In 2011, two men paraglided from the summit of Mt. Everest, arriving at a village in 42 minutes and avoiding the dangerous conventional 3 day descent.
6
In England, there's a phenomenon called the "half-time kettle effect" where power use surges at half-time during England's matches in the World Cup as everyone turns on their tea kettles at the same time.
3
The fastest red card in football/soccer history was 2 seconds when Lee Todd was sent off for foul language after he exclaimed "f**k me, that was loud" after the starting whistle.
11
There is a basketball court on the top floor of the U.S. Supreme Court Building. It’s known as the “highest court in the land.”
24
Boxer Wladimir Klitshko auctioned his Olympic gold medal to raise money for underprivileged Ukrainian children. He raised $1,000,000. The buyer immediately returned the medal to Wladimir as he wanted it to remain in the Klitschko family.
4
Kobe Bryant was named after a steak.
26
Lars Andersen has rediscovered an ancient form of archery that allows him to shoot 10 arrows in 4.9 seconds, while it takes others 13-35 seconds. He is even faster than the fictional archer Legolas in the Lord of the Rings series.
16
There is a sport called Banzai Skydiving. You throw the parachute out of the airplane first and then jump after it.
17
In 1998, Serena and Venus Williams said they could beat any man ranked 200 or worse in a game of tennis. Karsten Braasch, ranked 203, accepted the challenge and easily beat them, 6-1, 6-2.
16
Hockey player Jarome Iginla donates $2,000 to the children’s charity Kidsport for every goal he scores. Since 2000 it has added up to more than $700,000.
12
There is a growing sport in Berlin and London called Chess Boxing. Players alternate between a round of chess and a round of boxing until one is declared winner either by checkmate, KO, or technical stoppage.
8
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
433
Left-handed people are better at sports that require good spatial judgment and fast reaction, compared to right-handed individuals.
94
The household wrench was invented by boxing heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in 1922.
51
A 'face-off' in hockey was originally called a 'puck-off'.
70
All major league baseball umpires must wear black underwear while on the job!
104