Bolt shattered his old mark by 11-100ths of a second to set the new world record of 19.19 seconds.

VOA: standard.2009.08.21

Messi ended the year with 91 goals to his name as he beat the previous record mark of goals scored in a calendar year -- the 85 converted by Germany's Gerd Muller in 1972.

CNN: Messi crowned world's best for record fourth time

Many baseball fans already attach a mental asterisk to Bonds' career home run record or Mark McGwire's single-season home run record.

FORBES: Baseball Gets An *

He has the opportunity to break the Olympics' most hallowed record and eclipse Mark Spitz's seven gold medals in the 1972 games.

CNN: Phelps dives into Olympic history