It was a year filled with extraordinary sporting moments, including a stunning Olympic Games in Paris, but there was also devastating heartbreak.
We’ve compiled a brief summary of 2024 through some of ABC Sports’ most-read stories of the year.
January
Novak Djokovic was unhappy with his performance at the United Cup, where he lost to Alex de Minaur. (AAP Image: Richard Wainwright)
Tennis and the Australian Open took centre stage in January, with the world’s attention focused on Melbourne Park and the events leading up to it.
With Rafael Nadal starting his lengthy farewell tour in Brisbane and Novak Djokovic falling before the final, Jannick Sinner claimed victory in the men’s draw and Aryna Sabalenka won back-to-back titles in the women’s.
There was also the mystery of retiring Test opener David Warner’s missing baggy green, which was the only real drama as he helped Australia complete a 3-0 hammering of Pakistan.
The cricketers didn’t have it all their own way though, as Australia’s shock loss to the West Indies at the Gabba showed.
However, the start of the year was also rocked by the heartbreaking death of Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins.
- Read more:David Warner’s Test numbers put him alongside Australian cricket’s greats, but a closer look tells a different story
- Read more: Gold medallist Michael Diamond’s gun ban upheld, dashing hopes for 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers
February
Taylor Swift was a major part of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win. (AP: John Locher)
The Super Bowl led the way in February, helped by a healthy dose of Taylor Swift, whose relationship with Travis Kelce continued to intrigue just about everyone.
The Olympics started to become a focus, as the Matildas soared their way to an easy qualification victory against Uzbekistan.
The prospect of the Paris Games was clearly making some people giddy with excitement, but Shane Rose and his mankini probably took things too far.
There was more heartbreak though, as marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash.
- Read more: Matildas star Katrina Gorry reveals how she overcame her ‘dark place’ after birth of her daughter
- Read more: Samantha Murphy’s disappearance goes to the heart of women’s fears about running alone
March
Sam Kerr had a deeply frustrating start to 2024. (Getty Images: FIFA/Maddie Meyer)
Sam Kerr was the biggest story of the month after she was arrested for abusing a police officer in London.
On the pitch, Australia and New Zealand battled across the ditch in an entertaining Test series.
Domestically, the football codes got underway, with the NRL upping sticks to Las Vegas, where a racial slur marred what had been a hugely successful event, and the AFL announced a newcomer to the league out of Tasmania.
- Read more: The rebel and the rule follower: How siblings Min Woo and Minjee Lee became superstars in the golf world
- Read more: Exercise can help treat depression, but what works best depends on age and gender: study
April
Caitlin Clark was drafted by the Indiana Fever. (AP: Ashley Landis)
As the NRL and AFL continued apace, the sporting world was coming to terms with the death of controversial former NFL player and actor, OJ Simpson.
Also in the states, Caitlin Clark’s star continued to rise, but her salary after being drafted to the WNBA left plenty of people speechless.
And in athletics, a Chinese half marathon runner was disqualified after his opponents let him win and the Stawell Gift was postponed due to flooding.
- Read more: The dispute over Brisbane’s Olympic stadiums could have implications for the future of the Games
- Read more: The world watched an unwanted kiss. Now court documents have revealed allegations about what happened next
May
Scottie Scheffler’s mugshot. (Supplied: Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections)
Going to the football is a font of joy for so many people in Australia, but Brisbane Broncos fan Hayley Mabbett showed the dark side of attending a match in a harrowing video that she captured on her way home from a game.
There were incredible scenes at the PGA Championships when the world’s best golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested outside the gates of Valhalla Golf Club, before going on to shoot a very credible five-under for the second round.
There was yet more sporting heartbreak, with former Docker Cam McCarthy dying aged 29 and golfer Grayson Murray also passing away aged 30 after withdrawing from an event.
- Read more:NSW Police charge three A-League players including Sydney’s Macarthur FC captain Ulises Dávila over betting scandal
- Read more:‘Winning week-to-week always helps’: Jakara Anthony’s magical season
June
Cate Campbell bowed out after failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde)
State of Origin dominated headlines, with the series left at 1-1 following a shocking send-off in Game I and then a mighty Blues response in Game II.
In the first-ever series decider, women’s Origin finally had its first taste of one of rugby league’s great experiences as Queensland retained the Shield after saving the series in a Game II epic.
The Australian Olympic swimming trials took place in Brisbane, with Ariarne Titmus breaking the women’s 200m freestyle world record and legend Cate Campbell bowing out.
Meanwhile, in Barbados, India claimed the men’s T20 World Cup after Australia had been eliminated at the expense of Afghanistan.
