If anyone breaks these records, they deserve all the medals! Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for unbreakable Olympic records.
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00:00I thought I was the greatest thing since Smith Brothers' cough drops.
00:04I was like, get it, Bob!
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for unbreakable Olympic records.
00:13The world eagerly awaited what magic he could deliver in the final.
00:17Could he win in the biggest stage with all eyes on him?
00:21Number 10. Most medals won by a nation.
00:24For any of the modern Olympic Games,
00:26the United States is a strong contender to end up at the top of the medal count
00:30once everything's said and done.
00:31Their greatest output, though, was at the 1904 St. Louis Games,
00:34when they won a whopping 239 medals.
00:38The nation with the second most medals won was Germany, with 15.
00:42Granted, there were only 13 participating nations,
00:45but still, it's an absurd amount that will be very difficult to beat.
00:49There is a bit of controversy concerning the nationalities of some American athletes
00:53who had recently immigrated to the U.S. for the 1904 Games,
00:57but still, no nation has won more than 200 medals in a given Olympic Games.
01:02Number 9. Table tennis domination.
01:05Table tennis, also known as ping pong,
01:07was introduced as an Olympic sport at the 1988 Seoul Games.
01:16At those first games, both China and South Korea each won two gold medals.
01:21Since then, China has gone on to win nearly every single available gold medal for table tennis.
01:27In fact, China won a total of 32 gold medals up until the Paris 2024 Games.
01:32Other than the aforementioned South Korea,
01:35the only other nations to take the top spot are Japan and Sweden.
01:42It's hard to imagine another nation being capable of having the same level of domination as China.
01:48Number 8. Number of Olympic appearances.
01:50It is an accomplishment to make it to the Games as it is no cakewalk.
01:54I thought I would give anything to be able to be part of something like that.
01:58Miller from Elmer, Quebec, a 25-year-old.
02:02And just four short years later, at the Munich Olympics, he got his chance.
02:08Canada's Ian Miller has made it to an incredible 10 Olympic Games.
02:12He made his debut at the 1972 Munich Games where he competed in equestrian events.
02:17Save the 1980 Moscow Olympics,
02:19he would go on to attend subsequent competitions right up until London 2012.
02:28Although he is an accomplished show jumper, at the Olympic level,
02:32the only medal he won was at the 2008 Beijing Games where he earned a silver for team jumping.
02:37Georgian sports shooter Nino Salikvadze is tied with Miller in Olympic appearances
02:41and has medaled in 10 and 25-meter air pistol.
02:45Number 7. Youngest athlete to score 10 in gymnastics.
02:49Scoring a perfect 10 in gymnastics at one time was thought to be impossible.
02:54You're just in awe. You want to replicate the exact same thing.
02:57But it is very difficult and that's why she's the only one that has gotten it.
03:00That is until Romanian athlete Nadia Comaneci became the first to do so
03:04at the 1976 Montreal Games for her routine on the uneven bars.
03:08She was only 14 at the time, making her the youngest competitor to accomplish the feat.
03:14It was heroic what she did and the risks that she took.
03:18The scoreboards at the time weren't programmed to display 10 and only showed a score of 1.
03:23She would go on to score 10s in other events as well.
03:26The scoring system was updated in 2006, so a perfect score is near impossible.
03:31And the minimum age to compete is now 16.
03:34Unless there are further changes, her records will remain unbroken.
03:39I ended up going to the two Olympic Games and scoring the first perfect 10.
03:43That was not in the script for me.
03:44Number 6. Youngest athlete to win gold
03:48There are no specific requirements in terms of restricting how old
03:51an athlete has to be in order to compete at the Olympics.
03:54At the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer,
03:57Kim Yun-mi of South Korea won the gold medal in the 3,000 meter relay in speed skating.
04:02She was 13 years and 85 days old,
04:05making her the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Olympics.
04:09While there are no minimum age requirements set by the IOC,
04:13the regulating bodies of various sports can impose such restrictions,
04:16and the ISU has now set the minimum age at 15 to compete in international competitions.
04:21It remains unlikely for someone younger to win gold at such a high level of competition.
04:27Number 5. Consecutive gold medal wins
04:30From 1932 to 1960, Oledar Gerevich was a force to be reckoned with in fencing.
