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2024 in Sports: Women’s athletics dominated | The Excerpt

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2024 in Sports: Women’s athletics dominated | The Excerpt

On a special episode (first released on December 19, 2024) of The Excerpt podcast: From college arenas to the Olympics, women dominated their sports. Simone Biles racked up four gold medals while women’s soccer beat Brazil to clinch the gold as well. The WNBA had its highest-viewed year ever, due in part to the powerhouse that is Caitlin Clark. Conversations around equity and inclusion also abounded with talk about transgender athletes. USA Today Sports Columnist Nancy Armour and NFL Insider Tyler Dragon tally up the wins from sports in 2024.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it.  This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Taylor Wilson:

Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I’m Taylor Wilson. Today is Thursday, December 19th, 2024, and this is a special episode of The Excerpt. It’s been a year of shifting tides in American sports, from the surge in popularity of women’s athletics to an entirely new college sports landscape, and even debates on Capitol Hill about transgender athletes. 2024 brought us a lot to chew on. Here to look back at some of the year’s biggest moments and storylines. I’m now joined by USA TODAY sports columnist Nancy Armour and USA TODAY NFL Insider Tyler Dragon. Hello to you both, and thanks for joining me today on The Excerpt.

Nancy Armour:

Hey, Taylor.

Tyler Dragon:

Thanks for having us on.

Taylor Wilson:

So let’s start with the Olympics. We’re wrapping up 2024. I think in many ways, this was the Hallmark sports moment of the year with much of the world tuning in. Nancy, let’s start with you. You were there. What were some of the highlights and what did you walk away with from the Paris Games?

Nancy Armour:

You can’t think of the Paris Games and not think about Simone Biles. She was one of, if not the most talked about athlete going into the games and she was still being talked about as the games were wrapping up. She won an additional four medals, three of which were gold, cementing her status. Not that she needed to cement it any further, as the greatest gymnast of all time. But I think the thing that really struck me the most about these Olympics was just the sense of celebration. The previous two Olympics had been without fans and under severe COVID restrictions. And Tyler, I don’t know if you felt this, but it felt like everywhere you went, I’ve likened it to that first really nice day in the spring here in Chicago when it feels like winter is finally over and people are taking off their coats and are just enjoying being outside. And that was kind of the atmosphere that it felt like at the Olympics, that everybody was just so happy to be back and be watching and be celebrating. And it was one of the most extraordinary Olympics that I’ve been to.

Taylor Wilson:

And Tyler, I know you were there as well. I also know you’re a track and field athlete, so I’m curious, was that what stood out most to you, the track and field events and really just kind of how did you experience the Olympics this summer?

Tyler Dragon:

Yeah, I’ll admit I’m biased. Track and field definitely stood out to me from Noah Lyles to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone breaking another world record to even the runners and field event, people from other countries, Faith Kipyegon, 1500 meter world record holder, gold medalist. It was amazing to see at Stade de France, there were thousands of people there every day. The stadium was packed to capacity. I have never been to a track and field event where it was a sellout crowd every single day. Even the opening round, there was a sellout crowd. And then not to mention both of the 100 meter finals, the men and women.

I’ve been to Super Bowls, NBA All-Star games, big events. That was the best atmosphere that I’ve ever been in. I was legit nervous right before the 100 meter final when Noah Lyles won on a photo finish. That atmosphere, the electricity at the stadium, Stade de France was amazing. And yeah, track and field, gymnastics, swimming, those are the marquee events at the Olympics. You could definitely feel it at the venues. I definitely felt it at Stade de France. I’m sure Nancy felt it as well with gymnastics and swimming. Just Paris definitely showed out and the athletes put a really big time performance as well for the entire world.

Taylor Wilson:

I have to say, just watching on TV, that atmosphere came across the TV screen as well. It was awesome. So this was a huge year for global soccer as well. This is my favorite sport. I’m going to throw this question your way, Nancy, on top of all kinds of storylines at the club level, we also saw a big summer for men’s national teams. They battled it out at the Euros and at Copa America and domestically, the United States Women’s National team hired a huge name and figure in the sport, bringing in Emma Hayes as manager from Chelsea. Of course, we can’t forget about superstar Lionel Messi either. He took Major League soccer by storm before my favorite club, Atlanta United bounced them in the playoffs. Nancy, what caught your attention in soccer this year? Lots to get to.

