Usain Bolt Beats Astronaut In Zero-Gravity Race
It’s been made very clear over the past few years that Usain Bolt is unquestionably the fastest man on Earth. The Jamaican runner has aimed a little higher than that — taking his first steps on Wednesday to prove that he is indisputably the fastest man in the universe, according to reports from TMZ.
The star of the 2012 and 2016 Olympics took a break from training with his professional soccer team in Australia — the Central Coast Mariners — and got on board an Airbus Zero G plane, one which is able to simulate the experience of zero gravity. There, Bolt challenged two of his passengers to a race, just to see how much of an effect gravity has on his speed.
Bolt’s two competitors were perhaps the most experienced people in the room when it came to handling the lack of gravity — French astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy and CEO of Novespace and French interior designer Octave de Gaulle. They may have proven to be decent enough competition given that it was Bolt’s first time racing in such conditions.
Things looked close enough when the race kicked off, as both Clervoy and de Gaulle had no problems keeping up with Bolt in the race’s first leg. Bolt’s experience eventually shone through and the retired runner knew not to show everything right away, eventually winning the race by a fairly wide margin.
Running in Zero Gravity @GHMUMM. #DareWinCelebrate #NextVictory ? pic.twitter.com/5P5CACcLOx
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) September 12, 2018
Bolt didn’t give fans his signature celebration after the victory — which it appears is something he reserves for official races — but he did walk away with a trophy for his efforts. The trophy, in this case, was a bottle of Mumm Grand Cordon Stellar, a champagne with a bottle designed by de Gaulle specifically for its ability to be poured while in zero gravity.
De Gaulle has an eye for the future with this wine design, aiming it at the eventual space tourists who will need a luxury beverage to match their sky-high vacation. By all accounts, the bottle passed with flying colors in a test conducted on the Airbus Zero G.
After securing victory, Bolt is expected to return to the Mariners and continue his pre-season training before play begins in October. The global superstar has generated massive fanfare in Australia as he pursues his soccer dreams and saw nothing but sold-out crowds during his brief pre-season appearances.
As for the possibility of a return during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Bolt told TMZ back in April that the “door was open,” but that he doesn’t currently have the urge to compete.
