David Walters, a former University of Texas swimmer, made headlines in 2008 after he earned a gold medal for Team USA during the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Nearly two decades later, his name popped up again, but for an entirely different reason.
Walters, who has been a firefighter in Los Angeles for almost 10 years, is one of the more than 7,500 firefighting and emergency personnel working to contain the devastating wildfires raging throughout Southern California this week.
The former Olympian recently spoke to News Nation about the devastation as he finished up a shift working two days straight, according to the outlet.
"We’re pretty much trying to keep what is left here standing," an exhausted Walters said. "So, we’re not laying down. We’re staying in our position – that’s correct, I did sleep on top of the hose bed last night, just staying ready to do what we can still do."
At least 10 people have died as a result of multiple wildfires as thousands evacuated their homes. Around 10,000 structures from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena have burned down as strong winds continue to fuel the fires.
The largest fire burning in Pacific Palisades began on Tuesday, and officials said on Thursday evening that containment was at 6% for that fire.
"I’m very sorry for the residents that live here," Walters continued.
"We did try our best, but we got our butts kicked. We’re getting some rest now, and we’re all trying to get our nutrition up and health up so we can stay active."
Walters, 37, won gold in the men’s 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay, where they set a then-Olympic record with a time of 7:04.66. It was his only Olympic appearance. That same year, he won his first NCAA individual title in the men’s 200 freestyle.
Olympic gold medalist Gary Hall Jr. was among the thousands of California residents displaced by the wildfires raging across the Los Angeles area this week, and like many, he lost all of his priceless possessions – including all 10 of his Olympic medals.
However, for Hall, he is grateful to have walked away with his life.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Hall recalled the moment he first saw a "plume of smoke" coming from his backyard. He was on the phone with his daughter when disaster struck.
"I saw the flames erupt and houses start popping. There were explosions. I didn’t have a lot of time," he recalled in the interview. "Sunset Boulevard was a complete logjam. People abandoned cars and were running for their lives. Police were telling them to do that. My girlfriend was trapped in her car around smoke."
The wildfires spread quickly. Hall only had time to grab the essentials – his dog and a few personal items.
The home in Pacific Palisades that he was renting was burnt down, and with it all of his Olympic medals, including five gold, three silver and two bronze. He thought about them at the moment, but the seriousness of the situation did not allow him to grab them.
"I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them," Hall told the outlet. "Everyone wants to know did the medals burn? Yeah, everything burnt. It’s something I can live without. I guess everything is just stuff. It’ll take some hard work to start over. What can you do?"
Hall described the scene as "worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1000 times worse." More than losing his medals, Hall’s home, where he ran a business teaching kids to swim, is now completely gone.
"It’ll be a range of emotions, particularly when it’s time to go back to where the house stood. I’ll shift through the ash and see if the medals melted together. Will I be able to find anything worth saving? Probably not. I don’t know."
Thousands of California residents were evacuated as fierce wildfires fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds tore through Southern California this week. At least five people are dead as the fires continued to burn more than 27,000 acres on Thursday.
Romanian Olympic medalist Ana Barbosu announced her commitment to Stanford on Wednesday.
"It feels almost surreal to announce that I’ve been accepted to Stanford University!" she wrote in a statement. "Can’t wait to join this amazing family! Go Card!"
Barbosu will now compete right up the coast from American gymnast Jordan Chiles, who goes to UCLA. Stanford and UCLA are historic rivals in college sports, as they were flagship schools in the Pac-12 before the conference saw a mass exodus of programs last season.
UCLA is now in its inaugural season in the Big Ten, while Stanford has joined the ACC. However, the two gymnastics programs still compete against each other, as they have a meeting scheduled this season for March, and will likely continue to face each other in the future.
With Chiles still set to compete for UCLA in 2026, any potential matchup vs. Stanford will pit the two gymnasts against each other after they were at the center of a global controversy over the rightful winner of a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Chiles is currently engaged in a court battle over the medal.
At the end of the floor exercise final at the summer games in August, Barbosu clinched third place and a spot on the podium after judging initially finished. Barbosu was visibly thrilled when she saw the final scores.
But then, a U.S. coach spoke to the judges and appealed the scoring on one of Chiles' moves. After review, Chiles' score was bumped up, putting the American in third place, and leaving Barbosu off the podium. When Barbosu looked up and saw the scoring change on the board, she dropped the Romanian flag she was holding, covered her face with her hands and walked away in tears.
Chiles went on to accept the bronze medal and join her U.S. teammate Simone Biles and the gold-medal winner Brazilian Rebeca Andrade on the podium.
But days later on Aug. 10, it was announced that the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the judging panel had improperly granted an inquiry that increased Chiles' score. It ruled that the appeal had been submitted past the one-minute deadline and should not have been granted.
The next day, the International Olympic Committee determined Chiles had to return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics.
Though Chiles was ordered to return the medal, there have been no reports that she has. She called the ruling "unjust" in a statement later that week.
"This decision feels unjust and comes as a significant blow, not just to me, but to everyone who has championed my journey. To add to the heartbreak, the unprompted racially driven attacks on social media are wrong and extremely hurtful. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this sport and I am so proud to represent my culture and my country," Chiles said.
Meanwhile, Barbosu received her bronze medal shortly after the Olympics ended, and expressed sympathy for her American opponent, as well as a Romanian teammate, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, whose finish was also impacted by the back-and-forth scoring change.
"I can't help but think about Sabrina and Jordan right now," Bărbosu said in a statement. "It's a difficult situation for us, with so many uncertainties and overwhelming emotions. I hope everyone understands that we have not done anything wrong at the Olympics. And that the Olympic spirit is more important than any misunderstanding between the authorities.