And in the south-west, a monster swell gave us some of the most spectacular images of big wave surfing in Australia.
July
Ariarne Titmus was stunned to retain her 400m freestyle title. (USA TODAY Sports via Reuters: Rob Schumacher)
Bienvenue à Paris!
It was Olympic time and, as expected, the Games dominated the news cycle.
From the groundbreaking opening ceremony along the Seine, Ariarne Titmus’s incredible 400m freestyle swim, to the heartbreak of Anabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney’s blown dive in 3m synchronised springboard final, it was a Games that opened with a bang.
Away from Paris, there was a changing of the guard in men’s tennis as Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon, with Barbora Krejčíková winning the women’s title, Tadej Pogačar won the Tour de France, and New South Wales edged Queensland to claim victory in State of Origin Game III.
- Read more: How a secret compartment in an Eiffel Tower model in Brisbane helped Ariarne Titmus and Dean Boxall claim Paris Olympics gold
- Read more:Jess Fox finally gets the gold medal moment she deserved, surrounded by green, gold and love
August
Jessica and Noémie Fox both lit up the Paris Games. (Getty Images: Carl Recine)
The Paris Games continued apace, but as the sporting festival entered its second week, things took a turn towards farce.
Raygun baffled global audiences with her wild performance in the breaking, leading to all sorts of recriminations from just about everyone involved in the Games.
Questions over Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s sex became a hot topic, and Kookaburras player Tom Craig embarrassed his nation by being arrested trying to buy cocaine.
That being said, there were still plenty of incredible moments, including Noémie Fox’s glorious gold medal and Nina Kennedy’s magnificent pole vault gold.
Away from the Games, Australian racing was in mourning following the death of champion horse Black Caviar.
- Read more:The shortest race and the longest of glories, how a brash American bent time to claim 100m Olympic gold
- Read more: In one of the great Olympic moments, Duplantis raises his own bar and touches the sky to create sporting history
September
The Lions roared at the MCG. (AFL Photos via Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)
The Brisbane Lions won the AFL Premiership, overcoming a stodgy start to the season to finish strong by battering the Sydney Swans at the MCG.
Meanwhile, Patrick Cripps won his second Brownlow Medal in a landslide.
The Paralympics concluded in Paris with Madison de Rozario winning silver in the marathon.
And, at a heart-breaking road cycling World Championships that saw young Swiss rider Muriel Furrer tragically lose her life, Tadej Pogačar rewrote history to become just the third man to win the triple crown.
October
The Panthers have a monopoly on the Provan-Summons Trophy. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
The Penrith Panthers won the NRL grand final, beating the Melbourne Storm in Sydney to cement their status as one of the greatest sides in league history.
At the start of the year, Brodie Kostecki was embroiled in a hugely controversial battle for his seat with Erebus Motorsport. By October, he’d won the Bathurst 1000 for the first time.
Tim Tszyu though, suffered a crushing, catastrophic defeat in the ring against Bakhram Murtazaliev in Orlando, leaving his career at a crossroads and Australia’s reign as cricket queens was ended in devastating fashion at the semi-final stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
- Read more: How the Menendez brothers ended up in the background of a 1990 Mark Jackson NBA basketball card after killing their parents
- Read more:At 50, Tammy Zanotti took up bodybuilding and won, proving ‘age is just a number’
November
Mike Tyson fought Jake Paul in a widely watched, and widely condemned, fight. (Getty Images: Al Bello)
The biggest story of the month was Mike Tyson’s farcical return to the ring, where he lost to YouTuber Jake Paul and then broke the hearts of his fans by saying he was not yet done with fighting, aged 58-years-old.
The Melbourne Cup remained the highlight of the domestic horse racing scene, as the Wallabies showed some thrilling signs of life with a brilliant last-gasp win against England at Twickenham as highly anticipated code-hopper Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii made his debut.
Meanwhile, Indian ace Jasprit Bumrah blew Australia away as India took a 1-0 lead in the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
And after a tough year that saw her blow out her ACL, miss the Olympics and get arrested, Sam Kerr announced the pregnancy of her partner Kristie Mewis.
- Read more: Female tennis players accused of complicity in Saudi Arabia ‘sportswashing’
- Read more:The remarkable story behind Russia’s record 110-4 loss to Australia at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup
December
Jasprit Bumrah is proving a tough opponent for Australia. (Getty Images: Cricket Australia/Matt Roberts)
As the year wound to a close, cricket was at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts as Australia levelled the Border-Gavaskar series in Adelaide, before rain ruined the Gabba Test.
Elsewhere, Raygun continued to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, and teen sprinting sensation Gout Gout for all the right ones.
