The speed of the cheetah was measured most accurately during the amateur experiment

The speed of the cheetah was measured most accurately during an amateur experiment.
The most reliable and at the same time the most accurate measurements of the speed at which a cheetah runs were made in 1965. This was done by Craig Sharp, who worked as a veterinarian in Kenya at the time. He had no problem with accessing orphaned cheetahs due to his workplace. His love for animals was only comparable to his love of sport. Due to Sharp’s interests he wanted to get an answer to the question about the maximum speed of cheetah running. To this end, he conducted an amateur experiment.
The first step was to measure the track, which was exactly 201 metres long. It was determined with the use of geodetic measuring tape. There could therefore be no question of a mistake. Sharp then marked the start line. He used an ordinary white yarn for this purpose. This allowed him to see the start from a distance of 75 meters. On the finish line he drew a visible line between the posts. Just as important as the route preparation was to ensure the accuracy of the time measurement. This was measured using an analogue stopwatch from the famous Omega brand. The accuracy of the device was 0.1 second. Due to the attention to detail, the stopwatch has been calibrated against several other similar models. Now it was enough to wait for the right weather conditions. The day when the cheetah speed was measured was windless to such an extent that not even the aforementioned sword was moving. It is clear that the animal will not reach its maximum speed right from the start. Sharp also knew. As a result, the cheetah started about 18 metres before the line marking the start of the route. The veterinarian was driving in front of him in a car to which a piece of meat was attached. The car was located about 75 meters from the starting poles. As soon as the car started, the animal started to chase. The stopwatch was switched on when the cheetah interrupted the white sword. The device was turned off when the animal crossed the finish line. Cheetah inbred breeding is so closely related to each other that it is almost genetically identical. The latest theory is that the reason for this is a “natural” catastrophe that has caused the population to fall to less than seven individuals. The attempt was repeated three times. Finally, it was calculated that the cheetah travelled at a speed of about 103 kilometres per hour. These results were not published initially. Their author believed that others approached the subject more professionally and obtained more accurate measurements. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was his experiment that was the most precise. Sharp’s results were published very late in 1997 in the Journal of Zoology. It is worth mentioning that Craig Sharp became a sports professor and until recently worked at the University of Brunel. The veterinarian who became the father of sports science in the UK left the world on March 21, 2018 at the age of 84. The cause of his death was a stroke.
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