Some new heroes emerged as well with Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem winning the first individual Olympic gold for his country.
Here are some of the most incredible sporting stories of the year:
Pogacar and triple crown
Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates completed one of the greatest cycling seasons of all time in 2024.
The 26-year-old Slovenian captured a Tour de France and Giro d’Italia double, the world title and Monuments at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and a fourth Tour of Lombardy. In all, he racked up 25 wins across the calendar.
His triple crown of Giro, Tour de France and world title had not been achieved in the same season since Stephen Roche in 1987.
His fourth successive Tour of Lombardy equalled a record streak of victories set by cycling great Fausto Coppi over seven decades ago.
Biles back with a bang
Simone Biles proved as popular a draw as the Eiffel Tower at the 2024 Paris Games, the 1.42m bundle of brilliance standing tall on her return to the Olympics after the trauma of Tokyo.
In Japan she was forced to withdraw from most of the Games with a debilitating mental block known as the "twisties". Three years on, watched by an enraptured full house at Bercy Arena including her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens, Tom Cruise and Lady Gaga, Biles resumed the gold run she had begun at Rio 2016.
The 27-year-old pipped Rebeca Andrade for the coveted all-around crown on her last tumble on the floor. That was book-ended by titles with the US team and vault -- where she executed her Yurchenko double pike, the Biles II, her sixth eponymous skill.
Stumbles on the final day as tiredness -- both mentally and physically -- set in left her with silver behind Andrade on the floor. In a mark of her class as a person she bowed to the Brazilian on the podium.
Marchand, the new hero
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