the top speed of a rugby league player.

3. Raheem Mostert – 37.15 km/h (American Football)

San Francisco 49er running back Raheem Mostert ran a blistering 23.09 mph and makes running look absolutely effortless. Remember that American football players are carrying an extra 5-10kg of weight in protective padding and their helmet.

2. Jonny May – 37.71 km/h (Rugby Union)

Rugby league’s bitter code rival, rugby union, is played very similarly and wingers have a fundamentally similar role. At the 2019 World Cup, English winger Jonny May reached a top speed of 23.43 mph, still just short of Josh Addo-Carr’s 23.9 mph.

https://youtu.be/NY095xwikN0

1. Josh Addo-Carr – 38.5 km/h (Rugby League)

If you know about rugby league you’ll know about Josh Addo-Carr. In the last few seasons he’s been the fastest rugby league player and recorded a blistering speed of 38.5km/h (23.92 mph) in 2019. When he’s in open space there is no chasing him down.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs achieved a top speed of 43 km/h (26.76 mph). Addo-Carr falls only 4.5 km/h (2.79 mph) short of an Olympic gold medal time which is remarkable. Rugby league therefore has the fastest athlete in all of ball sports.