Winning is the main point of competing in sporting tournaments.
However, in attempting to be the best, some athletes take extra steps that set them apart from their counterparts.
In doing this, they set impressive records that get them included in the Guinness Book of World Records.
With many sports still struggling to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, let’s take a look at some of sports’ record-breaking stars
Athlete: Wayne Rooney
Sport: Football
Record: Most goals scored in the English Premier League by a football player for one club
Wayne Rooney enjoyed a fantastic career at Manchester United for 13 years from 2014 to 2007 scoring goals for fun in that time.
Rooney netted 183 times for the club in the Premier League to set a new record for the most goals scored by a player for a single club.
His first goal came on October 24, 2004, against Arsenal with his record-setting 176th strike coming against Liverpool on 17 January 2016. Rooney went on to score seven more times before making a move back to Everton.
The previous record had been held by Thierry Henry who scored 175 times for Arsenal.
Athlete: Serena Williams
Sport: Tennis
Record: Longest span of Grand Slam singles titles by a tennis player (open era)
Serena Williams is arguably the best woman to step on a tennis court, having won 23 Grand Slam titles over the course of her career.
She won her first at the US Open on September 11, 1999. 17 years and 139 days later, she won her 23rd at the Australian Open on 28 January 2017.
This is the longest period between the first and most recent Grand Slam for a tennis player. The longest for a male tennis player in the open era is 13 years 207 days for Roger Federer.
In between that, she’s won both Grand Slam multiple times as well as Wimbledon and the French Open.
She’s gone close to extending her record, having reached two Wimbledon and two US Open finals since her last Grand Slam win but is still chasing her 24 Slam.
Athlete: Sebastián Abreu
Sport: Football
Record: Most professional football (soccer) teams played for by an individual
Ghanaians will not have fond memories of Sebastián Abreu, as he scored the delicate final penalty for Uruguay as they knocked the Black Stars out of the World Cup in 2010.
Abreu might, however, be too busy finding new clubs to bother about what anyone thinks about him.
He has now played for a staggering 27 teams after he signed for Chilean side, Club Deportivo Magallanes July 1, 2018.
The other clubs he’s played for include Real Sociedad, River Plate and Botafogo.
Athletes: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao
Sport: Boxing
Record: Highest revenue earned from ticket sales for a boxing match
This much-anticipated fight earned $72,198,500 from ticket sales. A total of 16,219 tickets were sold for the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, USA, on May 2, 2015.
The figures from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, published on May 12 beat the previous record from the fight between Mayweather and Alvarez in 2013 in from $20,003,150 was earned from the sale of 16,146 tickets.
The fight was won by Mayweather.
Athlete: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Sport: Football
Record: Most English Premier League assists by a defender in a single season
The Liverpool and England right-back was a revelation in the previous season and one of the major reasons Liverpool finished just one point behind the eventual league winners.
Aside his defensive work, Alexander-Arnold picked up 12 assists during the 2018/19 season a record for a Premier League defender in a single season.
Athlete: Robert Lewandowski
Sport: Football
Record: A bunch of them
Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in September 2015 for Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg.
He scored three goals in four minutes, from the 51st to the 55th before quickly adding two more, including a spectacular volley, to become the first Bundesliga player to score five times in nine minutes.
Lewa was also honoured for scoring the fastest four goals in a Bundesliga match (5 minutes 42 seconds), fastest five goals scored in a Bundesliga match (8 minutes 59 seconds) and most goals scored by a substitute in a Bundesliga match (5 goals).
