0 Minutes of international rugby union played by Jonny Wilkinson in 2004.
0 Matches won by Greece in leading tournament finals before Euro 2004.
0 Number of Olympic races completed by Paula Radcliffe.
0.01 Margin of victory in seconds by Britain’s 4 x 100 metres relay team.
0.08 Margin of victory in seconds by the Great Britain coxless four.
2 Number of Olympic gold medals won by Kelly Holmes.
2 Penalties missed by David Beckham at the European Championship finals.
2 Gold medals at successive Games won by Shirley Robertson and Ben Ainslie, the Britain sailors.
2 Olympic medals won by Britain swimming team (neither of them gold).
2 Grand-slam semi-finals reached by Tim Henman this year, his best season.
2 Gold medals won by Hicham El Guerrouj, in the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres.
2 Ryder Cup points won by Tiger Woods in this year’s competition.
2 Number of gold medals forfeited by Bettina Hoy, of Germany, after going through the start twice in the course of the three-day event.
3 Consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups won by Best Mate.
3 Number of Australia batsmen who walked on the first day of the second Test match against India in Madras.
3 Finishing position of England, the world champions, in the RBS Six Nations Championship.
3 Medals won by Bradley Wiggins, the cyclist, at the Olympic Games, one of each colour.
3 Wickets in three balls by Matthew Hoggard against West Indies.
4 Southampton managers this year.
4 Drugs tests avoided by Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou, the Greek athletes, in the build-up to the Olympic Games.
4 Gold medals won in consecutive Olympic Games by Matthew Pinsent.
4 Grand National victories for Ginger McCain, the celebrated trainer.
4 Goals scored by Wayne Rooney at the European Championship finals.
4½ Ryder Cup points (out of five) won by Lee Westwood.
5 Centuries in successive Test matches by Jacques Kallis (one behind Don Bradman’s record).
5 Premiership clubs who regularly played an English goalkeeper in the 2003-04 season. They filled the bottom five places.
5 Margin of victory in wickets for Ireland against Surrey in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. Ireland’s only other competitive win was against Middlesex in 1997; Mark Ramprakash was in the losing side on that occasion, too.
6 Rugby union players named Jones selected by Wales against South Africa.
6 Consecutive Tours de France won by Lance Armstrong.
7 Formula One world driving championships won by Michael Schumacher.
7 Top score for Zimbabwe in a one-day international against Sri Lanka. Dion Ebrahim tied with extras.
8 Olympic medals won by Michael Phelps, the United States swimmer, in Athens; six of them were gold.
8 Players who scored centuries for England in the course of the summer: Trescothick, Strauss, Hussain, Vaughan, Key, Thorpe, Flintoff and Geraint Jones.
8 Months for which Rio Ferdinand was banned from playing football after missing a drugs test.
8 Second half of the name by which Paul Gascoigne wishes to be called from now on; G8 in full.
9 Ryder Cup points difference between Europe and the United States; a record.
9 Olympic medals won by British athletes on a single day, August 21.
9 Gold medals won by British Olympians.
9 Managers for Southampton in the past eight years.
11 Gold medals won by Tanni Grey-Thompson in the course of her career.
11 World darts titles won by Phil “The Power” Taylor.
14 Days spent “recharging his batteries” by Harry Redknapp after leaving Portsmouth.
14 Cricketers sacked by Zimbabwe.
16 Putative position in the medal table for Michael Phelps if he were a country.
17 Age of Maria Sharapova when she won the Wimbledon singles final.
17 Age of Amir Khan on winning a boxing silver medal for Britain at the Olympic Games.
17 Balls in an over bowled by Mohammad Sami, for Pakistan against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. It included seven wides and four no-balls.
18½ Ryder Cup points scored by Europe against the United States.
20 Yellow cards for Wayne Rooney while an Everton player.
21½ Ryder Cup points scored by Colin Montgomerie over his career.
