-69
Derby County's goal difference at the end of the Premier League season
-30
Points total at which Luton Town started the 2008-09 season after deduction
for financial problems
0
Dollars won by England cricketers at the Stanford Super Series
0
Hurdles cleared in competition by Liu Xiang at the Olympic Games
0.01
Winning margin in seconds for Michael Phelps in the 100 metres butterfly final
at the Olympic Games
0.07
Winning margin in seconds for Rebecca Adlington in the 400 metres freestyle
0.025
Points by which Beth Tweddle missed a medal in the asymmetric bars at the
Olympic Games
1
Rugby union matches won by England under Martin Johnson
1
Olympic medals won by Mauritius; the first was won this year by Bruno Julie, a
bantamweight boxer who took a bronze
1
Matches won by Derby County in the Premier League
1
Points by which Lewis Hamilton won the drivers' world championship
1
Members of the Great Britain track cycling team who failed to win an Olympic
medal; Mark Cavendish was the one who missed out
1
Legs used by Tiger Woods to win the US Open
2
Sports in which Rebecca Romero has won an Olympic medal
2
Sports in which Rebecca Romero has been a world champion
2
Masters Series events won in a year by Andy Murray
2
Combined total of career Masters Series events won by Tim Henman and Greg
Rusedski
2
147 breaks compiled at the World Championship at the Crucible this year;
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter were the players
2
Ferdinand brothers who scored on the same day (January 12); first Premier
League brothers to do so
3
Gold medals won by Chris Hoy at the Olympic Games; the first British athlete
to win three golds at the same Games since Henry Taylor in 1908
3
Competitions in which Chelsea finished runner-up
3
Kicks from Danny Cipriani charged down, each resulting in a try conceded, in
his first six internationals
3
Horses trained by Paul Nicholls in the first three of the Cheltenham Gold Cup;
Denman, Kauto Star, Neptune Collonges
3
Goals scored by Theo Walcott for England against Croatia in September
3
Managers employed by Newcastle United in 2008
3
Gold medals won by Usain Bolt at the Olympic Games
3
Gold medals won at successive Olympic Games by Ben Ainslie
3
Batsmen who have scored two Test-match triple-centuries: Virender Sehwag joins
Brian Lara and Sir Donald Bradman
4
Stages in the Tour de France won by Mark Cavendish
4
English clubs in the quarter-finals of the Champions League
4
Wins from four matches for England in the qualifying phase for the World Cup,
their best start ever
4
Great Britain's position in the Olympic medals table
4
Times Rafael Nadal has played in the French Open
4
Times Rafael Nadal has won the French Open
4
Games won by Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal in the French Open final
4
World ranking of Andy Murray
5
Successive victories in the US Open by Roger Federer
5
Matches won by Wales to complete a rugby union Grand Slam
5
Finishing position of Lewis Hamilton in the last Formula One race of the
season
5
England footballers who have won 100 caps, after David Beckham joined them
5.05
Height in metres cleared by Yelena Isinbayeva to win and set a world record in
the women's pole vault at the Olympic Games
6
Victories for Andy Murray in 2008 against the “big three” of Rafael Nadal,
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
6
Months in prison to which Joey Barton was sentenced
7
Batsmen who have scored more than 10,000 Test runs after Ricky Ponting and
Rahul Dravid joined Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Steve
Waugh and Allan Border
7
Banned substances taken by Dwain Chambers
8
Olympic gold medals won by Great Britain in a single weekend
8
Gold medals won by Michael Phelps at a single Olympic Games
9
Olympic gold medals won by British rowing crews under the coaching of Jürgen
Grobler
9
I47 breaks compiled by Ronnie O'Sullivan in competitive snooker, overtaking
Stephen Hendry
9.69
Seconds it took Usain Bolt to run 100 metres, win the Olympic gold medal and
set a world record
10
Innings between Mark Ramprakash's 99th and 100th first-class centuries
10
Consecutive no-balls from Zaid Mir in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Twenty20
memorial tournament, before he was removed from the attack, with figures of
0-0-31-0
10
Premier League titles won by Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs
11
Points scored by Derby County in the Premier League, a record low
13
Age in years of Tom Daley when he became the youngest European diving champion
13
Grand-slam titles won by Roger Federer, one short of Pete Sampras's record
13
