 "Rewind 2024: From Djokovic winning gold in Paris Olympics to Spain's Euro triumph, top 10 sporting moments this year")
The year 2024 had it all. Moments of joy, heartbreaks and what not! From the 2024 Paris Olympics to the European football championships, there were several tournaments that took place globally this year. This is apart from the annual sports tournaments like all four tennis Grand Slams, the European domestic football season including the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and more.
Throughout his extraordinary professional tennis career, one thing that eluded Novak Djokovic was gold medal in an Olympics. More than two decades snce turning pro, the Serbian finally had his hands on that elusive gold medal.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner has had quite the year in 2024, right from becoming the World No 1 to winning the ATP World Tour Finals title. He also clinched two Grand Slams this season in the form of Australian Open and the US Open. It’s also important to note that all this happened for Sinner in a year where he has had to deal with a doping case. The year 2025 could prove to be an even difficult one for Sinner, but what’s most important is the fact that he continues to stand tall, on and off the court.
Spain wins Euro 2024
The Spanish men’s football team enjoyed an unbeaten run throughout their successful 2024 European Championship campaign that was held in Germany in the summer.
One could sense the feeling that La Roja’s glory days are in fact back, and while it might still be early to say that, this Spain team shows promise. Also, this tournament gave birth to a few young and rising stars, most particularly Lamine Yamal.
Former England captain Joe Root has enjoyed a remarkable 2024. So much so that he even broke Sir Alastair Cook’s record to become the top run-scorer for England in Tests. Root went past Cook’s record of 12,472 runs in Tests during a match against Pakistan earlier this year.
Jodie Grinham’s Paralympic medals while being pregnant
Globally, the Paris Paralympics witnessed several moments but one of the standout moments would be British archer Jodie Grinham winning gold while being pregnant. Grinham was seven months pregnant when she won gold and bronze in mixed team compound and individual compound respectively.
Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga earlier this year was a sight to behold for fans of the club and their manager Xabi Alonso. Leverkusen ended rivals Bayern Munich’s decade-long dominance of the German top division by winning the title with 90 points. More importantly, they did not lose even a single game in their stellar 2023-24 league season.
Armand Duplantis soars to new heights
Nobody seems to have an answer to stop Armand Duplantis. The Swedish pole vaulter, who had won gold at Tokyo Olympics, defended his medal by soaring into a height of 6.25m, breaking the world record for a record ninth time. He would go on to break that record with an effort of 6.26m at the Silesia Diamond League later in the year.
Dominance is something that the United States basketball team believes in and they truly dominated the Paris Olympics as well. USA defeated France 98-87 in a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics final to clinch their fifth successive gold medal at the Olympics. In fact, you have to dial all the way back to Munich 1972 when talking about USA’s last defeat in an Olympic gold medal match in men’s basketball.
American sprinter Noah Lyles could be the next big thing in world athletics. He shone in the Paris Olympics, winning the 100m race in 9.79 seconds, beating Kishane Thompson of Jamaica by 0.005 of a second. Lyles also won a bronze in the 200m race.
