Track and Field Inspired Dog Names

In the animal kingdom, speed can mean everything. It can be the difference between having a meal or suffering starvation, life or death. Because of it, both predators and prey throughout history have evolved to refine their physical abilities, almost to an extreme, much like athletes who have persisted over generations.  

For example, Cheetahs are widely known to be the world’s fastest land animals (yes, dog-lovers, cats are technically faster, it’s sad but true). But their prey, such as antelopes, springboks and wildebeest, can run up to 62, 61, and 50 miles per hour respectively — a hare, another prey, can also reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, but also has the ability to make hare-pin (hairpin) turns, pun intended. 

But what may be unknown to some is that dogs have also been known to hit some pretty incredible speeds themselves. While humans beings on average are able to reach speeds of almost 15 miles per hour sprinting, dogs are able to average around 19, but many breeds go far beyond that. In fact, there are at least 13 different recognized breeds that are able to top out at 30 miles per hour or more, with the famed Greyhound and lesser-known Saluki maxing their running abilities at an incredible 43 miles per hour. 

Of course, there’s a reason that Greyhounds are the most popular and common racing dogs outside of racing Dachshunds, the controversial sport that originated in Austria/Germany and popularized in the United States — Greyhounds are literally built for speed. Between their high metabolism, ability to gallop, foot design, flexibility and muscle, they are nearly twice as equipped to handle running as humans in terms of both endurance and velocity. 

But if there is one dog that can put them all to shame, it is certainly Fanta Bale, a now-retired racing Greyhound who set the world on fire during her Australian tenure. While her career only lasted a few years, which is still above average for the sport, she tallied an amazing 42 wins in her 63 starts, officially totaling a 67% win percentage by the time she retired in 2018. But not only was she a whiz at winning, ending her career as the most accomplished Australian Greyhound racer of all time, she also accumulated a record total of $1,365,175 in prize money and is still the only Greyhound to win a group one race over the stayers, middle, and sprint trips. 

While her career itself is undeniably illustrious, she quietly completed a feat never before put into the record books: during a race she was clocked at a whopping 50.5 miles per hour, making her the fastest dog ever officially recorded. 

Her feats were so incredible, The Meadows, a famed Australian racetrack, has officially renamed the Group 1 Superstayers to the Group 1 Fanta Bale Superstayers starting in 2019.