Grand Nationals without victory for Tony McCoy
13
Olympic silver medals won by Great Britain
13
National Hunt jockey titles won by Tony McCoy
14
Olympic medals won by the British Olympic cycling team
14
Career Olympic gold medals won by Michael Phelps, five more than anyone else
14
Days by which Francis Joyon beat Ellen MacArthur's single-handed
round-the-world sailing record, finishing in 57 days, 13hr 34min 6sec
15
Olympic bronze medals won by Great Britain
16
Successive Test matches won by Australia until India broke the sequence
16
Years as a first-class county before Durham won the championship
16
Sixes in a Twenty20 innings of 152 for Graham Napier of Essex
17.5
Seconds between Lewis Hamilton overtaking Timo Glock and passing the finish
line at the Brazilian Grand Prix to win the championship
19
Olympic gold medals won by Great Britain
19.30
Time in seconds it took Usain Bolt to run 200 metres, win the gold medal and
set a world record
22
Teams against whom Cristiano Ronaldo scored last season
22
Group One winners trained by Aidan O'Brien in a season, a record
26
Test matches won by England under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan, a record
28
Years without a win for Anthony Knott, amateur jockey, until he won on Wise
Men Say at Wincanton
33
Years Australia held the rugby league World Cup until their defeat by New
Zealand
36
Points by which England lost to South Africa at Twickenham in August, a record
margin
36
Age in years of Mike Wherley, of Oxford, oldest man to win the Boat Race
37
World records broken at the Olympic Games
39
Suggested games for the Premier League season, one of them abroad
41
Strides required by Usain Bolt to run 100 metres
42
Goals scored in all competitions for Manchester United by Cristiano Ronaldo in
2007-08 season
48
Years British women had failed to win a swimming gold medal until Rebecca
Adlington's first victory
58
Seconds between Carlos Sastre, the Tour de France winner, and Cadel Evans, the
second finisher, after more than 87 hours and 3,500 kilometres
70
Percentage of the available track cycling medals won by Britain (seven out of
ten)
77
Number of requests to protest in official zones at the Beijing Olympics (none
was granted)
78.9
Percentage of Britain's Olympic gold medals (15 out of 19) won sitting down
86
Undefeated games for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League before
their defeat by Liverpool
100
Kevin Pietersen's first score as England captain
102
Paralympic medals won by Great Britain
104
Years before Hull City played in English football's top division
129
Speed in mph of a serve from Venus Williams at Wimbledon, a women's record
167
Consecutive starts for Brad Friedel, for Blackburn Rovers, his former club,
and Aston Villa in the Premier League, a record
237
Weeks at No 1 for Roger Federer, until displaced by Rafael Nadal
256
Defeats for boxer Peter Buckley, who retired after winning bout number 300
278
Balls required by Virender Sehwag to hit a triple-century
288
Minutes played in Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, a
record
413
Points played in Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer
759
Landmark figure of appearances for Manchester United when Ryan Giggs came on
as substitute during the Champions League final, beating the record of Sir
Bobby Charlton
1,099
International points scored by Jonny Wilkinson, a record
12,000
Milestone in Test runs passed by Sachin Tendulkar, overtaking Brian Lara's
record of 11,953
34,200,000
Amount in pounds paid by Manchester City for Robinho
87,000,000
Career transfer fees in pounds for Nicolas Anelka
150,000,000
Premier League spending in pounds on transfers in January, a record
160,000,000
Amount in pounds spent by China on the opening ceremony at the Olympics
200,000,000
Estimated purchase price in pounds of Manchester City
500,000,000
Premier League spending in pounds on summer transfers, a record
Champagne reception
Many thanks to all who entered the Magic Numbers competition this year. There
were, as always, many duplications: the decision on champagne-worthiness was
based on earliness and multiplicity of entry and when all else failed a draw
from the hat.
Commiserations to the losers, congratulations and a bottle of glorious
Taittinger champagne to Jon Fisher, Mark Brookman, Steven Boyde, Carolyn
Cheyney, Ian Munro, Jon Robertson, Colin Bramble, Chris Darvell, Henry
Defriez, David Reid, Mike Halsall, Paul Bodin, Jane Milvee, David Lilley,
Richie O'Connell, Richard Warnock, Alison Wride, Mac Baldwin, Noelle
Bannocks, Stephen Wilson, Satbir Gupta, Graham Smith, Mark Reilly, Gavin
Hodgson.
