# Longest winning streak in sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134 "2005-09-30T02:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/1 "2005-09-30T02:00:51Z")
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? And what team would have the longest streak(s)? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/2 "2005-09-30T02:12:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/3 "2005-09-30T02:14:35Z")
You probably don’t want to count the Globetrotters? But why not toss out their [8,829](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Globetrotters) straight wins just for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/4 "2005-09-30T02:17:00Z")
In 1984 the Detroit Tigers went 35-0 or 40-0 ( or something like that) in their first 40 games. (And went on to win the Stanley Cup against Secretariat in the Super Bowl.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/5 "2005-09-30T02:21:02Z")
I think that year they started 35-5. The longest winning streak I could find was 26 games by the 1916 NY Giants. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/6 "2005-09-30T02:23:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/7 "2005-09-30T02:41:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/8 "2005-09-30T02:53:40Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/9 "2005-09-30T03:19:29Z")
The UCLA basketball team won 88 straight games from 1972-4. That’s about as good as it gets for teams sports. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/10 "2005-09-30T03:19:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think that year they started 35-5. The longest winning streak I could find was 26 games by the 1916 NY Giants. That’s correct; Detroit’s 35-5 start is the best ever. The Giants’ 26 win streak is also the best ever. The same year they had another streak of 17 in a row. Amazingly, they finished fourth. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/11 "2005-09-30T03:46:49Z")
How about the United States in the America’s Cup? 132 years. The US team won from each series from 1851 until Australia won in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/12 "2005-09-30T03:51:17Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > The UCLA basketball team won 88 straight games from 1972-4. That’s about as good as it gets for teams sports. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/13 "2005-09-30T03:55:40Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > 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. Correction. They lost last March, ending the streak at 110 games. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-winning-streak-in-sports/324134/14 "2005-09-30T04:43:18Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > 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. While not as long a Mackay’s run, Jahangir Khan’s unbeaten stretch in men’s squash lasted for over 5 years and over 550 successive matches.