2024 was another blockbuster year of outstanding sporting performances which we followed here at Tonybet with bated breath! To mention a few, Ireland sweeping the Six Nations title, Larne and Shamrock Rovers competing in the UEFA Conference League, and yet another career highlight for boxer Katie Taylor. The year, however, was crowned by the Olympic Games in Paris, which produced some stunning medal success for Ireland!
There were also some disappointments along the way, such as Ireland’s poor Nations League campaign and having to watch Euro 2024 from the sidelines, and also the men’s rugby team failing to grab another win over New Zealand during the Autumn Internationals. However, to end the year on a positive note, below we look back at some of the most memorable Irish sporting achievements of 2024.
Six Nations Title Retained – March
There was a successful title defence for Ireland in the 2024 Six Nations. The campaign kicked off with a fantastic Friday night match in Marseille as they faced France. It was expected to be a close battle with the French defending home territory, albeit not in the usual Stade de France, which was being prepped for the Olympics.
Two first-half tries from Jamison Gibson-Park and Tadhg Beirne, along with assured kicking from Jack Crowley, got Ireland on the front foot early. Impressively, they kept the French at arm’s length and romped to a 38-17 bonus-point victory.
Andy Farrell’s men followed this up by hammering Italy 36-0 before blitzing past Wales 31-7. That set up a big showdown with England at Twickenham, which was a nail-biter. England were heading for a win until James Lowe touched down with seven minutes to go to put Ireland ahead. Only a moment of brilliance from Marcus Smith’s drop goal with the clock in the red gave England a victory by a single point.
That victory left Ireland’s title defence hinging on them defeating Scotland in Dublin. The men in green were hot favourites but had to grind against an enterprising and dogged Scottish side. Ireland conceded a late try with two minutes to go but hung on for a 17-13 win to retain their crown.
Dan Sheehan finished as the joint-top try scorer alongside Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe with five, while James Lowe was just one behind. Bundee Aki was one of four nominees for Player of the Championship but lost to Italy’s Tommaso Menoncello. Aki did make the Team of the Championship along with seven of the Irish players, including Tadhg Beirne and Caelan Doris.
City Of Troy wins the Epsom Derby – June
Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien sent City Of Troy to Epsom in early June, retaining faith in his charge in the wonderful world of racing. There had been suggestions that City Of Troy may not be up for the Derby challenge because of early-season form, but still lined up as the 3/1 favourite.
City Of Troy’s previous outing, his seasonal renewal in May’s 2000 Guineas, hadn’t exactly gone to plan as he trailed home ninth of 11 runners, after having gone off as the 4/6 favourite. An unfavourable draw for the Epsom Derby bid raised further concerns ahead of the big race.
His stablemate Los Angeles then didn’t want to get in the stall, before Voyage unseated his rider at the start, cutting across the field and causing a distraction. When things settled, the Derby looked to be going the way of Ambiente Friendly, who was running smoothly under Rab Havlin, whereas City Of Troy appeared to be doing harder graft with Ryan Moore in the saddle.
However, Moore then steered through a space as he got City Of Troy going up through the gears. Once he found his stride, City Of Troy soared clear to beat Ambiente Friendly by almost three lengths for the biggest title of his young career. This also gave Aidan O’Brien a record-extending 10th Derby victory.
With a strong season behind him, including follow-up wins in the Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International Stakes, O’Brien sent City Of Troy to the US to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It was too big of an ask as City Of Troy finished eighth of 14 at Del Mar, but still, that Derby win was something special.
Rhys McClenaghan’s Olympic Pommel Success – August
Double world champion Rhys McClenaghan went to the Paris 2024 Olympics with high hopes of landing a medal in the pommel horse. Already regarded as a generational talent, it has been an astonishing rise to the top for the artistic gymnast, who was born in County Down, Northern Ireland.
2024 was some year for him. McClenaghan took bronze at the Doha World Cup and then a gold at the European Championships. However, there was an even bigger gold to come later in the year as he represented Ireland at the Olympics.
McClenaghan had competed at Tokyo 2020 when he finished in seventh place in the pommel final. At Paris 2024, he took his game to a whole new level and swept his way to the gold medal, scoring 15.533 with a huge effort to beat the early benchmark set by Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov, who posted 15.433.
