A former Everton winger has just claimed that he once ran 100m in 10.6 seconds when he was 15-years-old.
Everton have had some lightning-quick players over the years, with the likes of Andrei Kanchelskis and Romelu Lukaku instantly springing to mind.
Iliman Ndiaye has been recorded as the Toffees’ fastest current player, with a top speed of 33.01 km/h this season.
But none of those aforementioned players would even come close to a former Everton player who left in 2020, as he’s come out on record and said he was just over a second slower than the record-holder Usain Bolt.
Everton winger Theo Walcott.
Photo by Rui Vieira/Pool via Getty Images
Theo Walcott claims he did 100m in 10.6 seconds
Usain Bolt is the fastest human being to have ever lived, after he recorded a world record 100m sprint in just 9.58 seconds in 2009.
Nobody has been able to beat that time since, and yet, former Everton forward Theo Walcott said he ran the 100m race in a mind-boggling 10.6 seconds when he was a child.
Interviewer: “What did you do 100m in?”
Walcott replied: “10.6 (seconds) when I was 15 with awful running style.”
Remarkably, Walcott admitted that Adama Traore and Kyle Walker were even faster than him, so what time could they do the 100m race in?
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Arsene Wenger said Theo Walcott was Arsenal’s fastest player
Speaking to Arsenal’s media team in April 2015, Arsene Wenger admitted he was absolutely convinced Walcott was the fastest player at the club, despite Hector Bellerin beating his 40m sprint record.
“I believe that Walcott is our fastest player, and I agree completely that the sprinters are quicker than football players, but it’s different runs,” Wenger explained.
“You know, a football player runs with football boots on grass, it’s different kinds of runs, it’s not only pure pace.
“The pace in our job starts with the brain and of course then you put in action what you analysed on the pitch.
“But pure speed, I am convinced that the sprinters, who are specialists, are quicker than football players.”
Perhaps if Walcott had pursued a career as a professional sprinter, rather than a footballer, he could’ve reached Olympic level.