Five sports events to watch out for in 2024

WE are just hours away from ushering in a brand new year, and sports fans in Singapore and around the world are already licking their lips in anticipation of what’s to come over the next 12 months.

Here, in no particular order, are five major events to mark on your calendar, as sporting history is almost certain to be made:

Paris Olympics

The Summer Olympics returns to the city of love and light for the first time in exactly a century, and what an event it promises to be, as Paris celebrates its third time as the host city (after 1900 and 1924).

There are 32 sports and 329 events planned for the Jul 26 to Aug 11 extravaganza, with much of the action taking place against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais and the new Olympic Village.

As usual, spectators and fans will be spoilt for choice as they enjoy the traditional favourites like track and field, swimming, gymnastics and football. The Paris Games will also see the debut of some new disciplines including skateboarding and breakdancing.

Euro 2024

After the Fifa World Cup, the next biggest international football tournament is the quadrennial European Championship. Come this summer, three-time winners Germany will host Euro 2024 from Jun 14 to Jul 14.

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Ten venues have been picked to stage a total of 51 matches, among them the Munich Football Arena, the Dusseldorf Arena and the Olympiastadion Berlin.

Germany should have little problem in the group stage, for they have been placed alongside Switzerland, Scotland and Hungary. But it is Group B that is drawing the most attention – the defending champions Italy will square off against the 2008 and 2012 winners Spain, the 2018 World Cup runner-up Croatia and a tricky Albania side that topped their qualifying section ahead of the Czech Republic and Poland.

Bafflingly, the Copa America – the most prestigious football event in South America – happens concurrently with the Euros, from Jun 20 to Jul 14. The United States is the host nation, and the favourites to win the trophy are the defending champion Argentina as well as Brazil and Mexico.

Undefeated boxers collide

On Feb 17, the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh will stage the biggest boxing match in years, with an undisputed heavyweight battle between two of the sport’s undefeated stars – Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

It’s a fight that’s simply too close to call. Fury, the 35-year-old from Britain, has held the World Boxing Council heavyweight title since 2020. Usyk, a year older and from Ukraine, currently holds the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation championship belts.

Fury was last in a boxing ring when he defeated former mixed martial arts (MMA) competitor Francis Ngannou via a split decision. Usyk’s last match was a win over Daniel Dubois in August.

Swimming World Cup in Singapore

What a coup it was for Singapore to be named as one of three cities that will host the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, together with Shanghai and Incheon.

The three back-to-back events – in China from Oct 18 to 20; South Korea from Oct 24 to 26; and the Lion City from Oct 31 to Nov 2 – will also double up as the qualifying meets for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Hungary in December 2024.

Singapore has been a regular Swimming World Cup series host over the past two decades, having held 13 event editions since 2007. Singapore is also set to host the World Aquatics Championships in 2025.

While it’s not yet confirmed who will be competing, it is likely that the sport’s top performers, such as World Aquatics Swimmer of the Year Kaylee McKeown (Australia); Hwang Sunwoo (South Korea); and the trio of Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei and Pan Zhanle (all China), could be in town.

One’s debut in Qatar

For the first time, Singapore-based One Championship will stage a MMA live event in Qatar, a blockbuster show at the Lusail Sports Arena on Mar 1 featuring an explosive main event that could produce the sport’s first triple-division world champion.

That honour could go to Anatoliy Malykhin, a 35-year-old Russian fighter who’s already the reigning heavyweight and light heavyweight champion. He is dropping down to the middleweight category in order to challenge that division’s champion, Reinier de Ridder, for the belt.

It’s shaping up to be a busy 2024 for One Championship as there are plans to have more live events in the US, Japan and the Philippines, among other countries.