After Jennifer Lopez‘s most recent revelation, the Latino-American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer might want to add “track star” to her resume.
On Wednesday, Lopez joined as a guest on Las Culturistas Podcast with comedians Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, where they discovered she holds a very impressive mile personal best from back in high school.
“I started track when I was in 5th or 6th grade,” Lopez told the hosts, explaining that she focused on middle-distance events: the 800m, 1,500m and the mile. “My best mile ever was 4:49–I was for real.”
“There were times in my life where I thought I would take the athlete [route],” she added, saying she also excelled in tennis and softball. “I was an athlete–like a little tomboy jock person.”
In 2015, as part of the #throwbackthursday trend, Lopez reportedly shared a black-and-white photograph of herself running track at Preston High School in the Bronx, N.Y., where she grew up.
A what-if scenario
The tidbit sparks a fun what-if: if Lopez had pursued athletics instead of entertainment, could she have achieved the same kind of stardom on the track?
A 4:49 mile in high school would currently rank Lopez 247th on the global all-time list for U20 women. Back in the mid-1980s–around the time when the now 56-year-old was competing in high school–her personal best would have stood out even more. Lopez clearly had collegiate-level speed, and perhaps even the talent to chase a professional track career, had she stayed in the sport.
Is it believable?
It’s not the first time a celebrity has claimed to have achieved an impressive athletic feat. In 2020, pop star Britney Spears, famously said she ran 100 metres in 5.97 seconds–three and a half seconds faster than Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58. Compared to that, Lopez’s sub-five-minute mile is very plausible.
Britney Spears demolishes Usain Bolt’s 100m world record
