From Biles' redemption to Nadeem's historic gold: Greatest sporting moments of 2024

Sports lovers had myriad reasons to look back at the year with mixed emotions. As Jurgen Klopp bid farewell to Liverpool, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray drew the curtain on their careers.

Some new heroes emerged as well as 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:

Simone Biles back with a bang

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.

Leon Marchand, the new hero

A new star was born in the pool at the Paris Olympics with Leon Marchand enthralling packed houses at La Defense Arena by completing a feat not seen since the days of Michael Phelps.

The 22-year-old emphatically won all four of his individual races -- the 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 200m-400m medley double.

It thrust him into elite company as the first male swimmer to do so at a singles Games since the American legend in 2008.

In an ominous warning, Marchand said "it's only the beginning", with his sights already set on Los Angeles in 2028.

Noah Lyles' stunning win

Lyles arrived at the Paris Olympics shouting about wanting to cement his legacy as the rightful heir to Usain Bolt. The American did win a 100 metres that will live long in the memory, edging Kishane Thompson of Jamaican by five thousandths of a second.

But he looked out of sorts in the 200m as Letsile Tebogo emphatically won to deny him the sprint double, then revealed he had tested positive for Covid.

He was therefore sidelined as the Americans flopped and were disqualified in the 4x100m relay.

Bolt, in contrast, won sprint doubles and the relay at three successive Games, only losing one relay gold due to a teammate's doping case.

Arshad Nadeem makes history

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the Olympic men's javelin title in Paris, his country's first individual gold at a Summer Games.

Nadeem threw an Olympic record of 92.97 metres for victory, India's defending champion Neeraj Chopra taking silver with 89.45. Nadeem said he had big ambitions for throwing even further.

Before Arshad's remarkable victory, Pakistan had never won an individual gold medal at the Olympics.

All of Pakistan's previous three gold medals came in field hockey, with their team winning gold in 1960, 1968 and 1984.

Prior to Thursday, only two Pakistan athletes had won individual medals of any colour – with a wrestling bronze in 1960 and a boxing bronze in 1988.

Since the 1992 Barcelona Games, Pakistan has not won a medal of any kind.

Novak Djokovic ends drought

At the age of 37, Novak Djokovic finally won an Olympic gold medal to go along with his 24 Grand Slam titles.

The Serb defeated Carlos Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, in a memorable final at Roland Garros where has already been crowned French Open champion three times.

Djokovic achieved his dream the hard way -- having to defeat career-long rival Rafael Nadal in the second round in the pair's 60th meeting.

He then overcame aggravating a knee injury which had needed surgery in June during his quarter-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Djokovic said he wants to defend his title at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles when he will be 41.

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.

Doping setback for Sinner, Swiatek

Jannik Sinner captured the Australian Open and US Open, became world number one, claimed the ATP Tour Finals and led Italy to a successful defence of the Davis Cup.

However, the 23-year-old's immediate future in the sport remains under a cloud in a doping test controversy.

Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing after traces of the steroid clostebol were found in his system in March, the world anti-doping body Wada is demanding a suspension of one to two years.

Later in November, it was revealed that five-time major winner Iga Swiatek had accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ).

However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted that it was caused by "the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland that the player had been taking for jet lag and sleep issues".

Nadal, Murray retire

Rafael Nadal called it quits on a career which brought him 22 Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals and four Davis Cup crowns.

On top of that, the 38-year-old, who fought out epic battles with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, won praise for his humility on and off the court.

Murray, a three-time major winner who famously ended Britain's 77-year wait for a men's Wimbledon champion in 2013, and like Nadal plagued by injuries in recent years, also called time on his career.

However, the 37-year-old ended the year by agreeing to coach Djokovic in 2025.

Scheffler success on course

Golf world number one Scottie Scheffler enjoyed a magnificent season, becoming the first player to win seven PGA Tour titles, including his second Masters victory, in a year since Tiger Woods in 2007.

The American also won Olympic gold in Paris.

However, the most remarkable moment of Scheffler's year came at the PGA Championship in May at Valhalla when he was arrested outside the course and charged with several misdemeanours and for assaulting a police officer.

Scheffler, who called the incident "a big misunderstanding", was released later in the morning and still made it to his second-round tee time.

All the charges were dropped less than a fortnight later.

Korda in seventh heaven

World number one Nelly Korda won seven LPGA titles in 2024, taking the 26-year-old's career total to 15.

Korda's trophy blitz began in January at the Drive On Championship in her hometown of Bradenton, Florida.

It continued with wins at the Pak Se-ri Championship in Los Angeles, the Ford Championship and LPGA Match Play ahead of her second major title at the Chevron Championship and the Americas Open in May.

Her seventh title came at the Annika Tournament in November.

Klopp says farewell to Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp shocked the football world in January by announcing his plan to leave Liverpool at the end of the season because he was "running out of energy".