22 Unbeaten matches for England at Twickenham, a sequence ended by Ireland in the Six Nations.
30 Medals won by British Olympians.
32 Test-match centuries by Steve Waugh, of Australia.
34 Test-match centuries by Sachin Tendulkar, equalling Sunil Gavaskar.
35 Runs scored by Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka, the lowest total for a one-day international.
36 Kilometres (out of 42) run by Paula Radcliffe in the Olympic marathon.
38 Years since England won a leading football tournament.
41 Test matches won as captain of Australia (out of 56) by Steve Waugh, a record.
47 Second-innings runs scored by West Indies against England in Jamaica.
49 Unbeaten league matches played by Arsenal, a record sequence ended by Manchester United.
50 Appearances at the Masters by Arnold Palmer.
75 Maidens bowled by Alf Valentine (who died this year) for West Indies against England at Lord’s in 1950, still a record. He had match figures of seven for 127.
86 Years between World Series victories for the Boston Red Sox, this year’s winners.
90 Minutes of football played by England against France before Zinedine Zidane scored twice to inflict a 2-1 defeat.
94 Medals won by British Paralympians.
103 Runs not out scored by Nasser Hussain in his final innings for England, against New Zealand; his last three shots crossed the boundary, though the final one counted for a single, taking England to the winning score.
124 Months between penalties scored against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
128 Years taken by Middlesbrough to win a significant trophy.
140 Seconds required by James Hayter, of Bournemouth, to score the fastest hat-trick in Football League history, against Wrexham.
153 Speed in miles per hour of a serve by Andy Roddick at Queen’s, a record.
169 Days to complete the longest cricket season in England: April 9 to September 25.
192 Victories achieved by Frankie Dettori to win the Flat racing jockeys’ championship.
201 Nations competing at the Olympic Games, two up from 2000 with the entries of East Timor and Kiribati.
217 Years taken by MCC to elect a woman committee member, Rachael Heyhoe Flint.
264 Weeks that Tiger Woods was the world No 1 golfer before being supplanted by Vijay Singh.
393 Minutes of tennis played by Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement at the French Open, the longest match ever played. Santoro won 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14.
400 Runs scored by Brian Lara in a single innings (not out) against England in Antigua to set a Test-match record.
693 Highest aggregate of runs scored in a one-day international: India v Pakistan in Karachi.
1,000 Milestone number of matches in charge of Manchester United by Sir Alex Ferguson, against Lyons in the Champions League. His first match, against Oxford United in 1986, was a 2-0 defeat.
1,298 Minutes of play between goals for Northern Ireland before David Healy scored against Norway in February.
2,000 Milestone of National Hunt winners ridden by Tony McCoy, the first jockey to pass it.
150,000 Value in pounds of a diamond fixed to the nose of Christian Klien’s Jaguar at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was lost after a first-lap crash.
870,000 Amount in pounds won for a £2 stake by a Dorset punter who completed the Scoop6.
27,500,000 Amount in pounds, the basic fee paid by Manchester United to Everton for Wayne Rooney.
28,000,000 The annual earnings in US dollars of David Beckham, according to Forbes magazine, which makes him the world’s eighth best-paid athlete.
80,300,000 Earnings of Tiger Woods in dollars in 2004, according to Forbes magazine, making him the world’s highest-paid athlete.
104,000,000 Debt in pounds of Leeds United when they were taken over by Adulant Force.
169,998,000 Difference in cost, in pounds, between Chelsea and Scarborough squads when they met in the FA Cup fourth round.
WHO’S GOT THE BOTTLE
MANY thanks to all who contributed to another memorable year of Magic Numbers: a bottle of matchless Taittinger champagne to the winners, and deep commiserations to the rest. There were many duplications: as ever, the decision on champagne-worthiness was based on earliness, multiplicity of entry and when all else failed, a draw from the hat. Congratulations and fizz go to: David Reid, Stephen S. Wilson, Matthew J. Cannings, Alan Haine, David Lilley, David Roblin, Mark Harper, Sean Connolly, Terence Hackett, Richard Scruton, Jon Robertson, Kieron Smith, Carolyn Cheyney and Graham Smith.
