- A1) Usain Bolt. His 9.58-second 100 meters on August 16 was 0.11 seconds faster than his gold medal-winning performance at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he let up before reaching the tape. Four days later he knocked the same amount off his 200-meter record, crossing in 19.19 seconds.
- A2) Matthew Stafford. On November 23 the first pick of the 2009 NFL Draft threw for 422 yards in the Detroit Lions' 38-37 victory over the Cleveland Browns, also becoming the youngest player in modern history to throw five touchdown passes in a game, including the last one with a separated shoulder.
- A3) Joey Logano. The 19-year-old won without a checkered flag at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on June 28 as he was leading Jeff Gordon when rain shortened the race from 301 to 273 laps.
- A4) Kentucky. The Wildcats defeated Drexel 88-44 on December 21, beating North Carolina and Kansas to the magic number.
- A5) Colt McCoy. The Texas Longhorn quarterback surpassed Georgia's David Greene with his 43rd win on November 21 and currently has 45 career wins, with the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama yet to be played.
- A6) Curtis Joseph. On April 8, the Toronto Maple Leafs netminder lost his 352nd game 3-1 to the Buffalo Sabres, tying Gump Worsley for the record despite being 102 games above .500 for his career.
- A7) Serena Williams. By raking in $6,545,586 the younger Williams sister smashed Justin Henin's two-year-old record ($5,429,586) by just over a million dollars and increased her record career earnings to $28,506,993.
- A8) Jose Calderon. The Toronto Raptors point guard shot missed only three times in 154 attempts (.981) in 2008-09 to smash the Houston Rockets' Calvin Murphy's 28-year old record of .958. Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics shot .952, the fourth best percentage ever (also behind Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's .956 in 1993-94).
- A9) Andy Pettitte. The Yankee hurler tied then passed John Smoltz's 15 postseason wins, finishing 2009 with 18.
- A10) Bemidji State University. The #16 seed out of 16 teams upset #2 Notre Dame 5-1 and #9 Cornell 4-1 to win the Midwest regional before falling to Miami of Ohio 4-1 in the semifinal.
- A11) Tiger Woods. The now-tarnished golfer purportedly eclipsed the mark with the ten million dollar FedEx Cup title bonus on September 27, beating basketball player Michael Jordan ($800 million) and race car driver Michael Schumacher ($700 million) to the milestone.
- A12) Pittsburgh Pirates. The Major League Baseball team that last won a World Series in 1979 has now failed to reach .500 in 17 straight seasons from 1993 to 2009. The previous record was held by the Philadelphia Phillies with 16 from 1933 to 1948.
For the record, here are some of the other more significant sports records set (or tied) in 2009:
- Major League Baseball
- Most consecutive home wins to start a MLB season: 2009 Dodgers (13, losing to the Washington Nationals 11-9 on May 7). The Detroit Tigers had started their 1911 season with 12 straight wins, while the 1983 Atlanta Braves, also skippered by Joe Torre, had won 10.
- Most games played as a catcher: Ivan Rodriguez passed Carlton Fisk (2,226 games) on June 17. Bob Boone dropped to third place (2,225).
- Most All-Star game saves: Mariano Rivera (4).
- Fewest games to hit 200 career home runs: Ryan Howard (658 games on July 16). Ralph Kiner had taken 706 games.
- Most career hits as a shortstop: Derek Jeter passed Luis Aparicio (2,673) on August 17.
- Most career home runs as a designated hitter: David Ortiz hit his 270th on September 15 against the Los Angeles Angels, passing Frank Thomas.
- Most strikeouts by a batter in a season: Mark Reynolds broke own one-year-old mark (204) with his 205th whiff on September 22 and finished with 223.
- Most assists by a first baseman: Albert Pujols broke Bill Buckner's 1985 major-league record with his 185th on October 4.
- Fewest wins by a Cy Young-winning starting pitcher (not including strike-shortened seasons): Tim Lincecum won the National League award with only 15 victories, while Zack Greinke captured the American League award with only one more, as voters have finally realized the relatively small correlation between a pitcher's performance and his win total compared to other statistical measures.
- NBA
- Most 3-point shots made by a team in a game: The Orlando Magic scored 23 three-pointers on January 13 against the Sacramento Kings, with nine players making at least one.
- Youngest to reach 5,000 career rebounds: Dwight Howard (23 years and 112 days old) scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds on March 30, passing Wilt Chamberlain (25 years and 128 days).
- Most 3-point shots made a rookie in a season: Rudy Fernandez sank his 159th in the Portland Trail Blazers' final regular season game on April 15.
- Most times leading the league in field goal percentage: Shaquille O'Neal of the Phoenix Suns captured his 10th crown with a .609 shooting percentage, .014 higher than his free throw shooting percentage.
- Youngest Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard (23 years and 4 months, Orlando Magic) edged Alvin Robertson (23 years and 9 months, 1985-86 Spurs).
- Largest margin of victory in a game: In a playoff game on April 27, the Denver Nuggets crushed the New Orleans Hornets 121-63. The Minneapolis Lakers had beaten the St. Louis Hawks by the same margin (133-75) in 1956.
