In sports, a winning streak refers to a consecutive number of games won. A winning streak can be held by a team, as in baseball, football, basketball, hockey, or by an individual, as in tennis. A winning streak that extends through a single season is known as a perfect season.
The longest winning streak in any professional sports is Jahangir Khan's 555 consecutive wins in squash from 1981 to 1986. Currently, Esther Vergeer is on a 434-match winning streak in wheelchair tennis since January 30, 2003, which included a streak of 250 consecutive sets won.
A winning streak is not to be confused with an unbeaten streak, where teams can tie as well as win and keep their streak. For example, if a football team wins four games in a row, plays a draw, wins three more, plays two draws in a row, and then loses, they had a 10-game unbeaten streak. Their longest winning streak in this sequence was four. If a sports league declares overtime losses different from regulation losses in that they are scored like ties (such as ice hockey leagues where there is both a 4-on-4 overtime and a penalty shootout to break ties), an unbeaten streak (unlike a winning streak) continues if at the end of regulation, the game is tied. This is because losses in overtime and shootout are declared regulation ties, and teams accumulate one point for the draw. As such, if a team wins four consecutive games, then loses two consecutive games in overtime, then loses in a shootout, and then wins three consecutive games, that team has a ten-game unbeaten streak (seven wins and three ties at the end of regulation).
11 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — USA
7 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — USA
8 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — USA
5 consecutive titles at World Championships — Guo Jingjing
Note: gold medalist in the same event at Athens and Beijing Olympics
5 consecutive titles at World Championships — Guo Jingjing
Note: gold medalist in the same event at Athens and Beijing Olympics
5 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
13 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — USA
Note: excluding boycotted Moscow Olympics
6 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — USA
Note: excluding boycotted Moscow Olympics
8 consecutive titles at World Championships — USA
31 consecutive NCAA Men's Division III titles — Kenyon College
7 consecutive World Championships team titles — Russia
6 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — South Korea
5 consecutive world championships titles — South Korea [3]
122 races — Edwin Moses
Note: this streak included an Olympic gold medal and two improvements of his own world records.
75 races — Emil Zatopek[1]
4 consecutive Olympic titles — Al Oerter
65 consecutive competitions - Carl Lewis
4 consecutive Olympic titles — Carl Lewis
8 consecutive Olympic titles — USA
6 consecutive World Championships — Sergey Bubka
16 consecutive Olympic titles — USA
5 consecutive World Championships (tie)
9 consecutive Olympic titles — USA
8 consecutive Olympic titles — USA
8 consecutive Olympic titles — USA
7 consecutive Olympic titles - Kenya
140 to 150 competitions[3] — Iolanda Balaş
Note: this streak included 2 Olympic gold medals and 14 improvements of the world record.
7 wins — Michael Schumacher
8 consecutive World Championships — Sébastien Loeb
10 wins — 1967 Richard Petty
Note: Many NASCAR Cup Series records are differentiated between pre-1972 and post-1972 records. Three major changes were made for that season:
Many NASCAR streaks came when the series had shorter races — some were under 100 miles. As a result, some NASCAR records are differentiated that way, similar to the NBA differentiating "fewest points" records with pre and post-1954 records, when the 24-second shot clock was introduced.
4 wins (tie) (length of shortest race, in miles, in brackets):
- 1976 Cale Yarborough (216.8)
- 1981 Darrell Waltrip (250)
- 1987 Dale Earnhardt (250)
- 1991 Harry Gant (250)
- 1992 Bill Elliott (300)
- 1993 Mark Martin (220.5)
- 1998 Jeff Gordon (220.5)
- 2007 Jimmie Johnson (263) Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to win 5 consecutive chapionships in the sprint cup series
Note: In seven of the eight instances, at least one of the wins was in a 500-mile race. Mark Martin's 1993 streak ended at Darlington, where the Mountain Dew Southern 500 was stopped 16 laps early because of darkness.
7 Consecutive Men's titles at Olympic Games — USA
33 games — 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers
90 games — Connecticut
Note: The Wayland Baptist University women's basketball team achieved a winning streak of 131 games which started November 7, 1953 and ended March 20, 1958 (ended by Nashville Business School 42-46). However, a national organizing structure for women's intercollegiate basketball did not exist until the AIAW was established in 1971; the NCAA did not begin organizing women's sports until 1981. Wayland Baptist instead played in competitions sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union.[4]
By NCAA convention, the "regular season" does not include games in conference tournaments or in any national postseason tournament.
