&gt;Do you not think sprinting could be necessary in an environment with significant land predators?

No, because any creature that's a serious threat to people can easily out-sprint even the fastest human. You might as well argue that bite strength is a genetic adaption to land predators if are going to bring up futile coping strategy. Your best bet against land predators is either try to fight it off with a stick or maybe climb a tree and hope the predator isn't too persistent or a leopard. Realistically you should be traveling in groups so land predators don't fuck with you in the first place.