Throughout his career, Cristiano Ronaldo has long been hailed as one of the finest athletes in football.

The idea has always been, if you were creating a player in a lab to have all the physical qualities necessary to succeed at the top level, it would end up looking something like the Manchester United and Real Madrid legend. As Ronaldo’s career progressed, he changed his style, morphing from a winger to a forward.

Back in 2011, though, when Ronaldo had made a world-record move to Los Blancos, he was put through a Sky Sports series called ‘Tested to the Limit’. At that point he was 26 years old and very much at the peak of his powers from a physical point of view.

In an effort to truly gauge his speed he was pitted against Angel David Rodriguez, who was then the fastest sprinter in Spain. He was conditioned to run in 100m dashes, while Ronaldo’s speed was very much specific to excelling on the football pitch.

That difference proved telling. The pair were asked to each run 25metres with Rodriguez going first and putting up a time of 3.31 seconds. Ronaldo followed and got 3.61 seconds over the same distance. The Spanish sprinter said: “I took three tenths from him [Ronaldo], which is quite a lot. If it was 100 metres, he may be able to get 11.60 [seconds].”

If that prediction were true it would mean Ronaldo, even at top speed, is two seconds off Usain Bolt’s world record time of 9.58 seconds. Even compared to other footballers the Portuguese’s time is not magnificent – Theo Walcott has previously claimed he could run 100m in 10.3 seconds.

At the age of just 14, the former Arsenal man notched a time of 11.58 seconds over 100m in 2004 when he attended Downs School in Compton, Berkshire – which is roughly what Rodriguez predicted Ronaldo could get when he was a professional.

The fastest ever 100m dash ran by a woman was by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988, with her time set at 10.49 seconds. Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah posted a time in 2021 of 10.54 seconds, which is the quickest attempt this century.

Footballers, whilst covering ground quickly, are not trained with the technique that those who take to the track use. Rarely in a game does a player run at full tilt in a straight line; it is often short bursts which often involve a change of direction. Sprinters take far greater strides and have a high knee action – two pillars of good technique.

That was highlighted as, in the same series, Ronaldo and Rodriguez took part in a second race over 25metres, this time in a zig zag course which involved several direction changes. Ronaldo’s time was 6.35 seconds, Rodriguez did 6.86.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s athleticism has always been hailed as a point of difference but, at the peak of his powers, he was pitched against a professional Spanish sprinter