2024: A look back at the year’s notable sporting moments in numbers

Joe Root, Luke Littler and Dame Sarah Storey, left to right, enjoyed a momentous 2024 (Nigel French/Zac Goodwin/Jacob King/PA) -

The last 12 months have brought sporting breakthroughs, repeat successes and a major Olympic landmark.

Here, the PA news agency looks at 2024’s key statistics.

Football

Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to another Premier League title (Bradley Collyer/PA) (PA Wire)

4 – Manchester City won an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title.

105 – Erling Haaland, who won his second successive Golden Boot, went on to complete a century of City goals in only 105 appearances in all competitions.

3 – all three promoted sides – Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton – suffered immediate relegation, for only the second time in a Premier League season.

104 – the Blades conceded a Premier League-record number of goals.

5 – Chelsea won a fifth successive Women’s Super League title ahead of manager Emma Hayes’ departure to take over the United States national team.

Emma Hayes signed off from Chelsea with a fifth straight WSL title (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

2 – England’s men reached, and lost, a second major final of Gareth Southgate’s managerial reign at Euro 2024. He then resigned after 102 games in charge, third-most of any England manager behind Walter Winterbottom (139) and Sir Alf Ramsey (113).

15 – Real Madrid extended their record with a 15th Champions League or European Cup win.

1 – Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen lost only once in all competitions last season – in their 51st of 52 games, the Europa League final against Atalanta.

Olympics and Paralympics

Team pursuit silver was Great Britain’s 1,000th Olympic medal (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)

1,000 – Great Britain won their 1,000th all-time Olympic medal, across summer and winter Games combined, with silver in the men’s team pursuit cycling.

65 – total medals for Team GB at the Paris Olympics, including 14 gold as they finished seventh on the medal table.

2 – Britain’s Paralympians then finished second behind China with 49 gold medals and 124 in all.

Dame Sarah Storey added to her medal haul (PA graphic) (PA Graphics)

30 – Paralympic medals for Dame Sarah Storey after her two golds in Paris. Storey has won gold in all 14 Paralympic cycling events she has ever entered.

Cricket

Joe Root, left, has overtaken Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading Test century-maker (Mike Egerton/Adam Davy/PA)

12,472 – Sir Alastair Cook’s record as England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer was passed by Joe Root – with his Test-best innings of 262 against Pakistan in Multan.

704 – James Anderson’s final wicket tally as he retired from Test cricket in July. It is an England record and the most of any seamer in Test history.

Tennis

Alfie Hewett completed a career grand slam (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)

4 – Britain’s Alfie Hewett won the Wimbledon men’s wheelchair singles to complete the set of all four grand slam titles.

0 – Novak Djokovic went through a calendar year without winning a slam for the first time since 2017, as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz won two apiece. Djokovic shares the all-time record of 24 with Margaret Court.

Formula One

Here's to you, M4X Verstappen 👑#F1 || @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/QaOIEKpi3j

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) November 26, 2024

4 – Max Verstappen won his fourth successive drivers’ title, only the sixth man to reach that tally.

9 – Lewis Hamilton won his ninth British Grand Prix, a record at a single event, to end a run of 56 races without a victory.

Rugby

Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony lifts the Guinness Six Nations trophy (Brian Lawless/PA) (PA Archive)

3 – Ireland completed back-to-back title wins in the men’s Six Nations for only the third time. They have won the competition and its predecessors 24 times including shared titles.

10 – England won all 10 of their women’s internationals and have now won 50 of their last 51 games, the one exception being the 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand.

24 – Wigan Warriors won their 24th league title and seventh of the Super League era, beating Hull KR 9-2 in the Grand Final.

Other sports

Now been 12 months since I won the world youth championship and would never of thought then that I’d have 10 pdc titles in 2024🤯 what a year❤️🏆 pic.twitter.com/66NDIipNrH

— Luke Littler (@LukeTheNuke180) November 27, 2024

16 – age of Luke Littler when he reached the PDC World Darts Championship final in January. He went on to win the Premier League, World Series and Grand Slam of Darts in a stunning first full professional season.

4 – American golfers won all four men’s majors – two for Xander Schauffele and one each for Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau – and have now won seven in a row since Spaniard Jon Rahm’s 2023 Masters triumph.

43 – Ronnie O’Sullivan became snooker’s oldest Masters champion, aged 43 – as well as still holding the record as the youngest, aged 19 when he won in 1995.