French athlete Antoine Thoraval did not at all like the articles on the alleged supersonic time that Kylian Mbappé would be capable of achieving over 100 meters.
It all started with a tweet from the BBC. Based on the speed reached by Kylian Mbappé in the middle of a sprint, the English media ventured to assert that the French striker would be capable of achieving a time of 10.90 over 100 meters, or a little more than a second Usain Bolt’s world record (9.58 in 2009).
This tweet has been seen nearly 7 million times, and the information has been relayed by numerous media. But it is nevertheless particularly misleading. It is not because Mbappé can reach 36 km/h at full speed that he would be able to maintain them for 100 meters and achieve an action worthy of the best sprinters. And it is also a mistake to think that Mbappé can run almost as fast as Bolt.
Mbappé would be very far in the balance sheets
This is the feeling expressed by French athlete Antoine Thoraval, in cruder terms: “When you don’t know anything about it, the best thing to do is to keep your mouth shut.” And the information even reached the ears of Usain Bolt himself, who reacted as follows according to Athletics Weekly: “I laughed when I saw that. There are girls who run faster than that,” the Jamaican would have declared.
Because let’s admit that Mbappé is really capable of running the 100 meters in 10.90. This time, although absolutely excellent for a non-specialist, would be very far from classifying the Frenchman among the best sprinters in the world. In the 2023 world report, Mbappé would appear… in 5182nd position, to be exact. There are exactly 432 athletes under the age of 18 who ran less than 10.90 in the 100 meters last year. And just from the French results, the Bondynois would only be 180th, with such a time. This is nothing nefarious, of course. But this does not allow Mbappé to consider a reconversion to athletics for Paris 2024.
