Cristiano Ronaldo tested himself against professional sprinters during his ‘physical peak’

Cristiano Ronaldo once ran against a Spanish Olympic sprinter to test his actual speed.

Later in his career, the Portuguese icon moved to a more central role to make up for the loss in pace.

Rodriguez, known as “El Pajaro” (“The Bird”), captained the Spanish team in several sprint events.

He faced off against Ronaldo as part of a 2011 series titled “Ronaldo: Testing the Limits.” Ronaldo was 26 years old at the time.

The pair competed in the 100m dash, with Rodriguez revealing he managed to beat current Al Nassr star.

He said: “I took three-tenths from him (Cristiano Ronaldo), which is a lot. If it was 100 meters, he might get 11.60 (seconds).”

Contrary to what Rodriguez said, this meant Ronaldo’s top speed was two seconds off Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds.

Ronaldo did manage to beat Rodriguez on the diagonal, although it required a different skill set.

Rodriguez later told The Athlete at Home: “I was doing a report on game skills with Cristiano Ronaldo.

“You have to run in different ways to show the difference in game technique between a sprinter and a football player.

“He’s very quick and has great lateral movement. He obviously trains a lot.”

Ronaldo is now 38 years old, but his physical fitness is still amazing. He has played 17 games for Al Nassr, scoring 16 goals, and the team currently ranks second in the Saudi Professional League.

They return to action against Ahdoud on Friday night.