04:39He finished atop the podium a record six consecutive times in Team Sabre representing
04:48Hungary. During this impressive feat, two Olympic games were cancelled due to the outbreak of World
04:53War II, so it's possible he could have extended his streak. Interestingly, his wife, son,
05:03and father-in-law have all won Olympic medals in fencing, so it's a skill that runs in the family.
05:08It's difficult for athletes to have the competitive longevity that Gerevich had
05:12in order to break his record, as he was 50 when he won gold in 1960.
05:17Number 4. Highest women's pole jump
05:20Yelena Isenbaeva is considered one of the greatest pole vaulters of all time.
05:24She has the distinction of holding both the World and Olympic records for pole vaulting.
05:29She set the Olympic record at the 2008 Beijing Games, reaching a height of 5.05 meters.
05:38Just over a year later, she did slightly better in Zurich with a height of 5.06 meters.
05:50From 2004 to 2009, it's been Isenbaeva who has been setting and breaking pole vaulting records.
05:56Now that she's retired, we're not sure there's anyone out there to break her record.
06:00Number 3. Longest long jump
06:03At the 1968 Mexico City Games, American track and field athlete Bob Beeman
06:08completely obliterated the long jump record.
06:11In the thin air of Mexico City, Bob Beeman shattered the long jump record,
06:15jumping not just farther than anyone else ever had,
06:18but farther than anyone had imagined possible.
06:21His jump came in at 8.90 meters.
06:24When the record had been broken previously,
06:26there had only been marginal increases in length.
06:28But Beeman broke the previous record by nearly two feet.
06:32I struck the board and took off. I went up over six feet in the air.
06:38And I looked at my watch. I said, wow, I've been up here a long time.
06:43It would be the longest recorded long jump until Mike Powell jumped 8.95 meters.
06:49But that's for the world record.
06:51As far as Olympic records are concerned,
06:53Beeman's jump remains untouched for over 50 years,
06:56and we don't see that changing any time soon.
06:58If you can get a second in history, or if you can get five seconds in history
07:04that can make a difference, take it. Grab it.
07:09Number 2. Longest long jump
07:12At the World Championships in Tokyo,
07:14Michael Phelps's record will be difficult if not impossible to top.
07:18What a moment, not just for swimming, not just for Phelps,
07:23but for the Olympics in total.
07:26Currently, he has 23 gold medals and 28 in total.
07:30He also has the most gold medals for individual events with 13.
07:34For example, he has the most gold medals for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
07:39He also has the most gold medals for individual events with 13.
07:44For comparison, Ray Erie holds 8 golds, and that was over 100 years ago.
07:48Even at his first Olympic appearance at the 2004 Athens Games,
07:52he tied the record for medals won at an individual Games.
07:55Everything started with a dream of being an Olympic champion,
07:59and kind of being able to have that first opportunity in 04,
08:03and just building from there. They just kept on coming, so it's good.
08:08Phelps certainly made a splash right from the beginning,
08:11and it will be interesting to see if anyone can ever eclipse him,
08:14though it's not likely.
08:16As the sport inevitably evolves,
08:18there will be more swimmers who will swim faster than Michael Phelps.
08:21There could very well be a swimmer who wins 9 gold medals in a single Games,
08:26but nobody will ever be a champion like Michael Phelps.
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08:49Usain Bolt holds both the World and Olympic records for the fastest 100-meter dash.
08:54I want to be amongst the great Muhammad Ali, Pele and all these guys.
08:57This is what I aim for.
08:58Hopefully after these Olympics, I'll be in that bracket.
09:01Bolt set the world record in 2009 with a time of 9.58 seconds
09:05at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin.
09:08He set the Olympic record for the 100-meter dash of 9.63 seconds at the 2012 London Games.
09:14Of the two, the Olympic record is easier with heavy quotations to beat.
09:20In a star-studded race, he came up on top.
09:22Still, it's not likely.
09:24In Bolt's last appearance at the 2016 Rio Games,
09:28he placed first but with a time of 9.81 seconds.
09:31At the 2020 Tokyo Games, Italian sprinter Marcel Jacobs won with a time of 9.80 seconds.
09:38Which records do you think will be broken someday?
09:40Let us know in the comments.
09:42I wanted to be the greatest of all time.
09:44I went five straight years without missing a single day of workout.
09:47365 days a year.
09:48Every single day I was in the water.
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