We’re only one quarter through 2024, and although it might seem a lot longer, that’s enough time for a lot of sports records getting smashed. It’s been a hell of a year for sports victories across the board, whether you’re into rowing or ping pong. We’ve picked out some of the best records that we’ve seen in 2024 so far.
Ross County finally beat Rangers
If you’re a fan of soccer, you should know that there is rarely a sport more competitive than Scottish football, which is just one reason why the Ross County FC win over Rangers FC is so monumental. Rangers are juggernauts in the league, often only matched by their direct rivals, Celtic FC.
So there was a true underdog story unfolding in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday April 14th when they defeated Rangers 3-2. The team effort was easy to see from the stands and the screens, spearheaded by goals from Simon Murray, George Harmon, and Josh Sims.
The underdog story is a true lesson to other teams: it’s never too late to turn it around. Was it better training, more money, or did Rangers simply buckle under the pressure as they have been famed for doing for years now? Time will tell as the Scottish Premiership continues.
The emerging trend of using AI for sports betting – an industry that is as frontfooted as they coming, willing to embrace exciting tech developments – while typically accurate, wouldn’t have expected that Rangers would lose this game and leave the door open for Celtic FC to potentially go on and win their third successive league title ahead of this fixture. It certainly wasn’t reflected in the odds available at online gambling sites themselves, either – Ross County were given 10/1 compared to Rangers’ 2/9 on before kick off.
Super Bowl 2024: Kansas City Chiefs vs San Francisco 49ers
The 58th Super Bowl saw lots of records broken, not least the viewership which reached a monumental 123.4 million people according to Nielsen ratings. It was also the second time ever that the game went into overtime, making it the longest Super Bowl game ever and making for more viewing for those who weren’t there for the ads or Usher.
But the real record breaker was the Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, who shifted the ball 57-yards in a field goal, giving us the longest recorded field goal in Super Bowl history. He also contributed to a combined record of seven field goals in a Super Bowl game, making four while 49ers kicker made three.
Daniel Haugh (Men’s weight throw)
The weight throw Olympian, Daniel Haugh, is a Tokyo-born and bred machine! The weight throwing champion broke a 29 year old record that was set two months before his own birth, and then had the blasé, cool guy attitude to say it was “nice”.
The athlete told the press that breaking the world record was nice but he has his eyes on this year’s Paris Olympics, proving that there’s always a bigger goal to achieve.
The future Olympian was at the USATF Indoor Championships when he took part in the weight throw competition and threw a 35lb weight a whopping 26.35 meters! This broke the world record, previously set by Lance Deal with 25.86 meters.
Daniel Haugh isn’t shy about athletic achievements. He represented the USA twice in the hammer throw at the World Championships, twice stood on the podium at international competitions, namely the 2022 NACAC Championships and 2023 Pan Am Games and is regularly seen on the podium for national championships. We’ll be keeping an eye on him to see if he reaches a Paris podium in July.
Conclusion
There is so much to love about sports, from the roar of the crowd to personal achievements. It’s particularly satisfying to break a record. You see teams win Super Bowls every year, but to break a record is a once in a lifetime thing. To be “World Champion” is one thing, especially in a national sport, but to break a record is to make a lasting impact on the sport.