"I want to believe that the day will come when all three of us will receive a bronze medal."
Chiles went on to say that the emotional devastation of losing the medal was related to her "skin color," when she gave her first sit-down interview about the incident this week during a panel at the Forbes Power Women's Summit 2024 in September.
"To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal, it's about, you know, my skin color," Chiles said, sobbing.
Chiles previously claimed she was facing "racially driven attacks" from social media users in a statement posted to X on Aug. 15. When Chiles won the bronze medal, it resulted in the first gymnastics podium in Olympic history that featured three black contestants.
Chiles and Team USA are currently involved in an appeal against a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for its decision.
Chiles' lawyers have argued that her coach did in fact make the request in time and that there is video evidence to prove it, and have also indicated that the official who made the decision to strip Chiles' medal had ties to Romania.
"Chiles asks the Supreme Court to find that the CAS decision was procedurally deficient for two reasons," Chiles’ lawyers said in a statement, according to Olympics.com.
"First, CAS violated Chiles’ fundamental ‘right to be heard’ by refusing to consider the video evidence that showed her inquiry was submitted on time – in direct contradiction to the findings in CAS’ decision.
"Second, the entire CAS proceeding was unfair because Chiles was not properly informed that Hamid G. Gharavi, the President of the CAS panel that revoked Chiles’s bronze medal and awarded it instead to a Romanian gymnast, had a serious conflict of interest: Mr. Gharavi has acted as counsel for Romania for almost a decade and was actively representing Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration."
Chiles has also filed an appeal in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to overturn the CAS decision. She argued that she was not given a fair opportunity to defend herself and that the CAS did not properly consider video evidence.
Olympic athlete Fred Kerley was arrested Thursday night, and several videos of the encounter went viral.
Bodycam footage showed the 2024 bronze medalist getting tased by police, while another angle showed one officer throwing punches while others held Kerley down.
Kerley was taken into custody after police said he grew agitated when he was trying to get to his car, which was near the location of an active police investigation.
Bodycam footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows Kerley talking to police before turning to another officer, who placed a hand on Kerley's chest, which Kerley knocked away. The officer then pushed Kerley with his other hand before chaos ensued.
Former Miami Marlins star Jazz Chisholm Jr., who now plays for the New York Yankees, criticized police for their actions.
"Miami Beach police always looking for a way to put there [sic] hands on athletes! Sorry this happened to you Fred!" Chisholm posted to X.
Kerley faces charges of battery on a police officer, corrections officer or firefighter; resisting an officer without violence; and disorderly conduct. He was released on his own recognizance.
Kerley's arrest Thursday led to him facing domestic violence and robbery charges from an incident in May, when police issued a probable cause alert to their system. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kerley and his wife got into a verbal, and then physical, dispute in May, on his birthday, when Kerley's wife was in contact with an "unknown person on Instagram."
Kerley, the affidavit says, approached his wife aggressively, and she punched him out of fear, according to the affidavit. Kerley then allegedly "grabbed the victim, pushed her to the ground, encircled his arm around her neck and impeded her breathing."
The affidavit says Kerley then stole his wife's cellphone after placing her in a second chokehold. Kerley was not present when authorities arrived, and witnesses became uncooperative, police said.
The woman Kerley was with Thursday, Cleo Rahman, was also apparently arrested, and the two are said to be dating. Rahman wrote "free my man" as her caption to the video of the officer punching Kerley.
"So as we tried to move around to our car, the police officer decided to push my boyfriend and move him out of the way, and it started a big fiasco," Rahman, a rapper who goes by DJ Sky High Baby, told NBC Miami. "We were simply just trying to get to the car. We weren't trying to obstruct justice or anything like that. It's just crazy to the extent that it (took) four police officers to try to detain him. It was absolutely crazy."
Kerley won a bronze medal in Paris in the summer in the 100 meters, while teammate Noah Lyles earned his first Olympic gold. Kerley won the 2022 world championships in the event and silver in the Tokyo Olympics, and he also has world championships in the 4x400-meter relay in 2019 and the 4x100-meter relay in 2023.
Kerley was a part of the 4x100-meter team in Paris that was disqualified due to a botched handoff. Noah Lyles figured to be a part of that team but fell ill with COVID, which contributed to him falling short in the 200 meters, an event for which he was the heavy favorite.
A confrontation ensued, and Kerley was arrested. Bodycam footage caught Kerley being tased by an officer, while a bystander pleaded with officers to "stop" because "he didn't do anything."
Kerley faces charges of battery on a police officer, corrections officer or firefighter; resisting an officer without violence; and disorderly conduct. He was released on his own recognizance.
However, the Miami-Dade County Jail website later incidated he was back in custody on charges of domestic violence, strangulation and robbery.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kerley and his wife got into a verbal, and then physical, dispute in May on his birthday when Kerley's wife was in contact with an "unknown person on Instagram."
Kerley approached his wife aggressively, and she punched him out of fear, according to the affidavit. Kerley then "grabbed the victim, pushed her to the ground, encircled his arm around her neck and impeded her breathing."
The affidavit says Kerley then stole his wife's cellphone after placing her in a second chokehold. Kerley was not present when authorities arrived, and witnesses became uncooperative.
A probable cause alert was then entered into the jail's system, and he was charged after his arrest Thursday night.
Kerley won a bronze medal in Paris in the summer in the 100 meters, while teammate Noah Lyles earned his first Olympic gold. Kerley won the 2022 world championships in the event and silver in the Tokyo Olympics.