71 games — Connecticut
88 games — UCLA
By NCAA convention, the "regular season" does not include games in conference tournaments or in any national postseason tournament.
74 games — UCLA
9 consecutive World Cup titles — Cuba
26 games — New York Giants
Note: The Giants tied the Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader 1-1 on September 18, 1916. Major League Baseball excludes all games which end in ties from their official statistics. The longest winning streak without ties in Major League Baseball is 21 games, achieved by the Chicago Cubs in 1935. The Oakland Athletics hold the American League record at 20 games, set in 2002.
24 consecutive winning decisions — Carl Hubbell, New York Giants
Note: Hubbell's streak was achieved in 27 games as he also pitched three no-decisions. In baseball, only losing decisions can end winning streaks by pitchers.
34 games (tie):
46 games — 2000 Savannah State University
44 games — 2008 Trinity College (Connecticut)
41 games — 1990 Point Park College (Pittsburgh, PA)
7 consecutive World Championships — USA
16 matches — Australia
Note: Australia equalled this record with another 16 wins in a row from December 2005 until January 2008.
21 matches — Australia
8 matches - England
20 matches (17 ODIs and 3 tests) - Australia[6]
25 matches - Sialkot Stallions (Pakistan)[7]
87 — Julio César Chávez (light welterweight)[8]
Note: After two more wins Chávez lost to Frankie Randall on 29 January 1994 to end an unbeaten streak of 90 matches.
Longest unbeaten streak[9]
103 — Jimmy Wilde (flyweight)[10]
Note: all fights were in the UK against boxers of the UK. The records for international fights are:
93 — Pedro Carrasco (lightweight)[11]
91 — Sugar Ray Robinson (middleweight)[12]
3 consecutive Olympic gold medals (tie)
7 consecutive Olympic heavyweight titles — Cuba
Note: excluding boycotted Los Angeles and Seoul Olympics
6 consecutive heavyweight World Championships — Félix Savón
Note: winner of 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals (1992–2000)
6 consecutive titles at World Championships — Ryoko Tani
20 fights — Miguel Torres
22 fights — Megumi Fujii
Longest unbeaten streak
32 fights (30 wins, 1 draw, 1 no contest) — Igor Vovchanchyn
The Undertaker have the winning streak in WWE Wrestlemania 19-0.
187 consecutive matches including 1964 Tokyo Olympics — Osamu Watanabe
Note: The only modern Olympian to go unbeaten throughout his entire career.
6 consecutive Men's heavyweight Olympic titles — USSR
Note: excluding boycotted Los Angeles Olympics
13 years including 3 consecutive Olympics titles (1988–1996) — Alexander Karelin [4]
6 consecutive Men's heavyweight Olympic titles — USSR
Note: excluding boycotted Los Angeles Olympics
6 consecutive titles at World Championships — Sergey Beloglazov [5]
19 consecutive team titles at World Championships — USSR
9 consecutive titles at World Championships — Alexander Karelin
Note: winner of 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals (1988–1996)
21 consecutive team titles at World Championships — USSR and Russia
6 consecutive team titles at World Championships — Japan
159 matches — Cael Sanderson, Iowa State
Note: never lost a single NCAA match in entire collegiate career (1998–2002)
459 consecutive matches — Brandon High School, Brandon, Florida[13][14]
69 matches — Futabayama Sadaji
7 consecutive Tour de France - Lance Armstrong
5 consecutive Women's sprint world championships - Félicia Ballanger
Note: winner of 3 Olympic gold medals in cycling
15 consecutive Women's sprint world championships - USSR
7 consecutive Olympic Team titles — Germany
9 consecutive World Championships — Germany
12 races — Gordon Richards
19 FIFA World Cup appearances — Brazil
Note: Brazil is the only national football team to have played in every World Cup.[6]
15 consecutive FIFA World Cup second round qualifications — Germany
Note: Spain (7 Feb 2007 - 24 Jun 2009) also shares with Brazil (16 Dec 1993 - 21 Jan 1996) the unbeaten record of 35 games. Brazil's loss at the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was by the under-23 (Olympic) team, but is officially counted as a loss of the national team.[17] Otherwise the Brazil national team wouldn't lose until 30 May 1997 (2:4 vs Norway), thus extending it to 45 games.
