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2012 sports year in review: records, achievements, plus sundry feats and streaks from Brees and Bryant to Cain and Ko

In any given year, hundreds of sports records, both large and small, fall, barriers are broken, and other notable achievements provide texture to the countless games, matches, and tournaments. 

In 2012, for example, swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever, his four golds and two silvers in London giving him 22 medals overall, including 18 gold.

In baseball, Detroit鈥檚 Miguel Cabrera won the first Triple Crown for hitting since 1967, when Boston鈥檚 Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in batting average, runs batted in, and home runs.

In basketball, Jeremy Lin set off a wave of 鈥淟insanity鈥� playing for the New York Knicks, while the long underachieving Los Angeles Clippers ended the year with a 17-game winning streak and only the third perfect month ever recorded in the NBA.

In football, Drew Brees surpassed Johnny Unitas by completing a touchdown pass in 54 consecutive games and the University of Wisconsin鈥檚 Montee Ball set a college record with 82 career touchdowns.

Women shone in numerous ways, including in sports where their presence was once nonexistent. British flyweight boxer Nicola Adams took the very first gold medal in Olympic boxing, while Russian weightlifter Tatiana Kashrina hoisted 333 pounds on a single lift. Meanwhile the women鈥檚 gold-medal soccer match, in which the US beat Japan, attracted 80,203 spectators to London鈥檚 storied Wembley Stadium, the best attended women鈥檚 Olympic soccer match ever.

Here are our 20 records and feats that caught our eye in 2012:

Brian Snyder/Reuters
US swimmer Michael Phelps holds up his award recognising him as the most decorated Olympian, during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre August 4. Phelps ended his incredible Olympic career on a perfect note, winning his eighteenth gold medal for the United States in the men's medley relay.

1. Squash streak squelched

  • By Ross Atkin Staff writer

The longest but most obscure winning streak in college sports history ended when Yale edged Trinity College of Hartford, Conn., 5-4, in men鈥檚 squash. That snapped the run of the 13-time defending national champions at 252 consecutive victories. A month later, Trinity lost the national title match by the same score, but this time the Bantams fell to Princeton. Trinity, which relies heavily on foreign players, was in a rebuilding year, after losing four seniors from its starting lineup.

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