Cincinnati Zoo cheetah sets speed record

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Zoo says one of its cheetahs has become the speediest land mammal on record — twice.

Zoo officials say an 8-year-old female named Sarah ran 100 meters in 6.16 seconds on Wednesday, breaking the old record of 6.19 seconds set in 2001 by a cheetah in South Africa.

Later, Sarah ran again and finished in an even faster 6.13 seconds. That translates to a speed of about 36.5 mph.

The cat was clocked at the zoo’s Regional Cheetah Breeding Facility, on a course certified by the Road Running Technical Council of USA Track & Field. A Cincinnati Zoo spokesman says cheetah records are maintained by various conservation groups and zoos, not Guinness.

The human 100-meters record holder is Jamaican Usain Bolt, a relative slowpoke at 9.58 seconds.