It was an incredible year in sports, which means 2024 saw a plethora of iconic images from around the world that captured the biggest moments from the Olympics, the Super Bowl and much more. Check out 10 of the best below:
Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title in May for the first time in club history and earned its first trophy since 1993. The German side finished with a 28-0-6 record to become the first team to win the league title without suffering a loss. Their unbeaten run across all competitions would end at 51 games following defeat to Atalanta of Italy’s Serie A in the Europa League final.
Paris played host to the Summer Paralympic Games for the first time and the event saw China finish atop the medal table once again with 221 total medals, including 94 golds. Great Britain was next with 49 golds and 124 medals overall. The United States was third with 105 combined medals, including 36 golds.
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina delivered one of the photos of the Paris Olympics with his mid-air reaction in the third round of the men’s surf competition in Teahupo’o, Tahiti. His Olympic record score of 9.90 was the highest in Olympic competition since the sport made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Medina would advance to the semifinals and eventually earn a bronze medal.
Despite this nose-rearranging uppercut, Chris Billam-Smith would go on to defeat Richard Riakporhe by unanimous decision to defend his WBO cruiserweight world title in June. It was sweet revenge for Billam-Smith, who suffered the only loss of his career to Riakporhe via a split decision in 2019.
Imane Khelif became Algeria’s first female gold medalist in boxing after beating China’s Liu Yang via unanimous decision to win the 66kg women’s tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Khelif’s participation in the tournament saw allegations levied regarding her gender. Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after the International Boxing Association claimed a test showed she had XY chromosomes, but she was identified female at birth, raised as a girl and competed as a woman for six years before the Paris Games.
Poland’s Kinga Dróżdż beat Hungary’s Éva Hajmási 15-12 in the Women’s Sabre Category A Semifinal at the Paralympics. She would earn her first Paralympic silver medal after falling to Gu Haiyan in the gold medal bout later that day.
California’s Cole Houshmand finished ninth in May’s SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro competition. The 23-year-old’s run would end in the Round of 16 to eventual winner Italo Ferreira of Brazil.
The Boston Celtics lost only four times during the playoffs on their way to the franchise’s 18th NBA championship. They defeated the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the NBA Finals, with Jayson Tatum leading the way, averaging 25 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
American Keely Cashman finished 10th in the Women’s super-G at Copper Mountain, Colorado, 1.22 seconds behind the competition’s winner, Lauren Macuga.
Mecole Hardman’s 3-yard touchdown catch helped the Kansas City Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl title in February with a 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers. It marked the second overtime in Super Bowl history and the first under the league’s new postseason OT rules.