25 for 2025: headline makers in the world of sport
TOPSHOT - Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk trains in Riyadh on May 15, 2024 ahead of his heavyweight world title figh against British boxer Tyson Fury.Â
After 333 career NFL wins and 29 years as a head coach, Belichick had the year off in 2024 and admitted he couldn't sit still. He'll be 73 in April before his first season as a head coach at the college level with North Carolina. Universally recognised as one of the all-time great coaches in any sport, "Chapel Bill" adapts his no-nonsense Patriot Way to the college game. Belichick crashes into the Atlantic Coast Conference escorted by intrigue because of his trophy-collecting success with the Patriots followed by a dismal run without Tom Brady.
The U20 All-Ireland winning captain showed the country what he is capable of in 2024. Bourke lined out alongside his brother, Sam, for Leo O’Connor’s side and hit 1-3 in the All-Ireland decider against Tipperary.
He produced several huge moments for Johnny Kelly’s senior outfit too. Offaly started the Joe McDonagh Cup with a loss against Laois. They needed a win in the second round against Westmeath but a red card for captain Jason Sampson left them in a hole. A 69-minute goal by Bourke helped get their promotion hopes back on track.
A versatile and athletic forward, Durrow’s Bourke has also won a Leinster at minor and U20. It will stand to him that several club-mates like Brian Duignan and Ross Ravenhill are involved. Kelly will need everyone firing as they look to retain their status in the Leinster championship.
Snubbed for the Olympic team and given stay-in-your-lane treatment but a segment of the WNBA upon arrival to the Fever, it didn't take Clark long to raise her game and serve the rest of the league an exclamatory reply. Indiana went from WNBA worst to the playoffs in one season, piloted by Clark's scoring, passing and playmaking all while lifting all boats in the league due to a level of popularity last attained by the American cheeseburger. What's in store in her second season? Clark has a new coach and the ball squarely in her hands for Indiana, no doubt entering the 2025 schedule with a few remaining doubters in mind.
DeChambeau further stamped his status as one of the best in the game with a second U.S. Open win, picking up the monumental win at Pinehurst but there's an equal chance you -- or your children -- are more familiar with DeChambeau as a social media and streaming legend. He played epic rounds with Tom Brady and President-elect Donald Trump, and he had weekenders of all ages tracking his 16-day stretch trying for a hole-in-one -- over the top of his Dallas residence. It's all part of the tidal wave of energy and success pushing DeChambeau to the top of the heap in pro golf.
Arguably the GOAT in men's tennis, Djokovic will aim to prove he isn't washed up. The 37-year-old Serbian finished 2024 ranked seventh in the world, his lowest year-end placement since 2006, and he won just one tournament in 2024 -- his lowest total since before he won his first two titles in 2005. Djokovic reached the final at Wimbledon for his best major result of the year, but a third-round crash out of the U.S. Open prompted questions about whether Father Time is finally returning serve. He recently announced that he will team with recently retired rival Andy Murray as his coach for the Australian Open, so the Scot will be charged with helping Djokovic add to his record haul of 24 major singles championships.
It took this Ireland centurion a year less than Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley to win the league and his fourth year at the helm for Shelbourne, with Champions League exposure in the summer, promises to extract oodles extra from that unique personality of his. Augmenting his CV with passionate speeches has accorded Duff status of national advocate for football too. He’s invested in the domestic game and has demanded others start investing.
Somebody once said: 'Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck.' Fewer people have had to deal with the bad luck experienced recently by Jack Kennedy, 25, champion national hunt jockey last season who broke his leg for the sixth(!) time in a fall in November. Kennedy's misfortune accelerated Sam Ewing's already developing career at Gordon Elliot's stable and the Antrim native is already grabbing is opportunity tightly. A precocious talent on the pony racing circuit the twenty-year-old won his first race at the Cheltenham festival on Stellar Story last March and rode a graded race treble at Leopardstown over Christmas on the top-class horses, Brighterdaysahead, Romeo Coolio and Croke Park. With Elliot's string looking particularly strong at present, Sam Ewing, with some good luck obviously, should shine brightly in 2025.
From high school hoops phenom to the next great one produced by the Blue Devils, Flagg is on a course for All-American status as a true freshman and has been pegged among favorites for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Flagg opened eyes at the USA Olympic scrimmages before the 2024 Summer Games and has size, skill and upside some have compared to perennial NBA All-Star Kevin Durant.
