Jamaica’s Olympic champion and world’s fastest man Usain Bolt is laughing off a challenge from John Ross of the Cincinnati Bengals NFL team in which Ross says he would beat Bolt if they competed in a 40-yard dash. In March 2017, Ross broke the NGL combine record, running the 40-yard distance in 4.22 seconds. When asked by Jesse Washington of ESPN about how much of a chance Ross had to defeat him, Bolt said, “Zero. Absolutely none.” He went on to say that people always target the top performer and that over the years he has learned that “it’s a ladder but no one wants to climb the ladder” Everybody just wants to take to the top.” He said challengers always want to beat him, but no one has a chance of doing so.
Ross comes from a background in sprinting from his time at Jordan High School in Long Beach, California, where he ran the 100 meters in 10.66 seconds and the 200 meters in 21.56 seconds as a senior, but these times are far from near top track-and-field levels. The time Ross clocked in the 40 yards in March was unofficially surpassed by Christian Coleman, a sprinter in Tennessee, who ran the dash in 4.12 seconds. Coleman is the NCAA indoor champion in the 60 meters and 200 meters.
Yo @WatchJRoss, I just asked @usainbolt about your 40-yard challenge. Here’s the 🐐message to all y’all chasing his crown: pic.twitter.com/r6uTx5eFoB
— Jesse Washington (@jessewashington) May 6, 2017
