Good vertical jumps are touch and go in soccer — some footballers have it, some don’t. It’s not always a necessary skill when playing the game, but it sure is nice to have. However, there's one player who has it in abundance: Cristiano Ronaldo. The man has BOUNCE.
In fact, his 30-inch vertical might be even higher now since the stat was officially recorded in 2014, because we all know how much he loves to train. Below, we’ll look at his vertical compared to a few other athletes, past and present, from various sports.
• Cristiano Ronaldo: 30 inches
• Antonio Brown (NFL): 33.5 inches
• Odell Beckham Jr. (NFL): 38.5 inches
• LeBron James (NBA): 44 inches
• Michael Jordan (NBA): 46 inches
• Zach Lavine (NBA): 46 inches
• *World Record*: 63.5 inches
It’s clear when you watch Ronaldo during games that he's an absolute menace on any corner or set piece routine (if he’s not taking it), and the opposition know it. Just imagine how many more goals Ronaldo would score if he had a vertical like the guys on this list! It would be near impossible to try and mark him with a ball coming into the box.
30 inches may not seem like that much though, right? Well, here's some evidence that says otherwise.
Recently, the famous freestyle duo known as the F2 Freestylers took to the streets of London to try and challenge people to match the incredible leap of the Portuguese star. The results were quite entertaining, as well as surprising.
The random passersby competed for £1000, but only if they could hit the ball at the pinnacle of Ronaldo’s jump, which was hanging by a string. As you can imagine, this was a lot harder than many thought it would be, and the F2 boys weren’t going to let go of £1000 for anything.