American gymnast Simone Biles and Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis have been named AIPS (International Sports Press Association) Athletes of 2024, according to a vote by 518 journalists from 111 countries.Biles, winner of three Olympic medals and a silver in Paris 2024, received 703 votes to win the Best Female Athlete of the Year award for the fifth time. At just 27 years of age, she already has 11 medals (seven gold, two silver and two bronze) and is the most decorated US Olympic gymnast of all time.
Simone Biles steals the spotlight with custom Jonathan Owens outfit at Bears vs Seahawks
With 337 votes and in second place is Spanish soccer player Aitana Bonmati, the current Ballon d’Or and The Best Award winner. In third place with 263 points is Julien Alfred, St Lucia’s first ever Olympic gold medallist in the 100m and silver medallist in the 200m.
Duplantis received a total of 603 votes and beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic(368) after breaking his ninth world record with 6.25 metres and becoming the first back-to-back men’s pole vault champion. The Swede also owns the top eight jumps of 2024, at just 25 years of age.
Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar reached third place with 294 points. He won the ‘Triple Crown’, with the men’s Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the world title in the same year, something that had not happened since 1987.
Women’s classification
- Simone Biles (USA) – 703 votes
- Aitana Bonmati (Spain) – 337 votes
- Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia) – 263 votes
- Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) – 226 votes
- Marta (Brazil) – 196 votes
- Katie Ledecky (USA) – 187 votes
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – 176 votes
- Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine) – 165 votes
- Beatrice Cheber (Kenya) – 157 votes
- Iga Swiatek (Poland) – 144 votes
Men’s classification
- Armand Duplantis (Sweden) – 603 votes
- Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – 368 votes
- Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – 294 votes
- Leon Marchand (France) – 246 votes
- Vinicius Jr. (Brazil) – 226 votes
- Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) 220 votes
- Lamine Yamal (Spain) – 211 votes
- Jannik Sinner (Italy) – 180 votes
- Mijain Lopez (Cuba) – 172 votes
- Rodri (Spain) – 144 votes