The biggest letdowns in sport of 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, sports fans around the world are reflecting on moments that didn’t live up to expectations – that could be down to simply underperforming, controversial judging or just some truly bizarre choices being made. Let's take a look at the biggest letdowns of 2024!

Let’s start with the event that ultimately dominated the sporting calendar this year. The 2024 Summer Olympics. The Olympics were actually some of the best in living, but it wasn’t perfect and nor did we expert it to be!

The swimming competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics were marked by a paradox: while the field of talent was deeper than ever, the actual depth of the pool was not. At 2.15 meters (7 feet, 0.5 inches) it was one of the shallowest pools in modern times, and it meant that the competitors were recording slower times than they had in the lead up to the games. 

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Despite the advantage of playing on home soil at Roland Garros, the French tennis team failed to secure any medals. None of the nine French players advanced past the quarter-finals, with a defeat rate of 68% from 19 total matches. This continued a trend of poor Olympic results for French tennis since the sport's reintroduction to the Games in 1988.

Breaking, or break dancing, was a curious addition to the Games, and it proved to be a huge talking point – but for all the wrong reasons. Australia’s dancer. Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn made headlines around the world with her ‘unique’ routine – and possibly set the sport back another 10 years in public perception.

Following a revolutionary rookie year in the WNBA, basketball fans were gearing up to see Clark represent Team USA. Unfortunately, selectors felt Clark wasn’t experienced enough to make the trip to Paris. Still, Team USA claimed gold regardless. 

Speaking of Caitlin Clark, despite breaking all manner of records this year and being attributed to $1.6 billion surge in value to the WNBA, as talkSport reported, the 23-year-old has faced constant criticism. From being labeled as an 'overrated' played by an all manner of pundits, to even being facing backlash from Megyn Kelly for expressing her respect for black players, Caitlin Clark is just always in the firing line. 

On the booming WNBA front, in July sports broadcaster Sarah Spain revealed that her employer ESPN turned down multiple pitches for a dedicated women's sports show, despite securing interested sponsors, which highlighted just how resistant mainstream outlets are to promote women’s sport. Well and truly a letdown for any true sport lovers out there.

In the NBA, fans of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans have been left disappointed after their team's woeful seasons so far, largely due to injuries and underperformance. Despite high expectations, these teams have struggled to make a significant impact in the 2024-25 season.

The same can be said for the NFL, with several teams falling short of expectations in 2024. The Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New Orleans Saints each went from early-season playoff hopefuls to well and truly missing the postseason. 

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To the NFL disappointment list you can also add the 49ers, who just haven’t looked a patch on their 2023/24 selves. A huge part of that is surely down to Christian McCaffrey’s injury-plagued season, with the superstar RB only playing four regular season games this year. Not to mention the havoc that wreaked on people's fantasy football teams. 

Dolphins fans were also left in a tricky situation as QB Tua Tagovailoa was forced to spend time on the sidelines dealing with a highly publicised concussion issue that threatened to end his career early. It shone a spotlight on the harsh realities of playing in the NFL and just how quickly a career can come to an end.

In MLB, The Chicago Cubs also faced a frustrating season, with structural issues and the need for significant roster improvements becoming very apparent. Despite the financial capability to sign high-impact players, the team's management has just mishandled the team once again. 

Speaking of mishandled teams, it doesn’t get much worse than Manchester United. The Red Devils were looking to improve on what turned out to be their worst season in 30 years in 23/24, but that so far hasn’t happened – and isn’t looking likely to – with the side struggling to even stay in the top 15 at this point. Their problems are far too complicated to go into detail here, but rest assured it’s not looking good for those at Old Trafford.

With such a jam packed year, it’s easy to forget that we had the Euros once again. Well, England fans have surely tried to forget anyway. Although the Three Lions actually made the final, they never ever actually looked a hope to win the coveted European tournament. We’d love to see football return to the days when the objective was to score goals.

Finally, we have the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight. This bout had been hyped for over a year as fans hoped to see a rabid Mike Tyson once again dominate in the ring. All common sense went out the window as the Netflix hype machine took over and people seemed too willing to believe a nearly 60-year-old man could match the intensity of his heyday. A snoozefest that millions of people all over the world stayed up late for to watch.

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