#2 Edwin Moses, Athletics
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Freak Feat: Won 107 consecutive 400m hurdles Finals between 1977 and 1987
If Johan Cruyff invented ‘Total Football’, Edwin Moses probably invented ‘Total Domination’. Moses, a two-time Olympic Gold medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Games (The US had boycotted Moscow 1980), won an unprecedented 122 races including 107 Finals between 1977 and 1987.
He set the world record 4 times in the event and exited the world stage as a Bronze medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. His streak lasted just short of 10 years, and if you look up the sports section of the newspapers of those times, one would realize how big a deal it really was.
When it ended, some believed the streak was so good to be true, that it was a good thing it ended and took off pressure from Moses, who didn’t just need to win, he had to cater to the expectations of a frenzied crowd who wanted the streak to go on and on.
His wife said in an interview after he lost the streak-ending-race, "You know what his horoscope said that day? It said, 'This is not a day to pursue your desires. The planets are not favorable now.' In other words, don't do it. I was going to try to get in touch with him. But there's no way I could have done so. What were they going to say? Moses is not running because his wife told him not to after reading his horoscope?"
Whether otherworldly spirits were involved in Moses’ streak ending or not, one thing is for sure, it was the rage of the day while it lasted!
