Prime 10 US Feminine Athletes of the 12 months 2024 (5-1)
Final time, we began our countdown of the highest feminine athletes in the US in 2024, specializing in their exceptional performances in occasions just like the Diamond League and the Paris Olympics. Now, it’s time to highlight the perfect.
Right here’s a better take a look at the highest 5 feminine athletes of the yr:
5. Anna CockrellTaking the quantity 5 spot is Anna Cockrell. Her 2024 season was a breakthrough yr. She delivered her greatest efficiency on the Paris Olympics, taking dwelling a silver medal within the 400m hurdles with a private better of 51.87 seconds. It was a race to recollect, with Cockrell proving she might deal with the strain of the game’s largest stage.
Her season was marked by consistency and development. On the Golden Gala in Rome, she claimed victory with a robust time of 52.59 seconds. She adopted that with strong showings at main meets, together with a second-place end on the Memorial van Damme in Brussels and one other silver in Chorzów on the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial. These performances underscored her skill to compete in opposition to the perfect within the occasion.
Cockrell additionally shined on the U.S. Trials, securing her place on Group USA with ease. Her focus and dedication carried her by means of a packed season and culminated in her Olympic success.
At 26, Cockrell is on an upward trajectory. Her silver medal in Paris indicators a shiny future, and she or he has firmly established herself as one of many prime names within the 400m hurdles. Extra podium finishes are seemingly on the horizon for this proficient athlete.
4. Tara Davis-WoodhallTara Davis-Woodhall’s 2024 season was one for the books. The lengthy jumper had a standout yr, capped by her Olympic gold medal in Paris. Her successful soar of seven.10 meters on the Stade de France was the spotlight of a season stuffed with massive performances. It additionally accomplished a powerful double, making her each the out of doors and indoor world champion in the identical yr.
Davis-Woodhall confirmed her class all year long. She began robust with a win on the New Stability Indoor Grand Prix in Boston and stored bettering. In March, she claimed gold on the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow with a leap of seven.07 meters. Her consistency carried into the out of doors season, the place she gained in Rome and dominated on the USATF New York Metropolis Grand Prix with a private greatest of seven.14 meters.
At 25, Davis-Woodhall has turn into a mannequin of focus and dedication. Her Olympic efficiency solidified her as a number one identify in observe and area. Together with her athleticism and psychological toughness, she’s set to realize much more. The gold in Paris is perhaps her largest second thus far, nevertheless it’s clear there’s extra to come back.
3. Valarie AllmanValarie Allman’s journey to turning into a two-time Olympic champion in 2024 began removed from the discus ring. As a toddler, she competed on a dance group, training ballet, jazz, and faucet. She didn’t decide up a discus till highschool, and even then, it was extra about becoming a member of the throwers’ spaghetti dinner than discovering a brand new sport. However as soon as she began throwing, there was no turning again.
In Paris, Allman defended her Olympic title with a successful throw of 69.50 meters. It wasn’t simply one other gold medal; it was the 1,two hundredth in U.S. Olympic historical past. Her efficiency was a press release after ending with bronze and silver within the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. This time, she was unbeatable.
Allman’s 2024 season had been resulting in this second. Earlier within the yr, she set a private better of 69.86 meters in Suzhou, cementing her place as one of many biggest of all time. She dominated each main competitors, together with the Diamond League. Her consistency and technical precision stood out at each occasion.
In Paris, she confirmed why she stays on the prime. With one other gold medal in hand, Allman seems poised to maintain throwing her means into historical past.
2. Gabrielle ThomasGabrielle Thomas had an excellent 2024 season, significantly within the 200m, the place she established herself as one of many prime sprinters globally. On the Paris Olympics, Thomas captured the Gold medal with a time of 21.83 seconds, cementing her standing as the perfect within the 200m.
Main as much as the Olympics, Thomas was in prime kind. She gained the USATF New York Metropolis Grand Prix with a 21.82-second run and in addition took the highest spot on the London Diamond League. Her skill to bounce again from previous challenges was clear all through the season, and she or he stored bettering when it mattered most. On the Diamond League meet in Brussels, she ran 21.75 seconds, additional proving she was among the many quickest sprinters on the earth.
On the Paris Video games, Thomas didn’t cease at simply the 200m. She was a part of the ladies’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay groups, each of which took Gold for Group USA. This made her the one athlete to win three Gold medals on the Olympics.
Her Gold medal within the 200m was the spotlight of a exceptional yr. It confirmed that her exhausting work and preparation had paid off, solidifying her place among the many prime athletes within the sport. Thomas’ success in Paris leaves little question that she is among the brightest stars in observe and area.
1. Sydney McLaughlin-LevroneSydney McLaughlin-Levrone had one other standout yr in 2024, solidifying her place as the highest sprinter within the 400m hurdles and successful the coveted feminine observe athlete of the yr on the World Athletics Awards. On the Paris Olympics, she delivered a shocking efficiency, breaking her personal world document with a time of fifty.37 seconds to win Gold. She left her largest rival, Femke Bol, far behind, proving as soon as once more that she’s in a league of her personal.
Earlier than the Olympics, McLaughlin-Levrone confirmed her dominance on the U.S. Trials in June, setting a brand new world document of fifty.65 seconds. Her constant kind was evident all year long, as she triumphed within the 110m hurdles, 200m, and 400m, all whereas dealing with fierce competitors.
On the Paris Video games, simply in the future after celebrating her twenty fifth birthday, she broke her personal world document once more, securing her second Olympic gold within the 400m hurdles. McLaughlin-Levrone additionally helped the U.S. group defend their 4x400m relay title, operating the second leg in a relay that clocked in at 3:15.27. That point was a North American document and the second-fastest ever, simply 0.10 seconds shy of the world document.