He also has world championships in the 4x400-meter relay in 2019 and the 4x100-meter relay in 2023.
Kerley was a part of the 4x100-meter team in Paris that was disqualified due to a botched handoff. Lyles figured to be a part of that team but fell ill with COVID earlier in the week, which contributed to him falling short in the 200 meters, an event for which he was the heavy favorite.
Kerley accused the United States Track and Field Association of playing favorites by adding Lyles to the 4x400-meter team in the 2024 world championships.
Fans might have already witnessed Simone Biles’ last dance.
Biles dominated the 2024 Olympics in Paris over the summer, winning three gold medals and one silver medal to become the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history.
But fans hoping to see her compete in what might be her final Olympics as the Games return to America in 2028 may be disappointed to learn that Biles isn’t set on making an appearance.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated after being named their "2024 Sportsperson of the Year," Biles said she believes returning to the Games after seeing so much success makes her "greedy."
"If you go back, you’ll be greedy. Those are the consequences. But that’s also your decision to decide," she said in the interview. "What sacrifices would be made if I go back now? When you’re younger, it’s like, prom, college. Now it’s like, starting a family, being away from my husband. What’s really worth it?"
Biles is married to Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens. The couple tied the knot in April 2023 and have since been pictured supporting one another at their respective events.
Owens signed a two-year contract with the Bears in March 2024 after spending one season with the Green Bay Packers. He was excused from the start of training camp this summer to support his wife as she went on to make history at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
As Biles moves into this next chapter in her life, she indicated to Sports Illustrated that returning to the Olympic stage in 2028 would be a longshot.
"I’ve accomplished so much, there’s almost nothing left to do, rather than to just be snobby and to try again and for what? I’m at a point in my career where I’m humble enough to know when to be done."
The Hungarian Olympic Committee said that the five-time Olympic champion escaped deportation to Nazi death camps before a historic run to become one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, including four gold medals at Melbourne 1956
Team USA and gymnast Jordan Chiles didn't let the withdrawal of her Olympic bronze medal stop them from showing off her team gold on Tuesday.
In a New Year's Eve post to celebrate the medals that the US claimed at the Paris Olympics this year, the team included a photo of Chiles holding the gold medal that she and her American teammates won in the women's team event. Chiles was the only gymnast included in the collage.
Chiles re-posted the photo on her personal Instagram story later on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old gymnast is currently involved in an appeal against a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision that dropped her from third place in the event to fifth in the women's floor exercise final.
Romania's Ana Barbosu initially earned a higher score than Chiles after the American finished her routine. Then, after a US coach's request, judges reviewed the footage, changed the score and bumped Chiles up to third place, sparking the initial controversy and fierce backlash from Romanians.
The decision to give the medal to Chiles instead resulted in the first All-Black podium in the history of Olympic gymnastics, as she joined teammate Simone Biles and Brazil's Rebecca Andrade.
But then, on the last day of the Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the Chiles appeal was submitted past the one-minute deadline, and changed her score to drop her back into fifth place. The next day, on Aug. 11, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) determined that Chiles must return the medal.
However, after the end of the Olympics in August, USA Today reported that Chiles and the rest of the U.S. Olympic team had "no intention" of returning the medal, as they continue to appeal the IOC's decision.
Chiles' lawyers have argued that her coach did in fact make the request in time and that there is video evidence to prove it, and has also indicated that the official who made the decision to strip Chiles' medal had ties to Romania.
"Chiles asks the Supreme Court to find that the CAS decision was procedurally deficient for two reasons," Chiles’ lawyers said in a statement, according to Olympics.com.
"First, CAS violated Chiles’ fundamental ‘right to be heard’ by refusing to consider the video evidence that showed her inquiry was submitted on time – in direct contradiction to the findings in CAS’ decision.
"Second, the entire CAS proceeding was unfair because Chiles was not properly informed that Hamid G. Gharavi, the President of the CAS panel that revoked Chiles’s bronze medal and awarded it instead to a Romanian gymnast, had a serious conflict of interest: Mr. Gharavi has acted as counsel for Romania for almost a decade and was actively representing Romania at the time of the CAS arbitration."
Chiles has also filed an appeal in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to overturn the CAS decision. She argued that she was not given a fair opportunity to defend herself and that the CAS did not properly consider video evidence.
Chiles and her teammates have been outspoken about the emotional toll that losing the medal has had on her in the months following the end of the Olympics.
Chiles gave her first sit-down interview about the incident this week during a panel at the Forbes Power Women's Summit 2024 in September. The gymnast choked up and teared up when she was asked about the topic.
"To me, everything that has gone on is not about the medal, it's about, you know, my skin color," Chiles said.
Chiles previously claimed she was facing "racially driven attacks" from social media users in a statement posted to X on Aug. 15. When Chiles won the bronze medal, it resulted in the first gymnastics podium in Olympic history that featured three black contestants.
"It's about the fact that there were things that have led up to this position of being an athlete and I felt like everything has been stripped."
The controversy has brought international scrutiny upon the judges who scored the event. The Center of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) released a joint statement on Aug. 15 condemning the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the judging crew for the outcome.
"If the FIG had put such a mechanism or arrangement in place, a great deal of heartache would have been avoided," the CAS’ ad-hoc panel said in a release. "The Panel expresses the hope that the FIG will draw the consequences of this case, in relation to these three extraordinary Athletes and also for other Athletes and their supporting personnel, in the future, so that this never happens again."
Canadian tennis star Gabriela Dabrowski revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2024 in a post to social media.
