What happened when Cristiano Ronaldo tested himself against a professional sprinter at his ‘physical peak’

Cristiano Ronaldo once went against a Spanish Olympic sprinter to test how fast he actually is.

Later in his career, the Portugal icon shifted to a more central role to compensate for losing a yard of pace.

Known as 'El Pajaro' (The Bird), Rodriguez has captained Spain at several sprinting events.

He faced off against Ronaldo as part of a 2011 series titled 'Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit'. Ronaldo was 26-years-old at the time.

The duo competed in a 100 metre dash, with Rodriguez revealing he managed to beat the current Al Nassr star.

He said: "I took three tenths from him [Ronaldo], which is quite a lot. If it was 100 metres, he may be able to get 11.60 [seconds]."

Going off Rodriguez's claims, that'd mean Ronaldo's top speed is two seconds off Usain Bolt's world record time of 9.58 seconds.

Ronaldo did manage to beat Rodriguez in a diagonal race, although that requires a different skillset.

Rodriguez later told 'At Home With Athletes': "I was doing a report on race technique with Cristiano Ronaldo.

"You had to run in various styles to demonstrate differences in race technique between a sprinter and a footballer.

"He is fast and very good at lateral movements. He clearly trains a lot."

Ronaldo is now 38-years-old but still a physical marvel. He's scored 16 goals in 17 games for Al Nassr, who sit second in the Saudi Pro League.

They return to action against Al Akhdoud on Friday evening.