Python is much faster than Java?

[Nemeth Miklos]

A colleague implemented a sorting algorithm in both Java and Python
(CPython on NT) just to test the capabilities of Python.
He is (or may be only was) a Java fan, but I spoke to him about Python
so much, that he decided to make some comparisons.
After the tests it turned out that the Python implementation was 5 times
faster?
We could not believe our eyes! How is it possible?
A knew that Java is very poor in managing object (creating them and
garbage collecting them), but I thought it is fast enough for procedural
programming.

NM