Several sporting events, including the Paris 2024 Olympics, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Ivory Coast, the Copa America and Euros, among others, took place in 2024.
The year 2024 will always be a memorable one for sports fans around the world.
As the year draws to a close on Tuesday midnight, DAILY POST presents five issues that rocked the world of sports in the year 2024:
Ivory Coast’s miraculous AFCON triumph:
The 2023 AFCON was held from 13 January to 11 February in 2024 in Ivory Coast.
The host nation fought against all odds in a tournament comeback after they almost exited in the group stages after losing their final group game 4-0 against Equatorial Guinea.
They even sacked Jean-Louis Gasset as their coach and appointed Emerse Faé to take charge of the team.
Ivory Coast scraped through to the knockout phase eliminating the likes of Senegal, Mali and DR Congo on their way to the final.
They came from behind to beat Nigeria’s Super Eagles 2-1 in the final, thanks to Sebastien Haller’s winning goal.
The victory over the Super Eagles completed a miraculous turnaround for the Elephants in the competition.
Surprises at Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics:
The Paris 2024 Olympics opened on July 26 and ended on August 11 as thousands of athletes from different countries participated.
The United States led the final medal table with 40 Gold and 126 total medals, while China finished in second place with 40 Gold and 91 medals in total. The occasion marked the first time a gold medal tie among the two most successful countries has occurred in Summer Olympics history.
Also, seasoned athletes like Simone Biles showcased why they were the best at what they do, whilst newcomers like Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo announced themselves on the Olympic stage with a historic debut.
New records were set, and historic milestones were reached as Paris passed the Olympic torch to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Games.
Shortly after the end of Paris 2024, the Paralympics followed from August 28 to September 8, with thousands of para-athletes competing in different events.
Like the Olympics, the Paralympic Games also witnessed athletes break milestones as Nigerian athlete, Mariam Eniola Bolaji, an 18-year-old, became the first African to win a badminton medal at either the Paralympic or Olympic Games.
Mixed feelings over 2024 Ballon d’Or:
There were mixed reactions after Manchester City midfielder, Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d’Or ahead of Real Madrid winger, Vinicius Junior in October.
Rodri got the highest number of votes to take home the prestigious individual prize ahead of Vinicius.
As a result, Vinicius, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, and the rest of the Los Blancos members boycotted the award ceremony in Paris, France, as they were disappointed with the outcome.
This brought diverse reactions from several stakeholders in the football industry.
Liga president, Javier Tebas blasted Real Madrid following their failure to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Tebas described their action as ‘classless behaviour and lack of elegance’.
On his part, Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo claimed that Vinicius, who won the 2024 FIFA Best Player Award, should have won the 2024 Ballon d’Or ahead of Rodri.
“Vinicius Jr should have won the Ballon d’Or, in my opinion it was clear,” Ronaldo said at the 2024 Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, adding “It was unfair.”
Similarly, Manchester United legend, Gary Neville hit out at Vinicius over his ‘classless and outrageous’ reaction after losing the 2024 Ballon d’Or award to Rodri.
Neville believes the Brazilian disrespected his rival Rodri by not showing up at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Tyson Fury’s back-to-back defeat against Oleksandr Usyk:
Fury suffered another defeat against Usyk in their heavyweight rematch at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December.
The 12 rounds of boxing was intense as momentum shifted from one to the other.
Eventually, Usyk handled Fury’s aggression enough to win by unanimous decision. He defended his unified world heavyweight championship.
DAILY POST reports that the three results from the judges all read 116-112.
Earlier in 2024, Usyk handed Fury his first professional defeat.
Following the fight, the Ukrainian became the undisputed heavyweight world champion in the process, the first in 25 years since Lennox Lewis.
England’s back-to-back Euro final defeats:
The Three Lions of England suffered another Euro final defeat in the summer this year.
The 2024 Euro was held in Germany from June 14 to July 14. Spain made England and their fans to once again wait for their first Euro title just like that night in Wembley in 2020.
Recall that Italy defeated England in the 2020 Euro final at Wembley Stadium.
Many expected the Three Lions to bounce back from the Italy defeat four years ago and used the experience against Spain in Germany, but they ended up losing again another Euro final as La Roja won 2-1 in the final.
Nico Willaims and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the goals for Spain as Cole Palmer’s goal was not enough for England.
Lionel Messi and Co. made history at the 2024 Copa America:
Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates secured a record-breaking 16th Copa America title for the Albicelestes after beating Colombia 1-0 in the final.
Inter Milan attacker, Lautaro Martinez scored the game’s only goal at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
The 2024 Copa America took place from June 20 to July 14 in the United States.
Argentina defended their title against 15 other teams from the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
The Albicelestes had won the 2021 Copa America after beating Brazil 1-0 in the final.
So it was a back-to-back Copa America finals victory for Argentina.
[DailyPost]