Alex Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal count. Here are other ‘unbreakable’ sports records
Alex Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal count. Here are other ‘unbreakable’ sports records
Long before Alex Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky for the NHL goal-scoring record with No. 895 on Sunday, Gretzky moved into the top spot ahead of Gordie Howe by putting the puck in the net for the Los Angeles Kings on March 23, 1994.
During the Kings’ regional sports network broadcast that day, an announcer breathlessly declared: “A historic moments in sports, compared with Henry Aaron passing Babe Ruth in home runs, with Pete Rose passing Ty Cobb in hits. Great moments when people thought records would never be broken. Mike Powell passing Bob Beamon’s long jump record of 29 feet, 2 1/2 inches. And Wayne Gretzky, indeed, has records that may never be broken. Perhaps this one.”
Gretzky got his 802nd in that game and ended up with 894 when he retired in 1999.
Turns out, Ovechkin did get there, scoring from his “office” in the left faceoff circle on a power play for the Washington Capitals — the only team the 39-year-old Russian winger has played for since making his NHL debut in 2005 — during the second period of a game against the New York Islanders.
“They say records are made to be broken,” Gretzky said during an on-ice ceremony after Ovechkin moved ahead of him Sunday, “but I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that.”
Perhaps Ovechkin’s final total will prove unsurpassable, even if Gretzky’s didn’t. Here is a by-the-numbers look at some supposedly unbreakable records that do still stand:
10.49
Florence Griffith-Joyner has held the fastest time in the women’s 100-meter dash since a breezy day at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials, and only one other athlete has even gone faster than 10.6. Griffith-Joyner also holds the 200 record, established at the Seoul Olympics that year, and debates over the legitimacy of those two standards continue decades later.
18
There was plenty of talk that Tiger Woods was going to overtake Jack Nicklaus for the most major championships in men’s golf, but that was before a series of injuries interrupted Woods’ career. He recently had surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon and will miss the upcoming Masters. Woods won his most recent major in 2019, ending an 11-year drought and raising his count to 15; Nicklaus retired with 18. No other active player has more than six.
23
Michael Phelps’ dominance of the pool left the American swimmer with the most Olympic gold medals from any sport — and no one else has more than nine as of now. Phelps, who retired after the 2016 Rio Olympics, also owns more total medals than any other athlete, 28.
56
Joe DiMaggio’s streak of consecutive Major League Baseball games with at least one hit has stood since 1941, and the closest anyone has come since then was Rose’s 44-game run in 1978. Another number that might not be surpassed: Rose’s 4,256 career hits. Baseball is a sport filled with numbers and, therefore, records, and another one widely deemed unapproachable is Cal Ripken’s 2,632 games in a row, more than 500 above Lou Gehrig’s previous high. The longest current active streak is below 500.
100
Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game NBA scoring record was set on March 2, 1962, and while he said a quarter-century later, “I think it can be broken,” the closest anyone has come was Kobe Bryant’s 81 in 2006.
511
Cy Young’s career pitching wins are nearly 100 more than anyone else in MLB history and came long before the current era of limiting innings and protecting arms (his last season was 1911). There are some who think there might never be another player to get to 300 wins. The sport’s active leader is Justin Verlander, who entered this year with 262 at age 42.
762
Barry Bonds hit more career home runs than anyone else in MLB, bettering Aaron’s total of 755 before retiring in 2007. Bonds admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs, although he said he didn’t do so knowingly. Also still around: Bonds’ season record of 73 homers in 2001.
70-68
Consider this record one that simply can’t be broken because the rules changed: John Isner’s victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 is the longest match in tennis history, lasting 11 hours, 5 minutes until finishing at 70-68 in the fifth set. In 2022, all four Grand Slam tournaments adopted tiebreakers at 6-6 in the fifth set of men’s matches and third set of women’s to prevent never-ending marathons.
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Howard Fendrich is an AP national writer. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP National Writer
