A gambling-fueled stealing scandal. An unprecedented statistical season. A long-awaited first championship. Those juicy storylines would make for a compelling sports news cycle in any given year, but in 2024, they all applied to Shohei Ohtani. Indeed, Ohtani’s first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers was an eventful one, but he was hardly the only newsmaker to captivate the sports world. The Yankees and Mets’ playoff runs, their head-to-head bidding war for Juan Soto and the Liberty’s first WNBA title energized New York, but — as evidenced by the Ohtani developments — there was plenty of drama beyond the five boroughs. Here are 2024’s biggest non-New York sports stories. All about Ohtani It was to be expected that Ohtani would command considerable attention in 2024, considering the Japanese superstar had just signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with one of MLB’s marquee franchises. But Ohtani’s Dodgers tenure got off to a whirlwind start when, in March, he accused his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, of stealing money from him to pay off a gambling debt. “I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf,” Ohtani said at the time. “I never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.” In April, Mizuhara was charged with felony bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from Ohtani. In June, Mizuhara pleaded guilty. The scandal could have served as a distraction for Ohtani, but the slugger did not let it interfere with his play. He hit 54 home runs and stole 59 bases for the first 50/50 season in MLB history en route to his third MVP Award. Ohtani also helped lead the Dodgers to a five-game victory over the Yankees in the World Series. It was the first championship for Ohtani, who spent his first six MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, and the first for the Dodgers in a non-COVID-shortened season since 1988. Biles bounces back Simone Biles’ return to the Olympics could not be described as anything but golden. The 27-year-old American won four medals, including three gold, at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, further solidifying her standing as the greatest gymnast of all time. Biles won gold in the individual all-around final, the vault final and the team final and claimed the silver in the floor exercise. It was an impressive feat considering three years earlier, a mental condition known as “the twisties” caused Biles to withdraw from five events at the Tokyo Olympics. Simone Biles won four medals at the Paris Olympics. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) Biles now boasts seven Olympic gold medals and 11 overall, both records for an American in her sport. “I can’t be more proud of how I’ve done,” Biles told Eurosport. “I’m 27 years old walking away from this Games with four medals to add to my collection. Not mad about it.” Dream Team Biles was hardly the only American to make her country proud at the Paris Olympics. Team USA’s men’s basketball team featured its most star-power in over a decade, with LeBron James competing for the first time since 2012; Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid joining for the first time; and Kevin Durant back for the fourth time. Despite its advanced age, that roster led Team USA to its fifth consecutive gold medal and its 17th overall. It did not come easily, as Team USA trailed by 17 points against Serbia in the semifinal before eking out a 95-91 win. It also did not come without drama. Jaylen Brown, who had just won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics, was left off the roster — a snub he suggested was related to Nike being Team USA’s official shoe sponsor. Brown previously had a shoe deal with Adidas. His Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, hardly saw the floor for Team USA in a similarly head-scratching saga. Cait the Great For certain stretches of 2024, it felt as though Caitlin Clark was setting another meaningful record in every game she played. On Feb. 15, the then-Iowa superstar set the all-time NCAA women’s scoring record. On Feb. 29, Clark became the highest-scoring player in the history of major-college women’s basketball. And on March 3, she became the all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader, breaking “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old record. It was that type of year for Clark, who would later lead Iowa back to the NCAA Tournament final, get drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever in April, and help fuel WNBA attendance and viewership records in a paradigm-shifting boost to the sport. Caitlin Clark delivered highlights at the NCAA and WNBA levels in 2024. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) Clark’s professional career got off to a slow start — between poor shooting numbers and “welcome-to-the-league” defense from physical opponents — but by the end of her rookie season, the sharp-shooting guard found her form. Her 19 assists on July 17 set a single-game WNBA record. She recorded nine double-doubles with points and assists in an 11-game stretch. And she led the Fever (20-20) to their first non-losing season and first playoff appearance since 2016. Overall, the 22-year-old Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and a WNBA-best 8.4 assists per game. The future is bright. Mahomes magic In what is becoming an annual entry to these end-of-year lists, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl again. This one was particularly epic. Mahomes overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half of Super Bowl LVIII and a three-point deficit in overtime to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22, in walk-off fashion. In February, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes won his third Super Bowl and was again named the game’s MVP. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) The final play was a thing of beauty, with wide receiver Mecole Hardman using pre-snap motion to get open for a game-winning, three-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes. It was particularly poetic considering Chiefs head coach Andy Reid drew up the clever play to defeat 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, a master of pre-snap motion. With the victory, Mahomes became the fifth quarterback to win three Super Bowls and the third to be named Super Bowl MVP three times. His Chiefs now aim to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.