Dabrowski, 32, said that she slightly delayed some of her treatment to be able to complete at Wimbledon and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
"In the spring of 2023 I felt a lump in my left breast during a self-exam. A few months later, a doctor told me it was nothing and not to worry. So I didn’t. Time went on, and in spring 2024, I thought the lump was a little bigger," Dabrowski wrote on Instagram.
"During our WTA comprehensive physicals, a WTA doctor told me she wasn’t sure what it was, and to go and get it scanned… A phone call from the radiologist reading the images, alerting me to a lump that did not look like a cyst due to its uneven edging and shading. ‘It looks ugly and I want you get a biopsy immediately.’"
"The following morning I went into Advent Health Hospital in Wesley Chapel and had a biopsy of my left breast. The preliminary results came back that day: cancer. These are words you never expect to hear, and in an instant your life or the life of a loved one turns upside down."
Dabrowski said she is choosing to share her story now because for a long time, she "wasn’t ready to expose myself to the possible attention and questions I’d have gotten before."
The star tennis player wanted to "figure everything out and handle things privately."
"Fast forward through 2 surgeries at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, recovery, rehab, @patrickdaciek tossing the ball for on my serve because my left arm couldn’t raise high enough (this was 2 weeks before Nottingham) slight delay in further treatment to be able to compete at Wimbledon and the Olympics, radiation + fatigue (between Toronto and US Open), and starting endocrine therapy, ending the season on the highest note possible… it all seems surreal."
Despite battling breast cancer, Dabrowski not only competed in Wimbledon and the Olympics, but had a lot of success.
Dabrowski and her doubles partner Erin Routliffe lost in the Wimbledon finals, and in the Paris Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles competition for Canada.
"My intentions in sharing some of my experience are to emphasize the quality of life one can maintain when cancer is detected early, when you have access to doctors and other health care practitioners who are highly skilled and dedicated to their craft, when you take care of your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, and when you surround yourself with people who truly have your back (and your front)," Dabrowski wrote.
"Early on in my diagnosis I was afraid of cancer becoming a part of identity forever. I don’t feel that way anymore. It is a privilege to be able call myself a survivor."
Dabrowski said her diagnosis gave her an opportunity to see challenges through a different lens, "a lens of gratitude."
She ended her post saying, "To cancer I say f--- you, but also, thank you."
Dabrowski won three doubles titles in 2024 and has won 17 doubles titles in her career.
Dabrowski is also a three-time Olympian, competing in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Team USA's Simone Biles celebrated winning gold in the artistic gymnastics women's team final.
Naomi Baker/Staff/Getty Images
Getty Images released its top sports photos of 2024.
Photographers captured athletes from around the world as they competed in the Olympic Games.
Beyond Paris, the sports world stayed active, with the Super Bowl, Euros, World Series, and more.
Olympic years are a particularly special time for sports, and 2024 was no different.
As crowds gathered in Paris to watch their favorite athletes compete, the world's biggest stars rose to the occasion. From Simone Biles' triumphant return to the Olympic stage to Julien Alfred winning Saint Lucia's first Olympic medal, the events in Paris captured much of the sport world's attention this year.
And yet, there were still so many more moments to celebrate.
Michael Heiman, VP of global sport at Getty Images, told Business Insider, "It was a busy year. The summer Olympics is always kind of at the height of the sports calendar, the four-year cycle," adding, "But the other thing is that stuff doesn't stop just because it's an Olympic year."
As the ninth-largest industry in the world — worth $2.65 trillion, according to the Global Institute of Sport — sports smashed new barriers this year, and photographers were there to capture the emotions and history-making moments.
The growth of women's sports was particularly impactful in 2024, and is only gaining momentum. More than 18 million people watched Iowa and South Carolina compete in the NCAA women's basketball championship, the WNBA secured an 11-year media rights deal worth about $2.2 billion, and women's sports merchandise alone is estimated to be worth $4 billion.
On February 2, competitors in the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia passed the largest mirrored building in the world, Maraya.
Riders passed the largest mirrored building in the world, Maraya, during the fourth stage of the AlUla Tour.
Anne-Christine POUJOULAT/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
British rider Simon Yates, 31, won the overall race with a time of 18 hours, 37 minutes, and five seconds.
Team Kazakhstan competed at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on February 9.
Team Kazakhstan competed in the Mixed Team Free Final at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
Quinn Rooney/Staff/Getty Images
Heiman told BI that the World Aquatics Championships in Doha was the first major event where Getty used its new underwater robotic camera.
"This is a camera we spent the last two years developing," he said, adding that the first version was built in 2015.
To capture the action, the camera was put underwater "a few days" before competition, then photographers were "able to fully control it like a video game" from the pool deck or in the media center.
"What the photographers are really looking for is to tell the story of artistic swimming. It's beautiful from above, but so much happens underwater and you see just all the coordination that it takes to lift this athlete up," Heiman said.
He added, "But really using the reflection that you get from the water above to kind of make this mirror image, it really speaks to what all it takes, everything that goes into performing some of these sequences."
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift shared a kiss after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl on February 11.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce kissed his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, after winning the Super Bowl.
As one of two Getty Images photographers allowed on the field after the game, "Ezra [Shaw] was tasked with finding Travis and staying as close to Travis as possible, which is really, really hard in this environment," Heiman said.
"There's tons of people, everyone's pushing. You have security, you have other members of media, you have TV, and [Shaw] was just able to get in the right place and get this kind of, the guy wins the game, he gets the girl kind of photo, which was iconic and seen by everyone," he added.
The World Aquatics Championships also saw Annika Bornebusch of Team Denmark compete in the women's 20-meter high dive on February 14.
