Olympic years invariably provide notable and often unforgettable moments for sport fans transfixed by the best athletes on the planet striving to beat each other and themselves. These are the most memorable moments of 2024.
Sporting moment
No contest. Nina Kennedy rose higher than any Australian athlete this year and provided the most golden moment.
When she vaulted 4.90m at Stade du France on August 7 to become the first Australian woman to win Olympic gold in a field event, it was the culmination of a life dedicated to soaring to the greatest heights in her sport.
The achievement was made even more remarkable when she revealed recently that she won gold in Paris with a fractured back.
Her courage, resilience and pain tolerance were as significant as her running and leaping skills.
Add the recent revelation that she was a victim of a predatory pole vault coach in the formative years of her career and the Nina Kennedy story is one that should be told over and again. Maybe in film.
Rivalry
The three weeks between the Wimbledon final and the Olympic gold medal tennis match enabled Novak Djokovic to find the formula for the most successful turnaround of the year.
Flat and uncharacteristically error-prone in his decision-making at Wimbledon as next generation star Carlos Alcaraz overwhelmed him with power, pace and precision, Djokovic was a different player at Roland Garros three weeks later.
The 7-6 7-6 scoreboard underlined the intensity of the contest but there was an inevitability about Djokovic’s triumph as he wore down a player nearly half his age.
Feelgood moment
Young fast bowler Shamar Joseph claimed seven wickets at the Gabba in January as the West Indies upset Australia in the final Test of last summer.
It was their first win in this country in nearly three decades and a reminder that one player, armed with verve and velocity, can make a significant difference to any team.
Joseph’s journey to Test cricket was compelling enough before he claimed a wicket with his first delivery and 13 in his first series.
He came from the village of Baracara, about 225km into the Guyanese jungle, and was working as a bank security guard when he committed to cricket. The move appears to be a great investment.
Forgettable moment
Also no contest.
An Australian Olympic medallist revealed to me recently how embarrassed the team was by the break-dancing fiasco at Paris.
“We are the best of the best doing our best for Australia,” the athlete said. “I’m not sure you can say the same thing about our break-dancing representative.”
That was Raygun, or Rachael Gunn, whose infamous slow motion floor wriggling and litany of excuses for her miserable results provided the lowest moment in Australian sport this year.
The only positive is that she might have singlehandedly ended break-dancing as an Olympic sport.
Surprise
He is not everyone’s cup of tea, and this might be an unpopular view, but David Warner’s transition from Test cricketer to insightful television commentator has been one of the most unexpected elements of the summer.
Warner retired midway through the year after a remarkably eventful international career.
His willingness to call things as he sees them no matter whose nose might be put out of joint, a characteristic not overly abundant in modern media ranks, has made his voice rather compelling.
And his pointed critique of the batting techniques of former team-mates Cam Bancroft and Marnus Labuschagne has provided an unusual level of knowledge for cricket fans.
Warner was also quite candid about his own struggles in the final year or two of his career and revealed that he started to employ a lighter bat to compensate for the decline of his reflexes and response to bowlers.
I would be astonished if Warner ever truly revealed the motivation, knowledge and beneficiaries of the controversial ball-tampering affair in South Africa in 2018, but his candour in the commentary box suggests it would not be impossible.
Team performance
Brisbane have been knocking on the door for half a decade but smashed it open on AFL grand final day.
While other contenders fell away during the finals campaign, the Lions gained momentum throughout September as they beat Carlton (18 points), GWS (five) and Geelong (10) before overwhelming favourites Sydney by 10 goals in the decider.
It was vindication for the club’s faith in coach Chris Fagan, who had been embroiled unfairly in the Hawthorn racism scandal, and provided a perfect farewell for enigmatic forward Joe Daniher who was close to best on ground in the biggest match of his career.
Saddest moment
The vast potential of Kenyan marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum will never be realised after he was killed in a car crash in February.
Kiptum ran three marathons in a career that blazed as briefly and brightly as a comet.
He cut 34 seconds off the world record in his third race and foreshadowed the first official sub two-hour marathon in human history.
The circumstances of his death remain unclear but there is no doubt that the world has lost one of its most brilliant stars.
Player to watch
You might not have heard of the name Archie Sutton but you will.
A powerful ball striker with extraordinarily fast hands, Sutton has been scoring centuries since he was 12.
He is part of the Kent Street High School cricket program and recently played in the annual match against UWA which I was invited to play in.
The last Kent Street teenager to hit me for six at James Oval was Marcus North who carved a back foot cover drive into the second floor of the Social Sciences building.
North went on to play 21 Test matches, score five centuries including 117 against South Africa on debut, and forge a substantial career for Australia and WA.
Sutton’s cricket career may never reach as high as his fellow alumnus but he has the benefit of starting in identical fashion.
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