Usain Bolt voted as the ‘ultimate superhuman’ in a 2,000-strong survey… with Mo Farah coming in second
FORMER Olympic sprinter turned footballer Usain Bolt has been hailed as the ultimate superhuman.
The ex-sprint star, 32, came top of the pile following a study carried out among 2,000 adults, with British marathon champion Sir Mo Farah coming second.
Much-loved naturalist Sir David Attenborough came third thanks to his encyclopedic knowledge of nature.
Tennis legends, Roger Federer and Serena Williams came fourth and fifth respectively.
Overall the poll produced a top ten of living beings who possess attributes most of us can only dream of having.
The study was carried out to mark the return of which continues on Sundays at 9pm on FOX.
Top ten real-life superhumans
1. Usain Bolt
2. Sir Mo Farah
3. Sir David Attenborough
4. Roger Federer
5. Serena Williams
6. Michael Phelps
7. Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill
8. Arnold Schwarzenegger
9. Lionel Messi
10. JK Rowling
To coincide with the poll, FOX teamed up with Professor of Physiology and former Olympian Greg Whyte, to create an anatomical blueprint made from the qualities possessed by real-life superhumans.
Whyte, analysed the anatomy and neurological make up of over 50 real life superhumans.
He then worked with digital illustrator Chris Hart and used the results of his analysis to build a biological structure that takes into account everything from brain processing time, to physical attributes and motor functions.
Whyte concluded the ultimate superhuman is likely to have legs like Bolt, with fast-twitch muscle fibres that provide the ability to accelerate faster than 99.9 per cent of the population.
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They would have the vision of Veronica Seider who has the strongest eyesight in the world.
Seider is able to distinguish detail from up to a mile away and her sight is 20 times better than the average person.
The ultimate superhuman also has the lungs of former rower, Sir Steve Redgrave, the abs of boxer Anthony Joshua and the arms of record-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps.
Whyte who is a currently a professor in Applied Sport & Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moores University and a UK authority on Exercise Physiology, said: "Many people possess superhuman powers without even knowing it.
"And we’ve seen this reflected in some of the characters of The Gifted, who have to discover and accept their powers.
"Getting to superhuman status is undeniably a combination of nature and nurture.
"It’s not only genetic makeup, but psychology, drive, determination and external environment that come together to create a superhuman.
"It’s the perfect combination of all of these variables that’s led to the incredible examples included within the ultimate superhuman.”
The study also found 39 per cent grew up wishing they had incredible powers, and half of us still wish we possessed extraordinary abilities.
But it seems as though a higher status could be in our sights, as over a fifth Brits predict we’ll all evolve to have superhuman powers in the next 150 years.
Around one in ten believe we all have the ability to make ourselves into elite human beings.
It also emerged the definition means different things to different people – 45 per cent of Brits describing a superhuman as someone who has the ability to do the impossible.
More than one in ten feel they have earned the title purely if they manage to get through the day without reaching breaking point.
Over a third admitted their parents should be classed as superhuman for raising them.
When it comes to hero qualities, invisibility, the ability to fly and a faultless memory came top. Limitless energy also made the list of the most desired superpowers.
Despite this, it’s the everyday people we really feel have the most star quality, as surgeons (22 per cent), firefighters (19 per cent) and paramedics (19 per cent) possess the most superhuman powers according to the OnePoll study.
In the study FOX also discovered half of Brits wish they could be more superhuman, and over a fifth believe evolution will mean we all have superhuman powers in the next 150 years.
A FOX spokesperson said: “To celebrate the return of our thrilling series The Gifted, we wanted to shine a light on the modern day superheroes who exist in our world today.
"Superhumans are not just reserved for our televisions.
"This research shows there are many different qualities that contribute to superhuman status and whilst most possess extraordinary abilities and incredible power, this can be expressed in a lot of different ways.”
*Produced in association with Marvel Television, and set in the X-Men universe, The Gifted is a gripping adventure series centred around mutant characters with incredible, superhuman powers.
This season it’s the Dawn of the Mutant Age, as tensions rise between the Mutant Underground and the Hellfire Club, a mutant terrorist organisation who believe humans and mutants can never co-exist.