Team Denmark's Annika Bornebusch competed in the women's 20-meter high dive.
Adam Pretty/Staff/Getty Images
Bornebusch appeared to defy gravity as she completed one of her dives.
Team Australia's Rhiannan Iffland ultimately won the competition with 342 points.
Chase Dougherty competed at The American Rodeo in Arlington, Texas, on March 9.
Chase Dougherty competed at The American Rodeo.
Al Bello/Staff/Getty Images for Teton Ridge
Dougherty was one of four competitors to advance to the bull-riding finals, which was won by Creek Young.
In addition to competing at The American Rodeo, some of Dougherty's 2024 career highlights include winning the Western Stampede, the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo, and the Sisters Rodeo. He's also a one-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo.
On March 13, photographer Phil Walter mounted a camera on a canoe to capture New Zealand's Finn Butcher racing ahead of the Olympics.
Photographer Phil Walter placed a camera on the front of athlete Finn Butcher's canoe.
Phil Walter/Staff/Getty Images for NZOC
Thanks to Getty Images' partnership with the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Heiman said photographer Phil Walter was able to "mount a waterproof small action camera on the front of this canoe" in order to "really give you insight into what these athletes are kind of experiencing as they come down the course."
He added that the end result is a credit to collaborating with the athlete and organizers to ensure that everything was safe and not impeding performance.
Butcher went on to compete in his first Olympic Games in Paris, where he won gold in the inaugural men's kayak cross event.
Joseph Manu of the Sydney Roosters scored a try during a March 28 match.
Joseph Manu's score was later disallowed.
Cameron Spencer/Staff/Getty Images
The acrobatic score was later disallowed, and the Roosters' opponent, the Penrith Panthers, went on to win the match 22-16.
The Carolina Hurricanes' Dmitry Orlov hit the New York Rangers' Jonny Brodzinski during the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 11.
Dmitry Orlov hit Jonny Brodzinski during game four of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Bruce Bennett/Staff/Getty Images
Orlov hit Brodzinski in the third period of the game. The Hurricanes won the game 4-3 to keep their Stanley Cup hopes alive, bringing the series to 3-1.
The Rangers went on to win the series four games to two.
Photographer Sean M. Haffey captured Cole Houshmand competing in the Shiseido Tahiti Pro on May 30.
Photographer Sean M. Haffey shot surfer Cole Houshmand competing in the Shiseido Tahiti Pro.
Sean M. Haffey/Staff/Getty Images
Unlike other surfing events where photographers can shoot from the beach, Heiman said the Shiseido Tahiti Pro requires photographers to capture the action from small boats since the waves break about a kilometer off shore.
He added that while there were plenty of "amazing photos during Paris," he wanted to highlight this one because it's "about the preparation."
"You know, [Haffey's] out on the water for 12 hours. There's tons of spray," Heiman said, adding, "What kind of protection do you need for your cameras? What lenses do you need? How does the sunlight work? So, we sent [Haffey] to cover the Tahiti Pro before Paris as a preparation for Paris. So when we got there, we knew exactly what we wanted to do and what we needed to do."
Novak Djokovic slid for a shot during a fourth round French Open match on June 3.
Novak Djokovic competed in the fourth round of the 2024 French Open.
Clive Mason/Staff/Getty Images
Djokovic fought through a right knee injury to defeat Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo during a fourth round match at Roland-Garros.
However, he withdrew from the competition the following day.
Richard Riakporhe landed an upper cut on Chris Billam-Smith during the WBO World Cruiserweight Title fight on June 15.
Chris Billam-Smith and Richard Riakporhe competed in the WBO World Cruiserweight Title fight.
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Billam-Smith went on to win the fight by a unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
The Florida Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk lifted the Stanley Cup after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in game seven on June 24.
Matthew Tkachuk lifted the Stanley Cup after the Florida Panthers' game seven win.
Carmen Mandato/Staff/Getty Images
The Panthers won their first Stanley Cup with a 2-1 game seven victory.
Tkachuk told reporters after the game, "It's not a dream anymore. It's not a dream, it's reality. I can't believe it. I can't believe it."
On July 14, Spain celebrated its Euro final win.
Spain won the Euro 2024 final 2-1 against England.
Alex Pantling - UEFA/Contributor/UEFA via Getty Images
Spain defeated England 2-1 to win the Euros, with the game-winning goal coming from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 86th minute.
On July 14, Carlos Alcaraz won his second consecutive Wimbledon championship title.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon.
Julian Finney/Staff/Getty Images
The 21-year-old from Spain defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win his second consecutive Wimbledon title and his fourth overall Grand Slam.
Pistol shooter Kim Yeji won the Olympic silver medal in the women's 10-meter air pistol final on July 28.
Kim Yeji won silver in the women's 10m air pistol final.
Simone Biles celebrated winning the artistic gymnastics women's team gold medal on July 30.
Team USA's Simone Biles celebrated winning gold in the artistic gymnastics women's team final.
Naomi Baker/Staff/Getty Images
Biles, alongside Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, brought home the gold in the women's team final.
In Paris, Biles added four medals to her Olympic count, bringing her total to 11, with seven golds, two silvers, and two bronzes to make her the most decorated gymnast in American history.
On August 3, Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia won her country's first Olympic medal — and it was gold.
Photographer Richard Heathcote captured this moment using a camera mounted to a broadcast rig.
Richard Heathcote/Staff/Getty Images
Though Heiman said this photo doesn't necessarily look unique, it is because the technology used to capture it was actually five years in the making.
The process started in 2019 at the World Athletics Championships in Doha when the company first communicated with the event's broadcaster about mounting a camera on their rig.
