11/05/2022
50 interesting sports facts that might blow your mind
Professional US swimmer Michael Phelps has won more gold medals than 80 percent of all countries in the history of the Olympic Games.
“Federer” can be typed entirely with the left hand.
Rugby balls used to be made out of pig’s blatters.
There are 18 minutes of total action in a baseball game, despite routinely taking over 3 hours to play.
The two golf balls Alan Shephard hit on the moon with a six-iron are still there.
Major League Baseball umpires are required to wear black underwear while on the job in case they split their pants.
Two days out of 365 days of the year feature no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL). And it’s the day before and the day after the MLB All-Star Break.
Pittsburgh is the only city where all the major sports teams (MLB,NHL,NFL) have the same colours — black and gold.
Greece is the only country to have participated in every Olympics under its own flag.
The average life span of an MLB baseball is five to seven pitches.
The home team must provide the referee with 36 footballs for each National Football League game.
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
The silhouette on the NBA logo is Hall of Fame Laker Jerry West.
It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year’s supply of footballs.
Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep him cool and changed it every two innings.
A faceoff in hockey was originally called a puck-off or a face of the puck.
Boxing became a legal sport in 1901.
Major League Baseball teams use about 850,000 balls per season.
The 1912 Olympics was the last time that gold medals were solid gold.
Between two and three jockeys are killed each year.
Only 10 other quarterbacks in NFL history have thrown half as many touchdown passes as Peyton Manning.
The longest average NFL career is punters, at 4.87 years.
The men’s long jump world record has been broken only once since 1969.
There have been three Olympic Games held in countries that no longer exist.
Only 15 goalies have scored a goal in the history of the NHL, the first coming in 1979 and the last in 2020.
The Boston Bruins name is spelled “BQSTQN BRUINS” on the Stanley Cup for their 1971-72 title.
Starting in 1990, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls never had a three-game losing streak for eight years.
Only one city has won three major sports championships in the same year: Detroit in 1935, when the Lions won the NFL title, Tigers won the World Series, and Red Wings took the Stanley Cup.
The world record for the most number of non-stop push-ups is 10,507 by Minoru Yoshida of Japan, which was achieved in October 1980.
James Fixx, the creator of the word “jogging” died from a heart attack while jogging.
Shaquille O’Neal scored only a single three-point shot throughout his entire professional career.
From 2015 to 2016, Englishman Ben Smith ran 401 marathons on 401 days to raise money for the victims of bullying. With his “401 Challenge” he set a world record and covered a total of 10,506 miles.
The word “gym” comes from Greek and translates to “place of the naked.”
Finland has hosted the official “Wife Carrying World Championship” since 1992. In this competition, men carry their wives as fast as possible over a long obstacle course. In the end, the winner receives his wife’s weight in beer.
NFL refs also receive Super Bowl rings.
In 1957 a senior woman had to be brought out of a baseball stadium after being hit in her face by a baseball. When the paramedics were carrying her out, a second ball hit her.
In 2002, long-distance runner Tom Johnson competed against a horse in a 50-mile race. He ran the distance in five hours and 45 minutes, arriving ten seconds ahead of the horse.
One pound of muscles burns 16,300 calories per year.
The average distance a man walks on foot during his life is four times around the world.
Until 1936, the jump ball in basketball took place at center court after every single made basket.
Olympic gold medals are actually made of silver.
Had Wayne Gretzky never scored a goal in the NHL, he’d still be the league’s all-time points leader.
Golf is the only sport that’s been played outside of Earth.
A badminton shuttle can travel 180 km/h (112 mph).
On average, golf balls have 336 dimples.
A Spalding basketball has a lifespan of 10,000 bounces.
Michael Phelps holds the record for the longest golf putt ever made on camera. (Check it out right here, it’s wild).
Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep him cool and changed it every two innings.
At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One car generates so much downforce that it can drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel.
Table tennis balls can travel off the paddle at 105.6 miles per hour.