24 games — Coritiba Foot Ball Club [18][19]
32 games — 2001-2003 Al-Faisaly [20][19]
29 games — 1971-1973 S.L. Benfica[21]
28 games — 2007-2008 Dinamo Zagreb[21]
25 games — 2003-2004 Celtic F.C.[21]
22 games — 1987-1988 PSV Eindhoven[21]
17 games — 2006-2007 F.C. Internazionale Milano[21]
16 games — 2010-2011 F.C. Barcelona[22]
16 games — 1963–1964 Club Universidad de Chile
15 games — 2005-2006 Bayern Munich[21]
15 games — Los Angeles Galaxy[23]
Note: This streak was achieved when MLS used a shootout rule to eliminate tie games. Only one of those wins was achieved through a shootout. After the 1999 season, MLS abolished the shootout in favor of the international model of letting regular-season ties stand.
14 games — Arsenal F.C.[21]
12 games — 1978-1978 Guarani[21]
The three longest undefeated streaks in domestic top level leagues are:[24]
Note: Steaua București played 16 domestic cup games during the streak, of which only the first was lost. Overall, after a cup loss to Dinamo Bucuresti on 25 June 1986 to their league loss on 9 September 1989 to Dinamo, Steaua was undefeated in 119 consecutive domestic games.[25]
23 wins — 1952-53 Geelong Cats
Consecutive Games Won (Regular Season and Playoffs)
21 games — New England Patriots
Consecutive Regular Season Games Won
23 games — Indianapolis Colts
Consecutive Regular Season Home Games Won
25 games — Green Bay Packers
NCAA Division I
47 games — Oklahoma Sooners
Longest unbeaten streak
63 games (59-0-4) — Washington Huskies
NCAA Division II
40 games — Grand Valley State Lakers
Note: This streak includes playoff games.
NCAA Division III
55 games — Mount Union Purple Raiders
Note: This streak includes playoff games. Mount Union also holds the record for most consecutive regular season victories, winning 110 games between 1994-2005.
24 wins — Quad City Steamwheelers
Consecutive Games Won (Regular Season and Playoffs) 16 wins — Baltimore Mariners
Consecutive Regular Season Games Won 15 wins — Baltimore Mariners
40 games — Sioux Falls Storm
22 games — Calgary Stampeders
Note: The streak only includes the regular season. It was also achieved back when the Stampeders played in the Western Interprovincial Football Union, which later became the Canadian Football League West Division. The CFL was not formally founded until 1958, although the records of the WIFU and the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in Eastern Canada (forerunner to the Canadian Football League East Division) were incorporated into the league.
19 games — Laval Rouge et Or[27]
Note: The streak also includes playoff games.
17 matches (tie)
NRL - Canterbury Bulldogs (17) - Round 3 to Round 21 2002
4 consecutive wins - Tiger Woods
In 1930, Bobby Jones won the 4 major championships that he, as an amateur, was eligible to enter - the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, the British Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur Championship.
11 wins — 1945 Byron Nelson
5 wins (tie):
1978 — Nancy Lopez
2004-2005 — Annika Sörenstam
10 consecutive Women's Team all-around titles at Olympic Games — USSR and Unified Team
Note: excluding boycotted Los Angeles Olympics
9 consecutive World Championships — USSR
Longest Winning Streak by a Team
17 games — Pittsburgh Penguins
Note: Pittsburgh tied New Jersey 6-6 on April 10, 1993 to end the regular season. They won an additional three games to start the 1993 playoffs before losing for the first time in 21 games on April 25, 1993 to New Jersey, 1-4.
Longest Unbeaten Streak by a Team
35 Games — Philadelphia Flyers
Note: The 35 game stretch includes 10 ties.
Longest Winning Streak By a Goaltender
17 games — 1975-1976 Gilles Gilbert, Boston Bruins
25 games — 1984 Kitchener Rangers[29]
Note: The London Knights hold the CHL record for the longest unbeaten streak with 31 games in 2004. During that streak, the Knights compiled a record of 29-0-2-0.[30]
18 games — Syracuse Crunch[31]
Note: The longest winning streak in one season was achieved by the Philadelphia Phantoms with 17 games between Oct. 22, 2004 and Nov. 27, 2004.