After a small action camera didn't yield the desired quality, they decided to move forward with a bigger camera that was used in Paris and was wirelessly triggered by photographer Richard Heathcote, who was in the media center.
"[Heathcote] was actually our robotics photographer, so while he was shooting this picture, he was also manning two robots that are in the roof, following the action with a little joystick," Heiman said, adding that Heathcote also had a foot pedal controlling a camera. "So all in, there's about 15 remotes on this moment, and [Heathcote's] controlling kind of all of them, as I kind of joke, ends up like a drummer, right?"
"It's just a really good composition. You have the Olympic rings, you have Paris in there, you know where it is, you see the purple lights in the background, all the nation's flags in the background. It's just a really amazing athletics photo and a really unique one," Heiman said.
Photographer Hector Vivas created a layered image of the jumping individual final on August 6.
Photographer Hector Vivas captured and layered moments from the jumping individual final.
Hector Vivas/Stringer/Getty Images
"One of the ideas that Hector [Vivas] came up with was he wanted to shoot the Games with this technique he's been working on called layering, and that's really, you set a camera up at one spot, it stays fixed, so it's and then you shoot as the event unfolds," Heiman said, noting that Vivas decided when to fire the shutter each time.
"Every time I look at it, I find a new part of it that I didn't see before," Heiman added, comparing the photo to pages of "Where's Waldo?"
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif kissed her gold medal on August 9.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won the gold medal in Paris.
However, despite the scrutiny, she went on to win the gold medal in the welterweight boxing event. Khelif wrote on Instagram, "From dreams to reality, the journey is gold. Proud to stand at the top for my country and the ones who believed. The fight never stops, only gets stronger."
Australian breaker Raygun gave the crowd a memorable performance on August 9.
Australian B-girl Raygun competed at the 2024 Olympics.
Ezra Shaw/Staff/Getty Images
Rachael Gunn, also known by her B-girl name Raygun, also received a lot of attention online for her performance at the 2024 Olympics.
Though she was eliminated during the round-robin stage of the competition, her moves were instantly documented as memes and she became the subject of misinformation.
Gunn retired from competitive breaking in November.
Team USA's Stephen Curry launched a shot over Team France's Victor Wembanyama during the men's basketball Olympic final on August 10.
Team USA defeated Team France 97-87.
Ezra Shaw/Staff/Getty Images
Standing at 6-foot-2, Curry launched his shot over 7-foot-3 Wembanyama.
The US won the game 98-87, and Curry finished with 24 points and five assists.
Poland's Kinga Dróżdż reacted after winning the category A wheelchair fencing semifinal at the Paralympics on September 3.
Dróżdż won the women's sabre category A semifinal.
Steph Chambers/Staff/Getty Images
According to the International Wheelchair & Amputee Sport Federation (IWAS) Wheelchair Fencing, category A fencers "have good trunk control."
Dróżdż defeated Eva Andrea Hajmasi of Hungary 15-12 in the women's sabre category A semifinal to advance to the final.
There, she won the silver medal after losing to Haiyan Gu.
On October 11, Thorbjørn Olesen played a shot on the 18th hole during round two of the FedEx Open de France.
Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen played a shot on the 18th hole at the FedEx Open de France.
Warren Little/Staff/Getty Images
Olesen tied for second place with Yannik Paul, Sam Bairstow, and Jeff Winther, all of whom scored 15 under.
English golfer Dan Bradbury came in first place with a score of 16 under par.
Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam in game one of the World Series on October 25.
LA Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, #5, hit a walk-off grand slam in game one of the World Series.
The Dodgers went on to win the series four games to one.
Ironman athletes competed in the swimming leg of the World Championship race on October 26.
Photographer Ezra Shaw used a drone to capture part of the VinFast Ironman World Championships.
Ezra Shaw/Staff/Getty Images for IRONMAN
Heiman said that photographer Ezra Shaw used a drone to take this image of Ironman competitors, which takes a lot of preparation.
"He has to go photograph the actual venue. He's not just there operating a drone, so he needs to get there, set it up, fly it, take his pictures, come down, and then go on to probably the athletes coming out of the water to get on the bikes," Heiman said.
Ah, 2024: the year we debated how to pronounce “hawk tuah,” pondered the health benefits of eating rocks, and held space for a Broadway showstopper. It was a year when the discourse could feel shockingly pure and joyful — at least for a few minutes, before we all came tumbling back down to reality. Online […]
The most-Googled athlete of the year was at the center of controversy at the Paris Olympics, as Algeria’s Imane Khelif became the gold medalist in her weight class for boxing, despite questions about gender eligibility.
Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 International Boxing Association World Championships after IBA president Umar Kremlev said the boxer had "XY chromosomes," which are associated with biological males.
However, the IOC defended Khelif, as well as Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who also won gold in a different women’s weight class despite related outrage.
"These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA," the IOC said. "Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process."
Khelif went on to never lose a single round in Paris on her way to gold. One boxer, Angela Carini, even forfeited against Khelif in Paris, saying that "one punch hurt too much."
Clark made WNBA history in her first season as part of the Indiana Fever, while headlining a rookie class that changed the landscape of women's sports, let alone women's basketball.
But this rookie season to remember didn't come without its own controversy, especially when she was playing.
Clark was a part of national headlines after the Chicago Sky's Chennedy Carter checked her down on the court early in the season, which was deemed a Flagrant-1 foul.
It wasn't a necessary physical play, hence the foul call, but it became much more than that as talk shows and media outlets began discussing whether players are being too harsh on Clark, who had taken a beating on the court with some hard fouls prior to that as well. Race was also brought up as part of the discussions.
