Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Alex Morgan, Emma McKeon: the Olympic champions and medallists who retired in 2024
Among other Olympic medallists who ended their sporting careers in 2024 were Mark Cavendish, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Tom Daley, and Nino Salukvadze. Olympics.com takes a look back at the careers of 20 athletes who called it a day this year.
Another Olympic year is coming to a close, and it's time to look back at the careers the world of sport bade farewell to in 2024.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 provided the swansong event for many athletes, Olympic medallists and champions in their own right, with some going out on top and others after emotional defeats.
Yet others called time on their sporting careers even before the Olympic Games, while some chose to see out the season before hanging up their equipment for good.
Olympics.com looks at a non-comprehensive selection of 20 names (nine men, nine women, and one mixed team) among the Olympic medallists and champions who retired from competing this year, listed in alphabetical order by family name.
Mark Cavendish (Great Britain, road and track cycling)
It was a historic year for Cavendish, who had originally decided to retire after the 2023 season. The Manxman chose to return for one more season in an attempt to break the Tour de France record for most stage wins, which he had shared with the great Eddy Merckx.
That turned out to be the right decision, as on Stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France, Cavendish sprinted to the stage victory in Saint-Vulbas for his 35th win on the tour, taking sole ownership of the record.
Cavendish confirmed his retirement after racing in two end-of-season criterium races in Japan and Singapore. During his career, Cavendish won an Olympic silver in track cycling at Rio 2016 in the omnium event, and also won four World Championship golds – three on the track and one on the road.
Tom Daley (Great Britain, diving)
Having originally retired after the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, Daley announced his return to elite diving in July 2023 with hopes of making it to his fifth Olympic Games in Paris.
He did just that, and was selected as Great Britain's male Opening Ceremony flagbearer in Paris. With Noah Williams, Daley took silver in the synchronised 10m platform event – his fifth medal (one gold, one silver, three bronzes) from five Games in an Olympic career which began as a 14-year-old at Beijing 2008.
Daley announced his retirement the day after the Closing Ceremony, having also won four world titles, five European titles, and four Commonwealth Games gold medals during his career.
Kellie Harrington (Ireland, boxing)
Harrington became Ireland's first woman to win gold at two separate Olympic Games when she retained her lightweight boxing Olympic title in Paris.
Also her country's first boxer to win two Olympic gold medals, Harrington shunned the idea of going pro and has been an outspoken supporter of amateur boxing. The sport's status for the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles is currently unclear.
In addition to her two Olympic gold medals, Harrington also became world champion in 2018. Shortly after receiving her medal at Roland Garros, Harrington announced her retirement. "I’m going to go out a champion. That’s the way I want to go out. I don’t want to go out and lose a fight and then retire. I’ll retire happy."
Laura Kenny (Great Britain, track cycling)
Kenny announced her retirement in March well ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, opting not to try and earn selection for Paris after returning from maternity leave.
Great Britain's most decorated female Olympian with five gold medals, Kenny had been expected to come back to competition, but decided to instead focus on her two young children with her husband, Britain's most decorated Olympian Jason Kenny.
Her gold medals came in omnium and team pursuit at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 when she raced under her maiden name Laura Trott, before adding Madison gold at Tokyo 2020. She also won seven world titles.
Angelique Kerber (Germany, tennis)
Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam tennis champion, spent 34 weeks as the WTA world number one during her career, including finishing the 2016 season as the top-ranked women's singles player. The German also won Olympic silver that year behind Puerto Rico's Monica Puig.
In recent years, Kerber had taken time out of the sport to start a family, returning to tennis at the start of 2024. She won the United Cup as part of Team Germany, and made her final tennis major appearance at Wimbledon before announcing she would retire following the Paris 2024 Games.
Kerber reached the quarter-finals at Paris 2024 at Roland-Garros, matching her best French Open results at the famous clay-court stadium. Her last match was against eventual champion Zheng Qinwen.
Mijaín López (Cuba, wrestling)
Wrestling legend López ceremonially removed his shoes and placed them in the centre of the mat after winning his fifth straight Olympic gold at Paris 2024, signifying the end of a remarkable career that also saw the Cuban win five world titles.
His five consecutive gold medals in the heaviest Greco-Roman weight class (120kg in Beijing and London; 130kg since Rio) made him the first – and so far, only – athlete to win the same individual event at five Olympic Games. Remarkably, he pulled off the feat in Paris despite not having wrestled internationally since his win at Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
López also served as Cuba's Olympic Opening Ceremony flagbearer four times, from 2008 to 2016.
Emma McKeon (Australia, swimming)
McKeon is, quite simply, Australia's greatest ever Olympian. The 30-year-old swimming great had made clear Paris 2024 would be her last Olympic Games, but it wasn't clear if the New South Wales native would continue competing at World Championships and in other events.
After winning three medals in Paris to take her Olympic tally to 14 (six golds, three silvers, five bronzes), McKeon decided to call it quits in November.
Her crowning moment came at Tokyo 2020 when she won seven medals (four golds) – one in every event she competed in. She became the most successful Australian Olympian in the process. McKeon also won five long-course and four short-course world titles during her career.
