There’s a reason the average cat can sprint up to 20 miles an hour (and sometimes 30) while human athletes—those who really use their bodies—have a significantly slower average sprint speed of only 15 miles an hour. Cats don’t allow themselves to get bogged down by friction—or gravity. At certain points when a cat runs, she is completely aloft, with all of her legs in the air. Even when a cat is running on the ground, her flexible spine can alternately arch and straighten in a way that gives her incredible stride. Her movements have the beauty of an Olympiad’s.
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