If you had to choose an animal for a sports competition based on its appearance, wombats probably wouldn't be chosen for athletics. With their short legs and robust build, they seem more suited to wrestling or weightlifting.

However, wombats have an astonishing speed that has led to claims that they can outrun an Olympic sprinter.

Textbooks and various sources claim that wombats can reach speeds of 40 km/h. But is this true? Museums Victoria received an inquiry questioning this claim, citing a lack of primary sources to prove this speed.

The museum's initial inquiries to leading wombat researchers were met with skepticism. The scientists acknowledged that wombats are fast, but doubted the 40 km/h figure. However, David Taggart, from the University of Adelaide, made a discovery. Taggart confirmed to ABC that he had recorded wombats reaching speeds of 40 km/h.

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Taggart's method for timing the wombats did not initially focus on measuring speed. Instead, he and his team observed the speed of the wombats as they chased them in a van.

“We usually drive in an SUV. The only way to catch a wombat is by surprise. We have two people with nets, who jump out of the back and run after it,” explained Taggart, quoted by IFLScience. During these chases, the team observed that the wombats often reached speeds of 40 km/h.

However, these bursts of speed are short-lived. The wombats can only maintain their maximum speed for about 50 meters. If they are chased for longer distances, they slow down or stop. This revelation means that although a wombat could outrun Usain Bolt at an early stage, he wouldn't maintain his speed for more than 100 meters.

Taggart stressed that wombats reach these speeds on rough terrain and have remarkable agility, able to make sharp turns quickly.

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The surprising speed of wombats is often attributed to the need to escape predators such as dingoes or thylacines. However, Taggart doubts that a single dingo could harm an adult wombat, suggesting that their speed may be an adaptation to avoid packs of predators or human hunters, since indigenous Australians hunted wombats for their meat.

Taggart has not yet published his observations on wombat speed, considering them a detail in his wider research. However, given the public interest, there is potential for further study, possibly involving speed cameras to accurately measure wombat speed.