25-year-old McClenaghan wept onto the shoulder of his coach Luke Carson at the end of his winning routine, as he became the first artistic gymnastic athlete to win an Olympic Gold for Ireland. He also became the first athlete ever to be crowned the Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion on a single apparatus. Not bad for an athlete who at one time had to train in his back garden.
McCarthy and O’Donovan Retain Olympic Rowing Gold – August
There was more gold medal success at the Olympics for lightweight double sculls rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan. The pair had teamed up at Tokyo 2020 for the gold medal in the event and once again proved to be untouchable.
The duo rowed themselves into history by retaining the title in France during the summer, as they finished nearly three seconds clear of the nearest competitors, Italy. The victory meant that McCarthy and O’Donovan became the first Irish athletes to retain an Olympic Gold medal since Pat O’Callaghan’s 1928 and 1932 hammer golds.
With the success, O’Donovan wrote history by becoming the first Irish athlete to win a medal at three Olympic Games, while McCarthy joined the very exclusive club of Irish athletes to have won a medal in more than one. He is now one of just five athletes to achieve that honour.
Daniel Wiffen Secures Men’s 800m Olympic Gold – August
Swimmer Daniel Wiffen became one of the iconic personalities of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The former BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year had a meteoric rise to success in 2024.
It started with a victory in Doha, with Wiffen being the first Irish athlete to win a gold in the pool at the World Championships. Then in Paris, he raced through his 800m freestyle semi-final and had plenty in reserve when he appeared in the final itself.
Wiffen, who had a previous claim to fame for appearing in the hit show Game of Thrones, not only won the gold in Paris but also set a new Olympic record of 7:38.19 in the event. This was Ireland’s first swimming gold since the 1996 Games.
Wiffen also competed in the 1500m freestyle final and claimed bronze, while he was 18th in the 10k event, and surged into the history books as the only Irish athlete to have completed it.
Kellie Harrington Doubles Up in Olympic Boxing – August
After previous golds at the 2018 World Championships, the 2020 Olympics and the 2023 European Games, boxer Kellie Harrington came up with another huge effort at Paris 2024. Easily a title contender fighting at lightweight, she received a bye straight to the second round where she saw off Alessia Mesiano from Italy by a unanimous decision.
Harrington produced the same result against Colombia’s Angie Valdes in the next round, before facing Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira in the semi-finals. Harrington was pushed a little harder in that one, but her poise and control saw her claim a split decision.
In the final, she went up against Yang Wenlu from China and won a 4:1 split decision to get the gold once again. Harrington became the first boxer from Ireland to win consecutive boxing gold medals at the Olympics. It proved to be a fitting send-off for her, as she hung up her gloves afterwards.
Katie-George Dunlevy Dominates Cycling – September
There was yet another inspiring performance from Katie-George Dunlevy at the Summer Paralympics. The multiple world champion and three-time Olympic Gold medallist always looked like being the one to beat in the Time Trial B at Paris 2024.
42-year-old Dunlevy, who is registered blind, won the women’s B time trial gold for the third consecutive Games, this time piloted by Linda Kelly. The former Para rower mounted a fantastic comeback in the final, timing everything to perfection and showing her class.
At one point, Dunlevy and Kelly were trailing British competitors and old rivals Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl by 11 seconds. However, once the reigning gold medallist had made her move, there was no going back.
The Irish duo overturned the deficit to pull ahead by 51 seconds on the second leg of the ride and just extended the advantage from there until home. Dunlevy and Kelly finished one minute and 23.6 seconds ahead of the British duo to claim what was Ireland’s first gold at the 2024 Paralympics, taking her tally to four.
Larne Enjoy First European Season – October
There was a fairytale story for Northern Ireland’s Larne FC this year, as they embarked on their first-ever foray into the main stages of a European competition. Larne had previously reached the qualification stages for the 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League, but they fell in the third qualifying round to Portuguese side Paços de Ferreira.
Another attempt the following season saw them crash out in the first qualifying round to St Joseph’s, and their 2023/24 bid was thwarted by Ballkani in the second qualifying round.
This season, the Inver Reds entered the 2024/25 Champions League first qualifying round but lost 7-0 on aggregate to Latvia’s RFS. This put them into a Conference League third qualifying round tie against Kosovo’s Ballkani, who had ended their qualifying attempt the previous season. However, Larne wrote a different ending this time, winning a dramatic penalty shootout to reach the qualifying play-off round.
