We already know Usain Bolt is fast. A crapload (we believe that’s the technical term) of gold medals won over the past three Summer Olympic Games proves as much. Bolt is so fast, in fact, he can barely be contained by the pages of a book.
But what about in the “real” world when pitted against a bunch of average Janes and Joes? Or in this case, a somewhat pudgy James?
Actor and talk show host James Corden decided to find just how fast the Jamaican sprinter is, so he staged a race featuring himself, Bolt, and the “Late Late Show” staff. And Owen Wilson.
The event, billed as “the race sports fans have been waiting for” (according to the video’s narrator, anyway), featured “two titans of fitness going head to head.” Could Corden (or Wilson) hang with the nine-time Olympic gold medalist?
SPOILER ALERT:
No. No they could not.
Bolt wins the race. Obviously. And he seemingly expends very little energy in doing so. His light sprint took him across the line on the CBS parking lot track in roughly 11 seconds, just a smidge off his world-record time of 9.58 seconds.
For his part, Cordon didn’t come in last—and the staffers actually had a pretty good athlete or three in the mix. “I would have liked to have been in the top 15,” Corden said, “but, you know, it wasn’t my day.”
Bolt was game for the bit, clearly enjoying the comical yet somewhat staggering display of how much faster he is than the rest of the population of the planet.
“I’m the greatest, I’m No. 1, I’m Usain Bolt,” he said. “That’s what’s up.”
Owen Wilson, meanwhile, nearly was disqualified.