The thing that gets me is the difference between "I can win Olympic gold" which is what 10 seconds? And "I'm competitive at the school sports day event" which is ~15 seconds?

For me that's right up there with the difference between the fastest anyone's ever run a mile and the pace per mile of someone running an Olympic marathon. Both seem really weird in a way I can't put my finger on.

By the power of the bell curve, you won't then usually see someone who both participates in the school sports day event seriously and runs it in over 20 seconds.