Python is slower than most of the horses I bet on. That's pretty slow.

The important - CPU intensive parts - of numpy, pandas, pytorch, and all the other "fast python" libraries out there, are actually written in C.

Pure python should not be used for anything that requires good performance: it is programmer ergonomic, not CPU ergonomic. It is great that through the use of FFIs it has access to powerful libraries written in a language that isn't slow, but that does not make it as a language itself, fast.