Nancy Armour:

Well, you mentioned Emma Hayes and when she was hired, I thought she was an inspired hire. She’s been so good at Chelsea. She’s a phenomenal tactical manager. She’s a great people person. And I really thought that she would be the person to, I don’t know if you want to say, turn the US Women’s National Team around, but certainly rejuvenate it. She exceeded my expectations. I did not think that they would win the gold medal at the Olympics. And just the way that they played, they were ruthless, which in soccer, that’s a great way to be. But you just saw the dominant US Women’s Team return and there’s been so much talk over the last couple of years that the rest of the world is catching up and that is still very much true. But the US Women have always set the bar, and I think they showed in Paris again that they’re going to continue to do that, has so many different weapons.

When you look at the triple espresso line of Mal Swanson, of Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith, and then they’ve got people behind them. Naomi Girma, to me, is the best player in the world. I know she’s a defender, they don’t get a lot of love, but she is absolutely fantastic. And one of the big questions is going to be the men hired Mauricio Pochettino, who’s been phenomenal in Europe as a club manager, and he and Emma Hayes are very good friends. They coached at Chelsea together. Can he work the same kind of magic or have the same kind of impact on the US Men that Emma has had on the women? To me, that’s one thing I’ll be looking at over these next couple of years.

Taylor Wilson:

Nancy, it was clearly a historic year for women’s basketball. And it wasn’t just Caitlin Clark, though she was a big part of it. We also saw a thrilling WNBA finals. Just an awesome series and really just a fun WNBA season across the board. Nancy, what stood out to you from women’s hoops in 2024?

Nancy Armour:

Well, and I think you can say this about any women’s sports league or organization is investment is key. If you look at the two teams that reached the finals this year, the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, they both have owners that have invested, that have not treated their teams like charity projects. The Tsais, who bought the Liberty, when they bought them, they were playing up in Westchester County. I wouldn’t even call them an afterthought. Whatever is below an afterthought is what the Liberty was. And the Tsais came in, put money in, they renovated, gave them space in the arena in Brooklyn, state-of-the-art locker room, practice facility. And you see the dividends. They were willing to invest in free agents. They were willing to invest in their coach. You see the same thing with the Lynx. And you look at another team, the Aces, which reached the semifinals and had won the two titles before that, they’ve got an owner that is willing to pump whatever money is necessary in.

And it’s encouraging to see. These women deserve this. And we’re finally starting to see owners who recognize the value in these teams, both as an athletic endeavor, but also as an investment potential. Mark Davis told me way back when he bought the Aces that yeah, he was a big believer in women’s sports, but he saw that there was money to be made in owning a women’s team. And I think we’re starting to see a lot more people recognizing that. And I think that was the big through line in this season, not just with the WNBA, but the NWSL.

And one thing I think that got lost a little bit, Caitlin Clark was a huge driver this season. Obviously, of course she was wonderful, tremendous, fantastic to watch. But as she, herself, and other players say, “There’s more to the league than Caitlin Clark.” And we saw that too, because there were 22 games that drew a million plus viewers on TV. Yes, 19 of those had Caitlin Clark, but three did not. Every single team had double-digit increases in attendance. You had the Aces, the Las Vegas Aces, the Dallas Wings, and the Atlanta Dream all sold out their season tickets. Caitlin Clark doesn’t play on any one of those teams. So we’re seeing the growth and we’re seeing this really solid foundation that I think in the next decade we’re just going to see women’s sports explode. And that’s a great thing to see.

Taylor Wilson:

That’s a great breakdown, Nancy. So Tyler, let’s shift to the NFL, what you cover on a daily basis. And in some ways, it seems to me like the sport has never been more popular in the US, whether we’re talking fantasy, the teams themselves, the gambling aspect. There’s so much to this league now, and I’m curious what has stood out to you from this season and this calendar year?

