10 Sports Moments That Seemed IMPOSSIBLE

#10: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks The Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

One of the great athletic achievements of the modern era came as recently as 2019, from the world of marathon running. Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours when he completed the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna on October 12 of 2019, finishing in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds. The endurance on display here was truly on another level, requiring Kipchoge to maintain a pace of roughly 2 minutes and 50 seconds per kilometre. The achievement was responsible for shattering one of sport's greatest perceived barriers, inspiring runners around the world to totally rethink endurance limits.

#9: Don Bradman Maintains An Impossible Batting Average

Pulling off an impressive statistical score or average over the course of one night can be tough, but to do it over an entire career is something entirely different. Sir Donald Bradman's Test batting average of 99.94 is widely regarded as the greatest statistical anomaly in any major sport. Across 52 Test matches between 1928 and 1948, Bradman scored 6,996 runs in 80 completed innings while being dismissed only 70 times. On top of it all, if he had scored just four runs in his final Test innings at The Oval in 1948, instead of being dismissed for a duck, his career average would have been exactly 100. A one of a kind career.

#8: Roger Bannister Breaks The Four-Minute Mile Barrier

For many, the four-minute mile was the type of barrier that was simply impossible to break - a physiological limit that humans were simply unable to pass. Of course, that notion would be proven wrong on many occasions in the future. However, the first man to do so would be British neurologist Roger Bannister, a man who was not a full-time athlete, but had the perfect formula for success. He combined his physical prowess with scientific principles to aid his preparation, eventually posting a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. Within weeks of his record, a second runner broke the four-minute limit, proving that a psychological barrier had been lifted.

#7: Wilt Chamberlain Scores 100 Points In One Game

On the long list of seemingly untouchable records in sports, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game seems like it will never be equaled. It was the perfect storm of contributing factors. Wilt was a physical specimen that had no equal in the sport at that time, but it still required a truly insane level of stamina, consistency and dominance to reach that point total. The New York Knicks simply could not contain Chamberlain in this type of form, and by the time the four quarters were through, he had set a new benchmark for scoring. To this day, only Kobe Bryant and Bam Adebayo have even broken the 80-point mark.

#6: Nadia Comaneci Scores Gymnastics’ First Perfect 10

For any fourteen-year-old, the idea of even competing on a global stage is wishful thinking. However, for Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, that’s exactly what she did. It’s not like she was there for a participation trophy, either. No, when this young gymnast stepped up, she was aiming to do something truly remarkable. On that day, Comaneci became the first gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect 10 in Olympic competition. She ultimately received a further six perfect 10s during those Games, winning three gold medals while transforming public expectations of what elite gymnastics could look like. The scoring system had never anticipated such a high score, so the electronic scoreboard displayed 1.00 instead of 10.00.

#5: Jesse Owens Sets Four World Records In 45 Minutes

A year before he made a mockery of Adolf Hitler’s Aryan superiority theory at the 1936 Olympics, Jesse Owens was already carving out his legacy as a generational athlete. The 1935 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, were the stage for what would become a truly legendary moment for Owens. Despite suffering a painful back injury the previous day, Owens equalled the world record in the 100-yard dash before setting world records in the long jump, the 220-yard sprint, and the 220-yard low hurdles. He did all of this within the space of around 45 minutes. A truly special display of speed, power, and incredible dynamism.

#4: Simone Biles Lands The Impossible Yurchenko Double Pike

Modern excellence in gymnastics has been perfectly defined by one athlete’s incredible run of results. Simone Biles became the first woman ever to successfully land a Yurchenko double pike in competition at the 2021 U.S. Classic before then repeating it at major championships internationally. Biles had been redefining what was expected of women’s gymnastics for years prior to this. While some experts believed that the Yurchenko double-pike was too dangerous for most athletes to even attempt, due to risk of catastrophic injury, Biles went out there and proved the world wrong.

#3: Michael Phelps Wins Eight Gold Medals In Beijing

When Mark Spitz took home seven Olympic gold medals in 1972, the idea of anybody beating that record was pretty far-fetched. However, when Michael Phelps started to pick up momentum in 2008, the impossible began to look increasingly more realistic. The versatility that Phelps displayed was astonishing, and when the dust had settled, he had eight gold medals in his possession. Seven of his victories came in world-record times, while the eighth required one of the closest finishes in Olympic history when teammate Jason Lezak produced an astonishing anchor leg to preserve America's relay victory. Phelps at Beijing 2008 is in the running for one of the greatest sustained displays of athletic excellence ever witnessed.

#2: Alex Honnold Free Solos El Capitán

The art of free soloing is truly among the most dangerous athletic pursuits in the world. Climbing monstrous rock walls without any harnesses or safety gear is not the kinda thing you can make mistakes at. Acclaimed climber Alex Honnold decided that he wanted to become the first person to free solo the Freerider route on El Capitán. The psychological and physical effort required is far beyond what the vast majority of athletes will ever encounter. Yet, when push came to shove, Honnold completed his journey, chronicling the climb in the award-winning documentary, “Free Solo”. A moment that redefined climbing forever.

#1: Usain Bolt Obliterates The 100m World Record

When you’re already a world-record breaker, a gold medal holder, and universally seen as the fastest man alive, there’s not too much else you can really do to prove your superiority. Or at least, that’s how most athletes would see it. Usain Bolt's 9.58-second 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin is widely regarded as the greatest sprint ever run. Despite already being the king, Bolt somehow improved his own mark by an astonishing 0.11 seconds, an enormous margin at the elite level where records are usually broken by hundredths. Bolt was way better than his contemporaries, and clearly faster than even his most devoted of fans realised.

But what do you consider to be the most impressive sporting performance of all-time? Let us know in the comments below.