Another eventful year in sport saw Manchester City crowned Premier League champions while Emma Hayes signed off in style as Chelsea boss with a fifth successive Women’s Super League title.
England finished as runners-up at the European Championship and Team GB earned 65 medals at this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
Here the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best images from this year’s sporting action.
Luke Littler in action against Luke Humphries at the World Championship final. The 16-year-old’s incredible debut at Alexandra Palace ended in defeat as Humphries secured a 7-4 victory (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp lifting the Carabao Cup in February after his side beat Chelsea 1-0. The victory came nearly a month after Klopp announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season (Nick Potts/PA)
I Am Maximus, ridden by Paul Townend, on the way to winning the Randox Grand National at Aintree in April (Mike Egerton/PA)
Kyren Wilson celebrates with children Finley, right, and Bailey after winning the World Snooker Championship (Mike Egerton/PA)
Oleksandr Usyk, left, lands a punch on Tyson Fury. Usyk became undisputed world heavyweight champion after a split points victory over Fury (Nick Potts/PA)
Emma Hayes signed off as Chelsea boss in style as her side claimed a fifth successive Women’s Super League title with a 6-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Hayes had announced in November 2023 that she would be stepping down at the end of the season (Martin Rickett/PA)
Manchester City players and fans celebrate the club’s fourth straight Premier League title (Richard Sellers/PA)
Klopp, second left, said goodbye with a final set of Anfield fist-pumps (Peter Byrne/PA)
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti celebrates with his team after they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final at Wembley (Mike Egerton/PA)
Tributes were paid to Rob Burrow during June’s Challenge Cup final. Burrow died on June 2 at the age of 41 after a lengthy battle with motor neurone disease (John Walton/PA)
John McGinn, centre, joins in with a traditional dance following the Scotland team’s arrival at Bayernhalle in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, for a reception hosted by the Mayor ahead of Euro 2024 (Andrew Milligan/PA)
Jude Bellingham scored an incredible overhead kick in stoppage time to help England fight back for a 2-1 win over Slovakia after extra time in their last-16 meeting at Euro 2024 (Adam Davy/PA)
Lewis Hamilton ended his mammoth 945-day losing streak to take an emotional win at the British Grand Prix (David Davies/PA)
Carlos Alcaraz won the men’s Wimbledon singles title for the second successive year after beating Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6 (4) (Aaron Chown/PA)
England manager Gareth Southgate walks past the European Championship trophy after his side were beaten 2-1 by Spain in the final. Southgate stood down from the role two days later (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Paris 2024 saw the return of Simone Biles. The gymnast took a hat-trick of golds and one silver medal in the French capital (Mike Egerton/PA)
Great Britain’s Noah Williams kisses Tom Daley after the pair won silver in the men’s synchronised 10m platform final. Paris was Daley’s fifth Games since making his debut at Beijing 2008 and he announced his retirement from diving after arriving back in the UK post-Olympics (Mike Egerton/PA)
Andy Murray and Dan Evans celebrate after winning their second round doubles match. The pair would bow out of the competition in the quarter-finals in what was Murray’s final match of his professional career (Martin Rickett/PA)
Lightning strikes near the Eiffel Tower, ahead of the start of men’s 20km race walk (David Davies/PA)
Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred won the women’s 100m after storming across the line in 10.72 seconds (Mike Egerton/PA)
Noah Lyles claimed gold in the men’s 100m, winning with a margin of just five thousandths of a second (Mike Egerton/PA)
Keely Hodgkinson celebrates her Olympic 800m win (Martin Rickett/PA)
Great Britain’s Katy Marchant, Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell, left to right, celebrate after winning gold in the women’s team sprint (David Davies/PA)
Matt Stutzman, known as ‘the armless archer’, competes at the men’s individual compound open last 16. He would go on to take Paralympic gold in the event (Adam Davy/PA)
Dame Sarah Storey claimed her 19th Paralympic gold medal after winning the women’s C4-5 road race (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Heather Knight lifts the Hundred trophy after her London Spirit side beat Welsh Fire (Steven Paston/PA)
England players pay tribute to former batter Graham Thorpe, who took his own life aged 55 (Nick Potts/PA)
Rory McIlroy competes at the BMW PGA Championship. He would go on to lose on the final day at Wentworth in a play-off against Billy Horschel (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Anthony Joshua’s career rebuild suffered a setback after he collapsed to a brutal fifth-round knockout by Daniel Dubois at Wembley (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Here, the PA news agency picks out 10 stars who are expected to shine.
Ellie Kildunne
England rugby player Ellie Kildunne played sevens for Team GB at the Pari
It has been an astonishing year of sporting drama, featuring triumphs for Britain’s Olympians in Paris, another near-miss for England’s footballers and cont
A Papua New Guinea team will enter Australia’s National Rugby League by 2028 after a landmark deal was confirmed on Thursday.Australian Prime Minister Anthon
Juan Soto has completed his record-breaking 765million US dollar (£599.2million) move to the New York Mets.The Mets confirmed the 15-year-deal with a post on X