Alex Morgan (USA, football)
A two-time Olympic medallist and London 2012 Olympic champion, Morgan was one of the leading lights of the U.S. national women's soccer team (USWNT) during her 17-year playing career.
Morgan's total of 123 international goals puts her fifth on the all-time USWNT list, while her 224 appearances make her the ninth most-capped player for her country.
The striker, who also won bronze at Tokyo 2020 and two FIFA Women's World Cup titles, also enjoyed success at club level, notably winning the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2017 with Lyon.
Andy Murray (Great Britain, tennis)
Two more of the "Big Four" in men's tennis called it a day this year, and Murray was one of them. Beset by injuries in recent years, the Briton announced that the Paris 2024 Games would be his final tournament – then withdrew from singles to focus on men's doubles alongside Dan Evans.
Evans and Murray had to save multiple match points along the way but were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals, with Murray – the men's singles champion at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 – bidding an emotional farewell on court, leaving in tears.
The Scot is the only singles player to win consecutive Olympic gold medals. He also won three Grand Slam singles titles and led Great Britain to Davis Cup glory in 2015. "Ultimately, I'm glad I got to finish my career on my own terms," he told Olympics.com. "On the court in front of a brilliant crowd."
At the end of the year, Murray was announced as the new coach for the last of the remaining "Big Four" player still playing, Novak Djokovic.
Rafael Nadal (Spain, tennis)
The other "Big Four" tennis star to hang up his racket this year was Nadal, who retired after representing Spain in the Davis Cup Finals on home soil in Málaga.
The two-time Olympic champion (singles at Beijing 2008 and doubles at Rio 2016), ended his Olympic career at his favourite Grand Slam venue of them all, Roland-Garros, where he won a record 14 French Opens. However, the clearly ailing veteran – who like Murray had struggled with injuries – lost in the second round of singles play in straight sets to eventual gold medallist Djokovic.
The 22-time Grand Slam singles champion also partnered Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles tournament, exiting – just as Murray and Evans did – in the quarter-finals. Nadal confirmed his retirement in October, and ended his career with a defeat in Málaga the following month as Spain lost to Netherlands in the last eight.
Nadal won five Davis Cup titles during his illustrious career, and is one of only three men - the others being Djokovic and Andre Agassi - to have won all four Grand Slams and an Olympic singles gold medal.
Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (France, figure skating)
Papadakis and Cizeron are among the greats of ice dancing. The Beijing 2022 Olympic champions had not competed since the 2022 World Championships a month later, when they claimed their fifth world title on home ice in Montpellier, France.
The duo skated together for nearly 20 years from when they were barely 10 years old. They burst onto the scene the season after their senior international debut, winning European and world gold in 2015. That year, they moved to Montreal, Canada, which would go on to serve as their training base for the remainder of their successful career.
Papadakis and Cizeron won Olympic silver at PyeongChang 2018 on their Olympic debut before striking gold in Beijing. After their win in Montpellier a month later, the team announced a hiatus from competition for a season, later extended to two. Their retirement was formalised in December, saying: "with huge gratitude […] we decide to turn this page."
Candace Parker (USA, basketball)
Parker's achievements are plenty. A two-time Olympic champion at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 during Team USA's ongoing streak of women's basketball gold medals, she also won three WNBA titles (2016, 2021, 2023), being named Most Valuable Player twice (and WNBA Finals MVP once). Parker was similarly successful overseas with five Russian league titles and a Women's EuroLeague crown after numerous college and high school accolades.
The first woman to complete a dunk in an NCAA Tournament game, Parker – who has also worked in broadcasting men's basketball games – ended her international career abruptly. After she was overlooked for the Rio 2016 U.S. team, the power forward declined future invitations to train and play with the national team.
She officially called time on her career in April, finishing her WNBA career with an average of 16 points per game over a 16-year career with three teams. She also led the WNBA in rebounds per game in four separate seasons.
Gastón Revol (Argentina, rugby sevens)
The 38-year-old Revol was one of the longest-serving members of Argentina's men's rugby sevens team until his retirement following the Olympic Games in Paris.
Having made his debut in 2009, Revol played 488 World Rugby Sevens and SVNS Series matches across 107 different tournaments for Argentina until his retirement, scoring 62 tries. He also led Los Pumas 7s as captain in the sport's Olympic debut at Rio 2016, as well as at World Cup Sevens in 2018 and 2022.
Revol won Olympic bronze at Tokyo 2020, and also clinched Pan American Games gold medals in 2019 and 2023. In his final match for Argentina, even a partisan crowd at the Stade de France acknowledged him as he was replaced. His nickname in the team, La Leyenda ("The Legend"), says everything about his contribution to the sport in his country.
Nino Salukvadze (Georgia, shooting)
No athlete, male or female, has competed at more Olympic Games than Salukvadze, a Georgian sport shooter who made her debut at Seoul 1988 representing the Soviet Union.