Clark would endure more moments of physicality, including from fellow rookie Angel Reese, who whacked her in the head during a layup attempt. However, both Reese and Clark agreed it had just been a basketball play that didn't work out at that moment.
In a year when transgender athletes in women’s sports became such a controversial topic, one such situation made national headlines as San Jose State’s women’s volleyball program was mired in controversy due to trans athlete Brooke Fleming on the court.
The Spartans’ record reflected forfeits from multiple opponents this season, and though it wasn’t directly specified, all signs pointed to the refusal to play against Fleming.
There has even been controversy within her own team, as captain Brooke Slusser is part of two lawsuits alleging the university and Fleming actively sought to prevent her and other players on the team from knowing that Fleming is a biological male.
Slusser also joined a lawsuit against the NCAA over the governing body’s policies on gender ideology that allows transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Despite controversy from within and the outside, San Jose State continued to play against opponents that would face them on the court until the Mountain West tournament came around where they earned a bye for being the No. 2 seed.
Boise State, who forfeited to SJSU earlier in the season, beat Utah State in the quarterfinals to set a date for a semifinal matchup with the Spartans. However, they decided to forfeit yet again, giving SJSU a spot at the conference championship trophy despite never playing a set.
Colorado State, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, went on to defeat SJSU, 3-1, to win the title and make the NCAA Tournament.
It was quite the summer for Team USA's women's gymnastics team, especially with Simone Biles becoming the most decorated United States gymnast of all time.
However, her teammate in Chiles faced quite the controversy when she was awarded the bronze medal in the individual floor exercise.
American coaches had asked judges to review a score from her routine that eventually reflected in her final score, beating out Romania’s Ana Barbosu, who came in fourth place instead of winning the medal.
But things changed when the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Chiles’ appeal had come past the one-minute deadline, thus dropping her score back to its original tally, and Barbosu was given the bronze medal. Thus, Chiles was ordered to give it back.
It was certainly emotional for Chiles, the 23-year-old who claimed that she was facing "racially driven attacks" from social media users in a lengthy statement on the matter posted to X on Aug. 15.
An appeal of the IOC’s decision continues and Biles even said she would be joining the effort to re-assert Chiles as the bronze medal winner.
NICK BOSA'S MAGA HAT
In the heat of the presidential election, sports was also impacted with some controversy after one NFL player decided to show his clear allegiance to one of the candidates.
Bosa, the San Francisco 49ers star defensive end, decided to crash his quarterback, Brock Purdy's, postgame interview on "Sunday Night Football" wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat.
The NFL rulebook prohibits any sort of political messaging, and Bosa was later fined $11,255 by the league for doing so.
But Bosa said that wearing the hat, despite the controversy it caused on talk shows and articles printed across the country, had been "well worth it" after Donald Trump became President-elect.
"I don’t think my position on speaking about it is going to change, so clearly the nation spoke. We got what we got," Bosa said at the time.
ATHLETES DO THE "TRUMP DANCE"
Speaking of Trump, players in both college and professional football were celebrating touchdowns and clutch plays by mimicking the President-elect's dance moves, which were seen during his rallies across the campaign trail.
While this wasn't as blatant an endorsement as Bosa's MAGA hat, the dance was something that sent social media into a frenzy, whether people were fans of the moves or not.
NFL players Brock Bowers, Calvin Ridley, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Za’Darius Smith and Malcolm Rodriguez were all seen doing it. Bowers explained why he had done the move after the game.
Bowers explained that watching UFC star Jon "Bones" Jones do it during his victory at Madison Square Garden in November, with Trump sitting right in the front row, had been his inspiration.
"I like watching UFC, so I saw it and thought it was cool," Bowers said.
The NFL said it had no issue with the dance moves of players despite the controversy.
FALCONS DRAFT MICHAEL PENIX JR.
Would a recap of controversies come without the shock of the NFL Draft?
When the Falcons selected eighth overall back in April, they surprised the entire football world when Washington's Michael Penix Jr., a top quarterback prospect, was called by commissioner Roger Goodell.
The Falcons had just signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed, giving them a franchise quarterback in free agency as they went into the draft. Nobody was expecting a quarterback to be taken by the Falcons, especially with that high of a draft pick.
The Falcons eventually had to explain their draft pick, while Cousins was hit with questions about the awkward situation, even though he hadn't played a single snap for Atlanta yet.
Now, while it seemed like a crazy pick back then, Penix is finishing out the season as the Falcons' starter with Cousins' future in the organization seemingly at a crossroads after a mediocre first campaign in Atlanta.
BILL BELICHICK DOESN'T LAND NEXT NFL GIG
It almost didn't feel real when the New England Patriots and Belichick mutually parted ways, ending a 24-year run with an organization that had won six Super Bowls with him in place as head coach.
But being back on the market looking for a new gig, everyone in the football space believed that Belichick would find a new home with many head coaching vacancies open. Well, he didn't.
The closest Belichick came was the Falcons, who eventually chose to go with Raheem Morris despite meeting with the coaching legend several times during their hiring process. The Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders all went with someone else to lead their locker rooms, while Belichick moved into the sports media realm.
Perhaps even more wild is Belichick becoming North Carolina's new head football coach, as he will begin a whole new journey in college for the first time in his career.
"RAYGUN" MAKES OLYMPIC HEADLINES FOR ALL WRONG REASONS
A new addition to the Paris Olympics this year was Breaking, and one competitor from Australia became a household name, though it wasn't due to a brilliant performance.