- Youngest player to score 50 points in a game: On November 14, Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings dropped 55 points on the Golden State Warriors, three points short of the rookie record that Wilt Chamberlain set and tied in 1960.
- Most consecutive losses to start a season: The New Jersey Nets lost 18 straight games before beating the Charlotte Bobcats on December 4, edging the 1988-89 Heat and 1999 Clippers out of the record books.
- NCAA Basketball
- Most 20-win seasons by a coach: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim reached 20 wins for the 31st time, one more than North Carolina's Dean Smith.
- First conference to earn three #1 seeds in the NCAA Final Four tournament: Big East (Louisville, Connecticut and Pittsburgh)
- NCAA Football
- First defensive Associated Press College Football Player of the Year: Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh won the award ahead of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart to end an 11-year drought (all previous awards had been won by quarterbacks and running backs).
- Most career all-purpose yards: Brandon West of Western Michigan set FBS records for career all-purpose yards (7,764, passing Memphis's DeAngelo Williams on November 14) and career kick return yards (3,118, passing SMU's Jessie Henderson on November 7).
- Most consecutive passes without an interception: Russell Wilson of North Carolina State broke the Kentucky's Andre Woodson's previous record (325 from 2006-07) on September 19 and increased it to 379 before getting picked by Wake Forest.
- Most career kickoff return touchdowns: Clemson's C.J. Spiller took his seventh return to the house against South Carolina on November 28, eclipsing USC's Anthony Davis and Tulsa's Ashlan Davis.
- Most career combined passing, rushing, and receiving touchdowns: Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour sits at 148, one more than Hawaii's Colt Brennan and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, with one final chance at the GMAC Bowl.
- NFL
- Most catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns in a single postseason: Larry Fitzgerald caught 30 passes for 546 yards and 7 touchdowns.
- Most consecutive games played: Brett Favre played in his 271st straight game on September 20, breaking Minnesota defensive end Jim Marshall's record. Favre also extended almost all of his other records, including passing attempts, yards, and touchdowns.
- Highest completion percentage in a game (minimum 20 passes): The Arizona Cardinals' Kurt Warner went 24 for 26 (92.3%) for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns at Jacksonville on September 20.
- Most TD passes in one quarter: On October 18, Tom Brady shredded the Tennessee for five touchdowns in the second quarter, finishing with six for the game, one below the NFL record.
- Only NFL QB to throw for 300 yards in each of his first two starts: Kevin Kolb of the Philadelphia Eagles pulled off the trick subbing for an injured Donovan McNabb.
- Most years between 1,000-yard rushing seasons: The Miami Dolphins' Ricky Williams went six years between 1,000-yard seasons in 2003 and 2009, breaking up the logjam of Mike Garrett (1967 and 1972), Ottis Anderson (1984 and 1989), Ernest Byner (1985 and 1990), Gary Brown (1993 and 1998), and Mike Anderson (2000 and 2005).
- Most catches in a game: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught 21 passes for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts on December 13, breaking Terrell Owens's mark by one.
- Most consecutive NFL regular season wins: The Indianapolis Colts rung up 23 straight opponents before losing to the Jets after pulling their starters on December 28, two more than the New England Patriots' old record.
- Most regular season wins in a decade: The Indianapolis Colts won 114 games from 2000 to 2009, one more than the San Francisco 49ers did from 1990 to 1999.
- Most consecutive 1,500-yard receiving seasons: The Houston Texans Andre Johnson notched 1,575 yards in 2008-09 and 1,504 in 2009-10 (with one game to go), tieing the record of the Indianapolis Colts' Marvin Harrison (1,524 in 2001-02 and 1,722 in 2002-03).
- NHL
- Most consecutive games with a goal by a defenseman: On February 14, the Washington Capitals' Mike Green scored in his eighth consecutive game.
- Most career 3-on-5 shorthanded goals: On February 15, Philadelphia Flyers center Mike Richards became the first player do perform the feat three times.
- Most consecutive 30-win seasons to start a career by a goalie: On March 12, the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist won his 30th game for the fourth straight season.
- Most wins by a goalie: New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur won his 552nd game on March 17, passing Patrick Roy. Brodeur also passed Roy for most games and minutes played and passed Terry Sawchuk for career shutouts (104 to 103). He also extended several career records that he already held.
- Tennis
- Consecutive victories at the French Open: Rafael Nadal's streak reached 31 before Robin Soderling upset him. Bjorn Borg had held the male record of 28 and Chris Evert the overall record of 29.
- Most majors won: Roger Federer tied Pete Sampras with 14 majors by winning the French Open and passed him by capturing Wimbledon. Federer also has now reached the most Grand Slam finals, 21, two more than Ivan Lendl.
- Other
- Women's Pole Vault record: Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva vaulted an outdoor record 5.06 meters (16'7.25") in Zurich, Switzerland on August 28 to break her own record and had earlier become the first to clear 5 meters indoors (Donetsk on February 15).
- Lowest score in consecutive 18-hole rounds by a PGA player: Troy Matteson carded a 122 in rounds 2 and 3 of the Frys.com Open on October 23 and 24, eking past the old record of 123 by Steve Stricker in rounds 3 and 4 of the Bob Hope Classic earlier in the year.
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