On Monday, the 2024 Associated Press Male Athlete Of The Year award was given to Japanese Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani, who received 48 out of 74 first place votes in a landslide victory. However, French swimmer Leon Marchand came in second place with ten votes.
In 2024, Marchand won four gold medals and a bronze at the Paris Olympic games, being the most decorated athlete from the competition. Two of his gold medals came from winning the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke in the same session, making him the first swimmer since 1976 to win two individual gold medals in one day at the Olympics. After showing out in his home country, Marchand’s popularity grew immensely, with his Instagram follower count climbing from around 200,000 to 1.5 million during Paris Games.
Marchand beat out several names in voting including 2024 Men’s Ballon D’Or winner Rodri from Spain, as well as 2024 Olympic gold medalist and Masters champion golfer Scottie Scheffler from the United States.
Meanwhile, Ohtani had a historic 2024 season to take home the grand prize. In his first year as a Dodger, he won the unanimous NL MVP award, became the first player to record 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season and helped his team win the 2024 World Series. He now has three AP Male Athlete of the Year awards, tying Michael Jordan for the second-most in history.
2024 AP Male Athlete Of The Year Voting Breakdown:
- Shohei Ohtani, Baseball — 48
- Leon Marchand, Swimming — 10
- Scottie Sheffler, Golf — 9
- Rodri, Soccer — 2
- Vincinius Junior — 2
- Nikola Jokic/Aaron Judge/Connor McDavid — 1
Even in an Olympic year, no swimmers were in the top three of first place voters for the AP Female Athlete of the Year award. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark won that award with 35 votes, American gymnast Simone Biles took second with 25 votes and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was third with four votes.
The last time a swimmer won an AP Athlete of the Year award was 2022, when Katie Ledecky took home the prize. She also won in 2017. Other swimmers won win include Michael Phelps, Amy Van Dyken, Mark Spitz, Debbie Meyer, Don Schollander, Dawn Fraser, Ann Curtis, Gloria Callen, Katherine Rawls and Helene Madison. All of those swimmers are American with the except of Fraser, who is Australian.
AP tends to award athletes who are either American or play in U.S.-based sports leagues, so Marchand being French and taking second place is significant. Only nine of the 93 male winners have been international athletes, and only four don’t play in American pro sports leagues. International athlete winners are slightly more popular on the women’s side, with 17 non-Americans taking home the honor.
Who is this guy?
I’ve never heard of the winner. That activity doesn’t exist to me. If I had seen the name without reading the summary and comments I would not have been able to place him.
I can name and summarize more than 100 biathletes.
Both athletes are incredible but I can see how Ohtani would win. Marchand is a generational talent who is up there with the GOATs but Ohtani is doing stuff no one has ever seen and may not again for a century.
Think Shohei actually had a weaker case to win it this year than last year since he only was a DH and couldn’t pitch. Also he might not have even had the best baseball season this year as Aaron Judge had a better hitting season by a lot of metrics while Marchand was far and away the best male swimmer this year. But guess since baseball is a bigger sport and he also won the World Series it swung the pendulum in his favor
Ohtani getting 50 homeruns and 50 steals in the same season was magical, and doing it in the same game where he hit 3 home runs, hit two doubles, was 6-for-6, and had 10 RBIs is one of the best games baseball has ever seen. Giving voters that one big moment, and then winning the title, is a pretty powerful thing in these sorts of contests.
Marchand bows to the ShoGod
Did any French people get to vote? Similarly, if he came from a large media market country, Tadej Pogačar would likely be on this level too, incredible dominance.
Exactly what I thought. Pogacar should have been very high on this list. AP have no idea.
Yep. Alas, pro cycling is a mainly European sport (even though there are great American and Aussie cyclists). The American media at large is always more impressed by the great accomplishments of its own country’s major sports. Rodri’s 23/24 season for example deserves much more votes than anything any golfer could ever accomplish. Similarly, both Pogacar’s and Evenepoel’s 2024 is of the same caliber as Marchand’s.
If he was American they probably would’ve given it to him ngl
Whether that’s true or not isn’t relevant here since Ohtani isn’t American either.
But he plays in America. Pogacar was just as dominant in cycling.
that’s cool man. As talented if not more than any of them
It’s nice to see swimmers considered for athlete of the year.