Salukvadze spent 36 years in the sport and attended 10 Olympic Games – matched by only Canadian equestrian jumper Ian Millar – and won gold and silver as a 19-year-old in 1988, before going on to compete alongside her son Tsotne Machavariani at Rio 2016. Having originally retired after the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021, she returned for Paris for her record-equalling 10th appearance.
In addition to her two medals in 1988, Salukvadze won bronze for Georgia at Beijing 2008. Her most recent international success came at the 2009 World Championships, where she took 10m air pistol silver. She was also named as Georgia's Olympic Opening Ceremony flagbearer three times: in London, Tokyo, and Paris.
Joseph Schooling (Singapore, swimming)
Schooling goes down in Olympic history as the only athlete to have won gold for Singapore to date. The swimmer, who famously beat his childhood hero Michael Phelps (as well as László Cseh and Chad le Clos, who tied Phelps for silver) in the Rio 2016 100m butterfly final, confirmed his retirement in April aged 28.
The 21-year-old outsider clocked 50.39 to break Phelps' Olympic record in what was to be the individual final of the U.S. swimming hero's career. However, Schooling struggled after the end of his successful college career at Texas in 2017, and never quite hit the same heights. He finished his career with two World Championship bronze medals, three Asian Games golds, and a Commonwealth Games silver as well as his Olympic title.
Schooling's last competition was the Southeast Asian Games in 2022, as his competitive career slowed while he completed mandatory military service. He was allowed to compete while serving in the Singapore Navy, but these privileges were revoked after he was found to have used cannabis during those Games – although he did not fail any anti-doping controls – and he never competed again.
Tatjana Smith (South Africa, swimming)
Breaststroke specialist Smith enjoyed a remarkable Tokyo 2020 Games, where she became the first woman in history to break the 2:19 barrier in the 200m. Then known as Tatjana Schoenmaker, her maiden name, Smith won gold in the 200m to add to silver in the 100m.
In Paris, those results were reversed as Smith took gold over 100m and silver at 200m. In doing so, she became South Africa's most successful Olympian with two golds and two silvers. Smith was named one of her country's Closing Ceremony flagbearers, and confirmed her retirement from the pool after the Games.
As well as her four Olympic medals, Smith won three Commonwealth Games golds, a long-course world title, and three African Games gold medals during her career.
Daniel-André Tande (Norway, ski jumping)
Tande wasn't meant to return to ski jumping after a terrifying life-threatening crash suffered in training in Planica, Slovenia, in 2021. But the Norwegian, who won team large hill gold at PyeongChang 2018, did exactly that the same year.
He went on to reach the top level once more, claiming a World Cup win barely a year after his accident. He even made it to a second Olympic Winter Games at Beijing 2022, where Norway finished fourth in the men's team event. "From the very first day after the accident, I was 100 per cent sure I was going to go back and jump again," Tande told Olympics.com recently.
In September, the 30-year-old announced his retirement from the sport. Alongside his Olympic gold, he also won eight World Cup events and four golds at the Ski Flying World Championships.
Uno Shoma (Japan, figure skating)
Perhaps Uno competed in figure skating in the wrong era to become an Olympic champion. The two-time world champion, who announced his retirement in May, clinched Olympic singles silver in 2018 behind Japanese compatriot Hanyu Yuzuru and bronze in 2022 as USA's Nathan Chen took gold.
His world titles came in 2022 and 2023, after both Hanyu and Chen had stepped away from skating. But in 2024, Uno found himself only fourth at the World Championships behind quadruple-Axel-jumping Ilia Malinin. However, the Nagoya native left the sport with no regrets.
"When I look back now on my body of work, I want to pat myself on the back," he said. "After I won the Worlds for the first time, Yuzu retired, then Nathan followed. To see the guys I competed with for so long call time on their careers, I felt sad, even stranded. I think that’s when I started to think about my own ending."
While he never won gold, Uno is the most decorated Japanese figure skater in Olympic history having also won team silver in Beijing. He also claimed two world silver medals, Four Continents and Grand Prix Final titles, and a World Team Trophy gold medal.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (New Zealand, rugby sevens)
When Woodman-Wickliffe retired after winning her second Olympic rugby sevens gold in Paris, it brought to an end a record-breaking career. The 33-year-old New Zealander, who played both rugby sevens and 15-a-side rugby union for the Black Ferns, was the first player to score 200 and then 250 tries in the World Rugby Women's Sevens and Women's SVNS Series.
A netball player and track runner in her youth, Woodman-Wickliffe converted to rugby in 2012. It was a successful move, resulting in a remarkable 12-year career in which she won an Olympic silver and two golds, Commonwealth Games gold and bronze, two World Cup Sevens titles, as well as two 15-a-side Women's World Cups. She scored 1,280 points in her Sevens/SVNS Series career, and also won 24 union caps.
Her final match for the Black Ferns 7s was the gold-medal final in Paris, in which New Zealand beat Canada 19-12. She was replaced on 10 minutes to a standing ovation, and later told Olympics.com: "[I'm] just proud of the person I've become, proud of the journey I've had, the growth I've had. I've gone from a shy netball girl to a rugby player who is now world renowned."