Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players to have ever played the game.

There’s simply no denying that.

He’s won five Ballon d’Ors and is considered the greatest goalscorer in football history.

While his powers are starting to wane at the age of 36, he’s still playing at the very highest level. His Juventus side may have crashed out of the Champions League recently but his 23 goals in 24 Serie A matches mean the Old Lady still have a chance of winning the title.

Ronaldo will also look to lead Portugal to Euro 2020 glory in the summer.

How is he still performing at such a high level at his age?

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A lot of it comes down to his incredible physical fitness.

The Portuguese has trained extremely hard throughout his career to keep himself in peak condition.

While many will argue Lionel Messi is more naturally gifted, Ronaldo is probably more physically complete.

During his prime, Ronaldo was one of the fastest players in the world.

Whether it was over a short distance or a long sprint, he had the ability to outpace any defender.

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But did he have the ability to outpace a professional sprinter?

Well, in 2011, he faced the ultimate test.

For a documentary called 'Cristiano Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit’, he faced sprinter Angel David Rodriguez to see just how quick he really was.

A 26-year-old Ronaldo raced Rodriguez over 25 metres, whose best time over 100m was 10.23 seconds.

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The winner?

Rodriguez managed 3.31 seconds, while Ronaldo completed 25m in 3.61 seconds.

But Ronaldo had an opportunity to get his revenge.

Instead of sprinting in a straight line, they were then challenged to a zig-zag race as they had to slalom in between poles.

But there was only going to be one winner on this occasion as Ronaldo completed the course in 6.35 seconds, while Rodriguez took 6.86 seconds.

After the test, Rodriguez admitted he was impressed by Ronaldo’s technique and predicted he could run 100 metres in 11.6 seconds.

"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 recalled.

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

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“This was the trap they set for me, to start running diagonally. It’s like making a sprinter play paddle tennis.

"I took three tenths from him, which is quite a lot. If it was 100 metres, he may be able to get 11.60 seconds.”