Red kangaroos can hop up to 44 mph

Standing at over 5 feet tall and 200 pounds, the red kangaroo may have a bright future as an Olympic sprinter. These bounding mammals can hop at speeds of up to 44 miles per hour for short distances. To put that into perspective, Usain Bolt, who is over 6 feet tall and weighs roughly 200 pounds, reached a top speed of 27.8 miles per hour between the 60 and 80-meter mark of his record-setting 9.58 second 100-meter sprint, the fastest speed recorded by a human being.