On 4 November 2024, the World Athletics Council presented the shortlist of the best athletes in 2024. This was announced during the Athlete of the Year awards.
There were 6 categories of athletes, with two sportsmen in each who were honoured and highly awarded by this title.
In general, sport in Africa is a tradition and mainstream for its citizens. Sport here is not only about activee way of life and better results in professional sports among other countries, but also about social development and jobs creation. Sports betting is also common for Africans. This nation is known to have interested and excited bettors. Long ago betting started to be available all around the world after going online. Check the betting sites south africa link and find out about different betting sites, their features, and bonuses in order to decide on the most suitable one.
African Finalists for 2024 Athlete of the Year Awards
African athletes are known to be famous sportsmen for their speed in athletics, strength and power in rugby, and many other factors. The most interesting factor here is their genetic predisposition: high volume of lungs, strong legs, and a higher ratio of fast twitch muscle fibres than other nations.
So, it’s not a surprise that African athletes are on the short list of the best athletes of 2024 and were given Athlete of the Year awards.
Here are African athletes and categories in which they appeared to be the best of the 2024:
- Men’s Track Athlete of the Year – Leslie Tebogo, sprinter. He won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 (Botswana).
- Women’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year – Ruth Chepng’etich is a road runner. Now she is known as the current world record holder among women athletes (Kenya).
- Men’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year – Brian Pintado, a racewalker. He’s a 2-time champion of Pan-American Games and 2-time Olympic medallist (Ecuador);
Tamirat Tola is a long-distance runner. During the Olympics of 2024, he set a new record in running (Ethiopia).
Films about African Athletes
To deeply understand African athletes’ desire to win, perservance, regular work on themselves to be the best of the best, and the phenomenon of their personalities, you can watch many films about some of them.
Here are the top 3 films about African sportsmen:
- “The Athlete”
This is the history of Abeb Bikila, who was the son of a simple shepherd. Working as a bodyguard in Addis Ababa, he was spotted by a Swedish coach and later was able to join the Ethiopian team. In 1960, Bikila ran a marathon barefoot and won the gold medal. “The Athlete” shows the Olympic years of Bikila 1960 and 1964, as well as a car accident that ended his marvellous career in running. But there came a new chapter of his life.
- “Between the Rings”
This film presented us with the life of Esther Phiri, who became a 7 time world champion in boxing. She left her education and perspective to be married to build a boxing career despite the challenges she met on her path.
- “EIGHTEAM”
“EIGHTEAM” is a documentary film about the Gabon disaster and the marvellous story of Zambia’s team, Chipolopolo.
In 2012, Chipolopolo beated the Ivory Coast and became champions of the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. Nine years earlier in this country, one of the best Zambian soccer players died on the way to Senegal to compete in a World Cup Qualifier.
The film is based on interviews with journalists, former soccer player Kalusha Bwalya, and many other people to tell the story of success after a tragedy.