Tyler Dragon:

To me, it’s the parody of the NFL. 99 games have been decided by six points or less through week 14. And that’s the most in NFL history at this point. And really, that’s why the NFL is so popular. Every given Sunday, teams and fans feel like they have an opportunity for their team to win a football game. The Washington Commanders didn’t make the playoffs last year, now they have hope. They have a chance to reach the postseason with a young rookie quarterback who’s in the Rookie of the Year conversation. Team like the LA Chargers, Jim Harbaugh comes to town and has the Chargers looking like a perennial playoff team. And then you have kind of the blue bloods that are still there, like the Kansas City Chiefs vying for a three-peat and all their games seem like come down to a last second field goal or some miraculous finish.

So it really keeps fans on their toes. And really, the league is driven by quarterbacks. And this year, there are so many upper-echelon quarterbacks where fans can gravitate to, fans can cheer for and that have market value like a Joe Burrow. Even though the Bengals are having a bad season, a lot of fans love Joe Burrow. You see number 9 Bengals jerseys all around the country. Patrick Mahomes, probably the most popular football player in the country. Fans pretty much love a Patrick Mahomes. The Josh Allen, an MVP candidate. Lamar Jackson. So it’s a quarterback driven league. Quarterbacks are the most popular and fans are gravitating to them. And then like I said, there are a lot of close games going on each and every week, and that gives fans hope that their team can win and get into the playoffs. And so that has really driven the revenue as well.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, the Chiefs have this basically this dynasty, dare I say, and they still seem beatable every week. Right. So it’s crazy with the parody. Shifting gears here, and I’ll give you this question, Nancy. Now this year also brought a slew of debates about transgender athletes in both youth and college sports along with the Olympics. Nancy, what do you see as resonating with people into the future from this conversation this past year and what might be next?

Nancy Armour:

Oh, we could spend a whole podcast just talking about this. The biggest takeaway, and it’s one that people are not going to want to hear, is that the science isn’t there. This issue has been portrayed that transgender women are taking over women’s sports. It is simply not true. Transgender people make up less than 1% of the American population. The number of that who play sports is even fewer. So there is not this march to knock cisgender women off podiums or takeaway opportunities. It simply isn’t happening. And a lot of the decisions that are being made, people will talk about, “Oh, transgender women have an advantage.” Where’s the science? There isn’t any.

In part because there aren’t enough athletes to study, but most of the science that people have cited is looking at cisgender men and their performance and then extrapolating that or saying, “Well, if that’s the case, then a transgender woman is going to have the advantage.” It’s not true. We are starting to see some data. The International Olympic Committee sponsored a study that was released earlier this year that showed that transgender women athletes had better grip strength, but they’re worse than cisgender women in cardiovascular performance and lung capacity. So we’re still early on in these conversations. These are people who just want to play sports. And so many of the conversations have been had in bad faith. And unfortunately, I think that’s going to continue at least for the next four years.

Taylor Wilson:

And just looking forward to 2025, I’ll stick with you, Nancy. What are you keeping an eye on?

Nancy Armour:

The big thing, and it’s not necessarily a good thing, is the realignment and NIL conversations in college athletics. I really hope that the power brokers haven’t killed off some of these great stories in college sports, some of the smaller, for lack of a better word, smaller sports, gymnastics, baseball, softball, volleyball. I hope that they are not going to be sacrificed for the greed of these two power conferences and the other power brokers. So that’s one thing I’ll be watching. And like I said, it’s not necessarily going to be a good thing to watch, but I think it’s going to dominate a lot of our conversations.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. And Tyler, what are you looking forward to or keeping an eye on in the next calendar year?

Tyler Dragon:

Well, forgive me for recency bias, but I’m looking forward to seeing how this college football playoff 12 teams is going to play out. And also the Super Bowl in February. One of my favorite performers, Kendrick Lamar, is before me. And who’s going to be in the Super Bowl? Is it the Chiefs going to win historic three-peat or is going to be another team that’s going to knock the Chiefs off? So those are the two big events that I’m looking forward to.

Taylor Wilson:

Great stuff. Nancy Armour, Tyler Dragon, thank you so much for hopping on and looking back on the year in sports from 2024.

Nancy Armour:

Thanks for having us and happy holidays to you both.

Tyler Dragon:

Thanks for having me on, and happy holidays.

Taylor Wilson:

And thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I’m Taylor Wilson. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with another episode of The Excerpt.

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