Next up was a thrilling two-legged tie against Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps, in which Larne slipped to a 2-1 defeat away from home in the first leg. However, a 3-1 win back at Inver Park meant that Larne reached the main draw of a European tournament for the first time.
Larne kicked off the group stage with three-goal margin losses against Molde and Shamrock Rovers, followed by a narrow home loss to Swiss side St. Gallen. After further disappointments against Olimpija and Dinamo Minsk, Larne secured their first-ever European victory with a 1-0 win over Belgian side Gent at Windsor Park. Tomas Cosgrove netted the only goal of the game in the 74th minute to end Larne’s Conference League campaign on a positive note, despite bowing out.
Katie Taylor Sees Off Serrano Again – November
In 2024, boxer Katie Taylor retained the title as Ireland’s most admired athlete after another successful title defence. The Bray native squared up to the impressive Amanda Serrano once again.
Back in 2021, they had made history as their fight was the first female bout to headline at Madison Square Garden. The fight was an epic duel that could have gone either way, but it was Taylor who got the nod in a split decision.
Taylor vs Serrano II was, again, boxing at its peak, this time in Texas. The fight was on the undercard to Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul and outshone what was the most forgettable boxing match of the year, by a million miles.
Puerto Rico’s Serrano was a blur of fast fists, doing most of the attacking work. A severe cut over her eye after a clash of heads midway through the fight hampered her momentum a bit, but she remained the aggressor.
However, Taylor, who was deducted a point for use of the head, stuck in there and picked away at her opponent, remaining cautious yet accurate. As the final bell rang, no one knew which way the fight was going to go because it looked so even between them, with Serrano’s gutsy positive tactics potentially being favoured.
Instead, the judges awarded a unanimous decision to Taylor. It was Taylor’s seventh successful title defence and it was the most-watched professional women’s sports event ever in the US, pulling in an estimated 47 million viewers.
Rory McIlroy Wins DP World Tour Championship – November
2024 finished on a high note for golfer Rory McIlroy. After his two short missed putts at Pinehurst in the US Open, which cost him his chance of ending a 10-year Major drought, there was personal cheer for him as he claimed another DP World Tour Championship.
In what was undoubtedly a thrilling year for McIlroy, he won the DP World Tour Championship against the challenge of Ramus Højgaard in Dubai. The victory also gave McIlroy his sixth Race to Dubai title, the honour awarded to Europe’s top-ranked player for the year.
He took the victory with a score of 15-under and collected $5m prize money in total. It was an emotional win for McIlroy. Despite having been there so many times before, there was likely relief after some narrow losses during the year, notably at the US Open and the Irish Open. McIlroy now needs to win two more Race to Dubai titles to move level with record holder Colin Montgomerie.
Honourable Mentions
The 2024 Olympic Games was special for Team Ireland, who broke their medal record. They won four gold medals (see above), which was the highest-ever tally from a single Games by Irish athletes.
However, alongside those who reached the top of the podium, there were other honourable mentions. Mona McSharry won bronze in the 100m breaststroke, while Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle claimed a bronze in the double sculls rowing, taking Ireland’s tally to eight medals at the Games.
Alongside another gold for Katie-George Dunlevy at the Paralympics, Róisín Ní Ríain also claimed a silver and a bronze in the pool, while Orla Comerford claimed bronze in the women’s 100m T3 on the track.
Looking Forward to 2025 Highlights
The first big action of the new year will be Ireland’s bid for a title defence in the Six Nations, before leading Irish trainers Aidan O’Brien and Willie Mullins aim for success at the Cheltenham Festival.
In March, Ireland will face Bulgaria in the Nations League play-offs to try to avoid relegation from League B. There are also World Cup 2026 qualifiers for Ireland and Northern Ireland to look forward to during the year. Ireland’s women will compete in the 2025 Rugby World Cup as they meet New Zealand, Japan and Spain in the pool stage beginning in August.
So, there’s plenty to look forward to, including a potential return to the ring for Katie Taylor at some point. Stick with Tonybet for full coverage and odds for all the top sporting events that come our way in 2025.
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