10 Records That Might Never Be Broken

Forty years after his first Olympic Games in Munich, 65-year-old Canadian equestrian rider Ian Millar made an incredible 10th appearance. Only an injury to his horse prevented him from participating in his 11th Games.

For 64 incredible days in 1941, “Joltin’ Joe” caught fire like no batter before or since. From May 15 to July 17, the New York Yankees center-fielder had at least one hit in 56 consecutive games, going 91-for-223 (.408) with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs.

Of the 60-plus National Hockey League records Gretzky held upon his retirement in 1999, none is more unbreakable than his career points total. After all, no player has reached 140 points in a single season since 1996, and even if they did, they would have to achieve that feat more than 20 times to surpass “The Great One.”

In 1964, many cricket pundits assumed that no bowler would ever top Fred Trueman’s 300 Test wickets. Fast-forward to 2010, and this Sri Lankan superstar ended his Test career with nearly three times that total.

Speaking of Tiger Woods, the latest Masters champion made a mind-boggling 142 consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour from the 1998 Farmers Insurance Open to the Wells Fargo Championship in May of 2005. The next best is Byron Nelson at 113, followed by Jack Nicklaus at 105

To what extent did “Lord Byron” dominate golf in the late 1930s and ’40s? In 1945 he won a record 11 consecutive pro tournaments. Since then, only Tiger Woods has come remotely close, claiming seven straight from 2006 to 2007

An exceptional goalkeeper who represented Brazil at two World Cups, Ceni was also very good at taking set pieces. Amassed over a 25-year career, his 131 professional goals are more than double that of the second-highest-scoring keeper in history, Jose Luis Chilavert.

If you think Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain’s 100-point game was a fluke, consider this: he holds the top four single-season scoring averages in NBA history, including his record of 50.4 points per game in 1961-62.

At the 2010 Wimbledon tournament, the first four sets of the opening-round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut were already pretty epic: 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-3). Then came the deciding fifth set,

which couldn’t go to a tiebreaker by rule. So it went on…and on…and on, with Isner eventually winning the set 70-68 in an 11-hour-and-five-minute contest that spanned three days.

After claiming five swimming medals at his fifth Olympic Games, the American phenom retired with an incredible 28 medals overall. This includes a record of 23 golds, eight of which were won at the 2008 Games in Beijing, yet another form.