Erling Haaland Holds Long-Standing ‘World Record’ in Sport Other Than Football

Erling Haaland has always been a mystery wrapped inside a storm of power, speed, and precision. Every time he steps on the pitch, it feels like watching a machine built for destruction, but very few people know that his story of athletic greatness didn’t start with football. Long before the world began screaming his name inside stadiums, long before the records and trophies, Haaland was already making history as a child — not with a ball at his feet, but with a jump that shocked everyone around him. At just five years old, the same small boy from Bryne, Norway, broke a world record. Not a football record, not a sprint time, but something completely unexpected — the longest standing long jump for his age. The year was 2006, and little Erling leaped an unbelievable 1.63 meters. That jump wasn’t just a child’s game. It was the first sign of a phenomenon being born.

The story became part of Norwegian sporting folklore. Coaches, family members, and local journalists still talk about it. A boy with blonde hair, wearing an oversized jersey, standing on the school track, looking at the sand pit with the eyes of someone who believed he could fly. And then, in one attempt, he did something that kids twice his age couldn’t do. The jump measured 1.63 meters — and it entered the record books. That jump didn’t make global headlines at the time, but it planted a seed. It showed that Haaland had something beyond raw talent — he had explosive power, the kind of energy that made him different from everyone else.

Fast forward years later, that same energy is now what makes defenders fear him. The way he moves, the way he sprints, the way he rises above opponents — it’s not just football ability, it’s pure athletic science. When you watch him run on a counter-attack, it’s like watching a wild animal in motion, precise and terrifying. During his Borussia Dortmund days, in 2020, Haaland’s sprint over 60 meters was officially clocked at 6.64 seconds. For context, that time would have been fast enough to qualify for the World Indoor Athletics Championship two years before that. Let that sink in — a footballer running at Olympic-level speed.

It’s no wonder that when Manchester City signed him from Dortmund in 2022 for £51.2 million, the football world knew they weren’t just getting a striker; they were getting a freak of nature. And since then, he hasn’t stopped proving it. In 158 games for City, Haaland has scored 139 goals. Those numbers look like they were taken from a video game. Every goal seems to come from a different kind of instinct — sometimes it’s a delicate touch, sometimes it’s brute power, and sometimes it’s just being in the right place at the right time, like he can smell goals before they happen.

This season, he’s already on fire again — 15 goals in just 12 games. It’s the kind of start that makes defenders lose sleep. And while some players take years to find consistency, Haaland has been delivering every single season since he stepped into the Premier League. He’s not just City’s main man — he’s their heartbeat. Every time he walks onto the pitch, you can see the fear in defenders’ eyes and the confidence in his teammates. Pep Guardiola calls him “a special weapon,” and he’s right.

But behind the goals and records, Haaland’s athletic background continues to amaze even sports scientists. That long jump record from his childhood still stands today. No other five-year-old has jumped that far. It’s a record that’s been in the books for almost two decades, untouched. It’s a reminder that his physical gifts were visible before he even understood what football fame meant. His father, Alfie Haaland, a former Premier League player himself, always said that his son was obsessed with sports from day one. “He could never sit still,” Alfie once said. “He always wanted to race, jump, climb. He just loved movement.”

That love for movement turned into discipline. By the time Haaland was a teenager, he was training like a professional. Early morning runs, power training, diet control — everything was planned. His coaches at Bryne FK remember him as a boy who stayed behind after practice to work on his finishing. “He wanted to shoot a hundred times until he got it right,” one coach said. “He wasn’t like other kids who got tired. He didn’t stop until he was satisfied.” That same mindset followed him through Molde, Salzburg, Dortmund, and now Manchester City.

Earlier this year, City announced that Haaland had signed a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2034 — a ten-year extension that will see him stay until he’s 34 years old. It’s one of the longest contracts in football history, and it shows how much City are building their future around him. The club knows they have a once-in-a-generation striker, and they don’t want to take any chances. The deal, reportedly worth a record-breaking wage structure, is Pep Guardiola’s way of securing his dynasty.

But even the best machines need support. Guardiola admitted earlier this month that City cannot depend solely on Haaland. “We cannot do good things with just Erling,” he said after one of their recent games. “Our wingers, attacking midfielders and the other players have to make a step up.” It was an honest confession. City have already lost three league games this season, something rare under Pep. Their latest defeat came against Aston Villa, where Haaland was kept quiet for large parts of the game. Pep knows that if the team becomes too dependent on him, opponents will find ways to contain their system.

Still, Haaland’s form remains unstoppable. In the Champions League, he has scored in all three of City’s group games so far, helping them sit comfortably at the top of their group. In the Premier League, he’s leading the golden boot race again with 11 goals, five more than his nearest challengers. Everyone already believes that, barring injury, he will win another golden boot this season. But Haaland doesn’t play for personal awards — he plays for dominance. His eyes are on the Champions League and the Premier League title, especially after last season’s mixed campaign where City ended without multiple trophies.

City fans love him for his simplicity. He doesn’t do too many interviews. He doesn’t make noise on social media. He just plays, scores, and celebrates with that iconic stance — arms stretched, face calm, like a Viking warrior after victory. Yet, what people sometimes forget is that Haaland is still just 25. He has more than a decade left at the top level, and if he continues at this pace, he could end up breaking every goal record in football history.

His physical gifts go beyond his legs and lungs. Nutritionists at City say Haaland follows one of the strictest diets in football. He avoids sugar completely, drinks only filtered water, and consumes up to 6,000 calories a day through lean meat, vegetables, and special protein plans. There were even viral stories about his “banned diet,” where he reportedly eats parts of animal hearts and livers — though Haaland himself has never confirmed that. What’s clear is that everything he does is about performance. He treats his body like a machine, and every part of his lifestyle is designed to make that machine stronger.

Even during training, teammates say Haaland’s intensity is unmatched. “He doesn’t just train to stay fit; he trains to destroy you,” one player joked. Pep Guardiola often gives him extra rest days because of how hard he pushes himself during practice. That’s why even when City rested him in their Carabao Cup win over Swansea, the fans weren’t worried. They know when he returns, he will score again. And they were right — every time he gets a break, he comes back sharper.

But what truly makes Haaland’s story special isn’t just his goals or speed. It’s how everything connects back to that five-year-old boy in Norway — the one who jumped into history before he could even spell the word “record.” That jump, that moment, shows the foundation of what makes him great: explosive power, determination, and fearlessness. When he runs at defenders today, it’s the same energy from that jump — raw, confident, unstoppable.

Haaland represents something football rarely sees: a perfect combination of natural talent and obsession with improvement. You can teach technique, you can develop tactics, but you cannot create the kind of hunger he has. It’s built inside him. Every goal he scores, every record he breaks, feels like a continuation of a story that started with that world record leap in 2006.

Now, as Manchester City chase titles again, Haaland stands as the symbol of everything Pep Guardiola has built — power, precision, and consistency. He’s not just a striker; he’s an empire in motion. The world watches him with awe because deep down, everyone knows we are witnessing something that may never be repeated again.

From a boy who broke a world record in a schoolyard to a man breaking defenders’ hearts across Europe, Erling Haaland’s journey is more than football. It’s the story of a human engine that never stops pushing the limits of what’s possible. And as long as he keeps running, leaping, and scoring, the world will keep watching — waiting for the next record he’s about to break.