Here are our winners.
Why should Hollywood have all the fun? On Sunday the stars of the silver screen will gather to celebrate their night of nights, and it’s a good time to look back on the greatest performances in our world and give them props too.
We have divided up the year that was into Oscar-themes categories and given our awards for the greatest players, coaches, and photos of 2024. These are the people who defined the year that was, and will continue to change the game into the future.
Best picture [sports photo]
Yusuf Dikec at the Summer Olympics
The image of Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec at the Summer Games was perhaps the image of the year in sports. In an event dominated by technology there was Dikec, hand in his pocket, simple pair of glasses, aiming down his sight.
Perhaps the perfect photo for our time.
Best director [best coach]
Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
As the 2024 NFL season began, Nick Sirianni was under a world of pressure. Sirianni’s Eagles were bounced unceremoniously in the Wild Card round a year ago, and many wondered if Sirianni would even keep his job.
Philadelphia got out to a 2-2 start, including a 33-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the team that bounced the Eagles out of the playoffs a year ago — and limped into their early bye week.
All they did coming out of that bye week was win every game save one, en route to a win in Super Bowl LIX.
Best actor in a leading role [men’s MVP of all sports]
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani transcended baseball in 2024. The NL MVP wasn’t just the best player in the sport, but redefined what we thought we knew about athletes in MLB. Here’s a guy who entered the year banged up, choosing not to pitch to preserve his body — and still came out and hit a career-high .310, 54 home runs, and changing the game in every way stats can’t track.
Watching Ohtani play is an otherwordly experience and made the Dodgers must-see TV even if you have no affinity for the team. The measure of an athlete sometimes isn’t how fans of the sport perceive them, but how many non-sports fans become interested because of them. Ohtani has that ability, and transformed baseball as a result.
He is our men’s MVP in all sports.
Best actress in a leading role [women’s MVP in all sports]
Simone Biles
There are plenty of women who earn the right to overall MVP, and this was definitely Caitlin Clark’s first Oscar’s snub — but it’s impossible to overlook Simone Biles returning to Olympic competition in 2024 and once again proving she’s the GOAT.
The 27-year-old gymnast continues to defy all preconceived notions about age in the sport, turning back the clock to win three gold medals and a silver in Paris. It’s too early to know whether Simone will try to compete in a fifth games in Los Angeles in 2028 — which means she has to get her flowers now.
We will never, ever see another athlete like Simone Biles — and her 2024 Olympic campaign proved it. All while being a mental health advocate, and inspiration to young athletes, and a stalwart ambassador for the country. She is our MVP in all sports for 2024.
Best actor in a supporting role [best 2nd option]
Saquon Barkley
There’s an argument to be made that Barkley was the star of the Eagles in their Super Bowl run this year, but the perception has been for a long time that running backs are role players, not the stars.
Barkley changed all that in 2024. Not only did he take over much of the duty previously on Jalen Hurts at the Tush Push, but he was the most impactful running back we’ve seen in the modern era. It would have been easy for Barkley to pursue glory and take the single season rushing record, but instead he wanted to focus on bringing home the Lombardi Trophy for Philly — and he did it.
The role of running back came out of the shadows and into the limelight in 2024, and Barkley was one of the biggest reasons for it. Quarterbacks may still get all the attention, but Barkley transcended his role as a piece in the puzzle to become the second most important player on a team in sports.
Best actress in a supporting role [best 2nd option]
Angel Reese
The supporting actor/actress categories are always fascinating, whether at the Oscars or here in the unofficial “Sports Oscars.”
For many Caitlin Clark was the story of the WNBA season. Clark played extremely well as a rookie for the Indiana Fever and went on to win WNBA Rookie of the Year, securing 66 of 67 votes.
The other vote? That went to Angel Reese, who had an incredible debut season of her own.
Reese recorded a number of WNBA “firsts” as a rookie, becoming the first rookie to put up a double-double in the WNBA All-Star Game, becoming the first player to record 20 rebounds or more in consecutive games, and she finished the year averaging a double-double. She also has the longest streak of consecutive double-doubles in WNBA history.
She also set a league record for rebounds in a single season.
Reese is now playing in the Unrivaled league, and set another record when she became the first player in that league’s short history to record a 20-20 game, when she scored 22 points and grabbed 21 rebounds when the Rose knocked off the previously-unbeaten Lunar Owls 72-63.
Best screenplay [sports story we love]
Lewis Hamilton wins at Silverstone
Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history, had begun to question himself.
He had not reached the top step of a podium since the 2021 season, that ended with Hamilton on the losing end of an epic battle with Max Verstappen for the F1 Drivers’ Championship that went down to the final lap of the season. That ending, which saw Verstappen win the title in controversial fashion, is still debated to this day, and eats away at Hamilton.
But in his final British Grand Prix with Mercedes, Hamilton turned down the straight that bears his name, and won once again.
And if you can, find the call from Alex Jacques of Hamilton’s final lap, and try not to cry.
Best cinematography [most artistic sports photo]
Gabriel Medina at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Photo by JEROME BROUILLET/AFP via Getty Images
This photo of Gabriel Medina at the 2024 Summer Olympics by Jerome Brouillet might be one of the best sports photos ever.
Best makeup and hairstyling [halloween athlete]
Victor Wembanyama as No-Face
Since joining the NBA for the 2023 season Victor Wembanyama has lived up to the hype both on, and off, the court.
During his rookie season Wembanyama arrived at the arena for Halloween dressed as Slenderman, which was an impressive debut. But he took things up a level this past October, showing up as No-Face:
Best costume design [athlete fashion or new uniform we love]
Toronto Raptors City Edition
A dinosaur dunking? Check.
A dinosaur dunking in tribute to Vince Carter? Check.
The coolest jersey from the NBA, and all of sports this past year? Check.