21 games — New York Aviators
22 games — Cardiff Devils
22 games — Buffalo Bandits
33 games-- Sonoma State University
25 games — 1873-1882 Wilhelm Steinitz
8 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
10 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
5 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — China
5 consecutive titles at the World Team Championships — Indonesia
6 consecutive titles at the World Team Championships — China
555 matches — Jahangir Khan
Note: This is the longest winning streak in sports history (in number of wins).
NB: Heather McKay (Australia) may hold a claim to having the longest winning streak as she went unbeaten for 19 years (1962–1981)
10 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
5 consecutive titles at Olympics Games — China
Notes: The doubles events were replaced by team events in 2008 Beijing Olympics.
6 consecutive titles at World Championships — Angelica Rozeanu [7]
6 consecutive titles at Olympics Games — China
9 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
6 consecutive titles at World Championships — Mária Mednyánszky and Anna Sipos
12 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
5 consecutive titles at Olympics Games — China
Notes: The doubles events were replaced by team events in 2008 Beijing Olympics.
8 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
11 consecutive titles at World Championships — China
46 matches — Guillermo Vilas (Open era record)[33]
Note: Open era winning streaks on different playing surfaces are also recognized. Roger Federer holds the record for the longest winning streak on grass courts (65 matches) and hard courts (56 matches), Rafael Nadal holds the record for the longest winning streak on clay courts (81 matches), while Ivan Lendl holds the record for the longest winning streak on indoor courts (66 matches). Vilas won his 46 consecutive matches all on clay courts.[33] Also, John McEnroe has the record for best start to a year, going 42-0 in 1984. Novak Djokovic had 43-match winning streak until his loss to Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the 2011 French Open, a streak that included a 41-0 start to 2011.
From 1919 through 1938, she (Helen Wills Moody)amassed a 398–35 (0.919) match record,[2] including a winning streak of at least 158 matches, during which she did not lose a set.
74 matches — Martina Navratilova
Note: Chris Evert currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on clay courts (125 matches), that is also the longest winning streak on single surface (male or female).
10 consecutive US Open women's doubles titles — Margaret Osborne duPont
434 matches — Esther Vergeer
137 Matches — University of Miami
(Note: Miami had won 72 consecutive matches prior to the streak...and had a 59 match streak before that...meaning Miami won 268 of 270 matches over a 15-year period...1949-1964)
89 Matches — Stanford University
8 consecutive titles at Olympic Games — USA
25 Cups — United States
Note: With 132 years, this is the longest winning streak (in years) in sports history.
4 consecutive Olympic titles — Paul Elvstrøm
112 match wins, 19 tournament wins — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, United States
109 matches — Penn State women's volleyball
Note: winner of 4 consecutive NCAA championships (2007–2010)
75 matches - Concordia University, Saint Paul women's volleyball
Note: winner of 5 consecutive NCAA championships (2007–2011)
3 consecutive Olympic gold medals (tie)
7 consecutive heavyweight Olympic titles — USSR
Note: excluding boycotted Los Angeles Olympics
6 consecutive super heavyweight Olympic titles — USSR
Note: excluding boycotted Los Angeles Olympics
8 consecutive titles at World Championships — Vasiliy Alekseyev
8 consecutive women's relay World Championships — USSR
3 consecutive Olympic gold medals (tie)
10 consecutive titles (1927–1936) at World Figure Skating Championships — Sonja Henie
10 consecutive titles at World Figure Skating Championships — Irina Rodnina
Note: winner of three consecutive Olympic titles from 1972 to 1980
10 consecutive titles at European Figure Skating Championships — Irina Rodnina
12 consecutive Olympic titles — USSR, Unified Team and Russia
Note: this streak includes a win reduced to a draw after the 2002 Olympics.
14 consecutive titles at World Figure Skating Championships — USSR
17 consecutive titles at European Figure Skating Championships — USSR
105 consecutive women's World Cup races — Germany [11]
11 consecutive women's singles World Championships — Germany
8 consecutive mixed team relay World Championships — Germany
53 consecutive 5000 m races — Hjallis Andersen [12]
12 consecutive 10000m World Championships — Netherlands
9 consecutive men's allaround World Championships — Netherlands
15 consecutive women's allaround World Championships — USSR
83 consecutive world cup, world championship, and Olympic 500 m races — Wang Meng [13]
Note: Wang Meng also has a current winning streak of six 500 m Short Track Speed Skating World Cups (2005–2010)