We can do it by time–most years between losses, or by wins–largest number of contests between losses. We should also have separate lists for individuals and for teams.
I’m thinking Edwin Moses might have both in the individual category. Does any individual have a longer win streak?
The NBA record is 33, by the Lakers. I’m pretty sure that’s longer than anything in baseball or football. There are ties in hockey, so I’m not sure about that…
The New England Patriots went about a year without losing just recently.
Julio Cesar Chavez, El Gran Campeon Mexicano, boxed thirteen years and 88 fights, winning them all, before being held to a draw against Pernell Whitaker.
Longest winning streak in terms of years: The New York Yacht club’s winning of the America’s cup: First won in 1851, finally lost in 1983, having successfully held the cup for 132 years.
Most baseball world championships in a row was five for the 1949-1953 Yankees, though obviously they lost some games in that span.
Al Oerter (discus) and Carl Lewis (long jump) have the longest Olympic winning streaks, both winning four gold medals in four olympics. Oerter gets the nod, since he only competed in one event; Lewis competed in others and did not win in all of them.
Australian squash player Heather Mackay was unbeaten in competition from 1962 until her retirement in 1981. During this time she won British Women’s Squash Championship 16 times and the Australian Women’s Squash Championships for 14 consecutive years. She only lost twice in her career in 1959 and 1960. She only lost one set in the 5 years from 1974 to 1979.
The University of Winnipeg women’s basketball team won 88 straight games from 93-95.
The University of Calgary women’s hockey team hasn’t lost in 97 games, but they gave up a tie in 2003. The streak is ongoing, but is of course merely an unbeaten streak, and not a winning streak.