Prime 10 US Feminine Athletes of the Yr 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 easiest.
Right here’s a more in-depth have a look at the highest 5 feminine athletes of the 12 months:
5. Anna CockrellTaking the quantity 5 spot is Anna Cockrell. Her 2024 season was a breakthrough 12 months. She delivered her greatest efficiency on the Paris Olympics, taking house 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 may deal with the stress 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 powerful time of 52.59 seconds. She adopted that with stable 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 potential to compete towards the very best within the occasion.
Cockrell additionally shined on the U.S. Trials, securing her place on Crew USA with ease. Her focus and willpower carried her by a packed season and culminated in her Olympic success.
At 26, Cockrell is on an upward trajectory. Her silver medal in Paris indicators a vibrant future, and he or she has firmly established herself as one of many high names within the 400m hurdles. Extra podium finishes are probably 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 12 months, capped by her Olympic gold medal in Paris. Her profitable bounce of seven.10 meters on the Stade de France was the spotlight of a season full of huge performances. It additionally accomplished a powerful double, making her each the out of doors and indoor world champion in the identical 12 months.
Davis-Woodhall confirmed her class all year long. She began sturdy with a win on the New Stability Indoor Grand Prix in Boston and saved 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 received 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 grow to be a mannequin of focus and willpower. Her Olympic efficiency solidified her as a number one title in observe and subject. Along with her athleticism and psychological toughness, she’s set to realize much more. The gold in Paris is perhaps her largest second to date, but it surely’s clear there’s extra to return.
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, working towards ballet, jazz, and faucet. She didn’t choose 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 profitable 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 an announcement 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 12 months, 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 high. With one other gold medal in hand, Allman appears to be like poised to maintain throwing her approach into historical past.
2. Gabrielle ThomasGabrielle Thomas had an impressive 2024 season, notably within the 200m, the place she established herself as one of many high sprinters globally. On the Paris Olympics, Thomas captured the Gold medal with a time of 21.83 seconds, cementing her standing as the very best within the 200m.
Main as much as the Olympics, Thomas was in high kind. She received 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 potential to bounce again from previous challenges was clear all through the season, and he or she saved 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 planet.
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 Crew 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 12 months. It confirmed that her arduous work and preparation had paid off, solidifying her place among the many high athletes within the sport. Thomas’ success in Paris leaves little doubt that she is without doubt one of the brightest stars in observe and subject.
1. Sydney McLaughlin-LevroneSydney McLaughlin-Levrone had one other standout 12 months in 2024, solidifying her place as the highest sprinter within the 400m hurdles and profitable the coveted feminine observe athlete of the 12 months on the World Athletics Awards. On the Paris Olympics, she delivered a surprising efficiency, breaking her personal world report 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 report of fifty.65 seconds. Her constant kind was evident all year long, as she triumphed within the 110m hurdles, 200m, and 400m, all whereas going through fierce competitors.
On the Paris Video games, simply at some point after celebrating her twenty fifth birthday, she broke her personal world report 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 report and the second-fastest ever, simply 0.10 seconds shy of the world report.