Rachel Gunn, who went by the stage name "Raygun" in the Olympics, went viral after failing to get a single point in her performance. Some even believed that Gunn, a university lecturer at Macquarie University, was mocking the competition with her dancing, though she said she had been trying to be as creative as possible.
Gunn qualified for the Paris Olympics after winning the QMS Oceania Championships in Sydney and was named the top-ranked b-girl by the Australian Breaking Association in 2020 and 2021.
But when she got to the Olympics, Gunn admitted she was overmatched.
"As soon as I qualified, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I done?' because I knew that I was going to get beaten, and I knew people weren’t going to understand my style and what I was going to do," she said.
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles caught heat before the start of the NFL season for showing up to husband Jonathan Owens’ preseason game with the Chicago Bears in an outfit sporting the safety's former team.
But on Thursday night, she silenced the critics.
The decorated Olympian arrived at Soldier Field in Chicago before the Bears’ Week 17 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks wearing an outfit decorated entirely with photographs of her husband's face.
Owens reposted a photo of Biles to his Instagram Stories with the caption, "Ain’t she beautiful."
Fans received the outfit choice well this time around.
In August, before a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the gymnast irked some by wearing a jacket depicting Owens when he played for the Green Bay Packers. Unbothered by the criticism, Biles later shared the photos on social media with the message, "Bear down."
Owens signed a two-year contract with the Bears in March after spending one season with the Packers. He was excused from the start of training camp this summer to support his wife as she went on to make history at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Biles won four medals, including three gold, to bring her total Olympic medal count to 11 — the most by any American female gymnast.
Her amazing rebound in Paris, following her well-chronicled troubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, earned her the runner-up spot for AP Female Athlete of the Year honors, just behind WNBA star Caitlin Clark.
Nearly 600 Americans traveled to France this summer for the 2024 Paris Olympics with one goal in mind: bring home the gold.
The U.S. was represented by 592 athletes across 34 different sports, which helped the Americans top the medal count with 126 overall. The second closest with 91 medals was China. The U.S. also tied for first with 40 gold medals.
The Americans saw the most success in track and field, winning a total of 34 medals, including 14 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze. American track star Noah Lyles earned his first Olympic gold with a first-place finish in the men’s 100-meter final, while Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown set a world record in the mixed 4x400-meter relay.
USA Swimming topped the gold medal count in swimming with eight golds, edging out Australia by one. Katie Ledecky continued her dominance in the pool, becoming just the sixth Olympian to ever win nine gold medals. Team USA took home 28 total medals in swimming, including 13 silver and seven bronze.
Simone Biles returned to the Olympics with vengeance after her heartbreaking run in Tokyo. She made history in Paris by winning three gold medals to cement her legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. American Stephen Nedoroscik also captivated fans at home and earned himself a bronze medal in the men’s pommel horse. The U.S. won nine medals, including Biles’ three gold, one silver and five bronze.
Total medal count: two gold, two silver, three bronze
Vincent Hancock continued to make history at the Olympics by winning his fourth straight Olympic gold medal in men’s skeet, remaining as the only skeet shooter to win more than one gold medal in the event. Team USA walked away with five medals, including three silver and one bronze.
The U.S. women’s foil team joined the history books in Paris after claiming Team USA’s first gold medal in the event with a win over Italy. They took home four total medals, including four gold, one silver and one bronze.
Total medal count: two silver, one bronze
Team USA’s men’s basketball won its fifth straight gold medal and 17th overall after defeating the host nation, 98-87, in the men’s final, while the women’s team also defeated France by just one point to win their eighth consecutive gold medal.
The U.S. women’s national soccer team had something to prove in Paris, having not won gold since the 2012 London Olympics. But in the 57th minute of their final against Brazil, Mallory Swanson scored in what was her 100th appearance for the national team to lead Team USA to its fifth gold medal in the event.
Scottie Scheffler has been going for gold all year long, and he was able to capture his first Olympic medal in Paris, setting a record in the men’s individual for 72 holes at 19-under 265.
Caroline Marks – women's shortboard
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one silver
Total medal count: one bronze
Total medal count: one bronze
Total medal count: one bronze
Total medal count: one bronze
The U.S. picked up its first-ever medal in rugby sevens when the women’s team upset Australia in the finals seconds of the bronze medal match.
Exclusive interview: The former Olympian speaks candidly to Jack Rathborn about Syria’s future after the removal of the dictator Bashar al-Assad earlier this month
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova only needed one acronym in response to Olympic boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif receiving votes for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award.
Khelif was in a firestorm throughout the Olympics after it was learned the Algerian fighter failed a gender test in the run-up to the Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) maintained that Khelif met all the requirements to compete and eventually won the gold medal.
Khelif finished third in the voting, receiving four votes. Caitlin Clark won the award and Simone Biles was second.
Navratilova, who has been a staunch advocate for protecting women’s sports, reacted in a post on X.
"Wtaf???" she wrote, which means "what the actual f---."
Khelif qualified for the Paris Olympics, but Khelif's gender was called into question following a disqualification from the 2023 championships before a gold medal bout over gender eligibility issues.
International Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev said the boxer had "XY chromosomes," which are associated with biological males.
One boxer, Angela Carini, forfeited her bout against Khelif in Paris, saying "one punch hurt too much."
Khelif won gold in Paris and wasn't the only boxer to win a women's gold who has been disqualified for failing gender eligibility tests. Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting also won gold in another women's weight class in Paris, prompting similar outrage.
The IOC defended Khelif and Yu-ting's inclusion in the women's events.
Khelif was the most Googled athlete of the year, largely due to the controversy.
