Speed showdown: Team GB’s Niall Treacy vs. Usain Bolt (an imaginary race)

‘Niall Treacy versus Usain Bolt’

Of course this is an imaginary race – just for fun.

As Team GB’s Short Track Speed Skater in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026, Niall Treacy can reach top speeds around 30mph. In fact, the speed skating world record over a 500m (4-and-a-half laps) race distance averages to a speed of 28.3 mph with top speeds beyond 35mph. That speed is faster than prime-time Usain Bolt.

Although Niall is not the world record holder over 500m on the ice, we could convert Niall’s Personal Best, and British record, time into a 100m straight line race. Over a flat 100m (purely matching speeds achieved in their respective sports) Niall’s tempo sees him cruise over the finish line 2 seconds ahead.

Yet we can do the speed conversion the other way around: expanding Bolt’s world record over the 100m sprint into an imaginary 500m short track speed skating race (simplified to 1 lap – the real race is 4.5 laps)

Thrills and spills

Short track is not just about speed. It’s about skill, technique, judgement, tactics.

Skaters like Niall cross legs in a scissor-action round the bends – no small feat, and they’re wear extra-long blades. Leaning round the bends of the oval track, racers can get dangerously close to other racers and their blades – no wonder their skater catsuits are cut proof.

As well as navigating the ice, speed skaters are reading the race: the moves of competitors, small gaps, chances, slips, and crashes...

Sidenote from Milano-Cortina 2026, Treacy sadly crashed out of the 1,000m heats.

So, how much does luck play a part?

With speed comes the jeopardy of slips, slides or total wipeouts. It makes speed skating a dynamic and exhilarating sport.

One of this sport’s most famous incidents was when Australia (not known for Winter sports) won Gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics:

• Bradbury, the Aussie, qualified from the quarter-final only when a racer got disqualified.
• In his semi-final, the other competitors crashed allowing Bradbury to make the final.
• In the medal race, on the final bend, it happened again: the others crashed out, leaving the Aussie to cruise over the line for Gold.
• Seeing is believing so watch Bradbury win "the luckiest Gold ever".

While chance can play a role, no doubt Niall will speed round the ice on merit, in Milano-Cortina Games and beyond. Meanwhile National Lottery players can chance their luck while cheering on Niall and Team GB.