Since hitting 15 threes in a Schools Cup Final in 2018, CJ Fulton’s career has been followed with eager eyes by every Irish basketball fan. From one of the most famous basketball families in Ireland, CJ won a Super League title as the starting point guard for Belfast Star while still in secondary school. Already an Irish International, CJ is in his senior year in NCAA basketball playing for the College of Charleston. Ranked in the Top 10 nationally in assist to turnover rate, CJ is a calm and steady floor general with a huge future ahead of him. 2025 will see how he finishes his college career (possibly with an NCAA Tournament appearance) and then critically what level his professional career will start at. As Ireland’s National team continues to develop, CJ’s professional emergence couldn’t be better timed.
A runaway Rookie of the Year winner in 2024, Hocevar's star has been rising for a few years. Now the NASCAR world is bracing for what's around the next turn. With growing Spire Motorsports behind him and a year of Cup Series experience under his belt, his peers aren't ruling out his first career win and much -- much -- more in 2025 among a group of rising talents in the sport that includes Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott.
King James turned 40 on Monday. And if you've spotted him on the court during a remarkable career that began with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, he doesn't look a day over 30. James claimed his fourth career gold meal in the Paris Olympics over the summer, and the four-time NBA MVP remains locked in on claiming a fifth NBA title. Slowed by a foot injury in early December, there's still time to see James and appreciate his greatness but only he knows when to expect a final bow.
Ended 2024 in the same place he started it, as understudy to Alisson, but his stretch of starts in between for Liverpool and Ireland rocketed his profile. Saving Kylian Mbappé’s penalty marked the standout of his 10-game run in the Reds side until the Brazilian recovered from his latest injury. With £30m recruit Giorgi Mamardashvili on his way from Valencia in the summer, time for Kelleher to finally move on for a similar fee. The queue is forming.
If you watched any LPGA event in 2024, there's a pretty solid chance you watched Korda contend and a good bet she ended the final round with a trophy. Korda won seven times and the 26-year-old bagged a second major title and 11 finishes in the top 10. She separated from the rest of the world much the same way Scottie Scheffler did on the PGA Tour, and begins the 2025 season as the Player of the Year and World No. 1 by a wide margin.
2024 was not her friend. While she did pocket the European Gold she long believed herself capable of winning, a subsequent Achilles tendon injury forced her to withdraw from Paris on the eve of the Games. Turning 33 next March, her comeback from this latest injury setback, and the surgery it necessitated, will be watched closely. After seven years in Manchester, Mageean has moved herself and her training base back home to Northern Ireland. Belfast is where she'll recover and attempt to relaunch. She ran 3.55 to place fourth at the 2023 Worlds. The top five in Paris ran sub-3.54. This event waits for no woman.
Not for the first time, but Mahomes is doing Tom Brady things and climbing into the GOAT conversation rung-by-rung at the ripe young age of 29. Racking up wins if not immortal statistics in 2024, Mahomes has the Chiefs in position to three-peat as Super Bowl champions and place a "4x" on his bio line as Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl MVP winner in February. Brady's fourth of seven rings came at age 36 in the "Malcolm Butler game," beating the Seattle Seahawks to wrap the 2014 season. The Chiefs locked up the No. 1 seed and first-round bye in the AFC, meaning he's three wins from another Super Bowl opportunity.
Having started the season in obscurity, McCarthy made his first start for Leinster in September and first start for Ireland against Fiji eight weeks later, backing this up with a decisive try off the bench against Australia a week later. At 21 years of age, he is extremely early on in his development as a front row but already looks like he will challenge for the jerseys held in recent years by Ronan Kelleher and Dan Sheehan. His ceiling is very high and Munster should be doing everything in their power to convince him to move south.
2025 is the year of comebacks in various guises. Former hurling captain Eoghan O’Donnell and serial All-Ireland winner David Byrne are back for Dublin, Clare sharpshooting duo Eoin Cleary and Keelan Sexton returned to the fold while Donegal’s Michael Murphy and Tyrone’s Mark Bradley are also back.
Elsewhere, there are players making highly anticipated returns. Galway’s Sam O’Neill would have certainly played championship football last season if not for a torrid run with injury. He is now fit and ready to fire. In Cavan, Sean McEvoy’s reported call-up has been warmly received. The Ramor United forward played for the county underage and was part of the senior panel under Mickey Graham but moved to Baltimore where he played soccer.
A Republic of Ireland underage international, he demonstrated his baller class with a terrific goal against Kilcoo in 2021. While Paddy Lynch continues his rehab after an ACL injury last April, McEvoy can be another electric forward option for Cavan with the new rules.
History has repeated itself, so far, where McGuinness and Donegal are concerned. His first stint as senior manager, in 2011, began with Donegal winning the Ulster title that season and reaching an All-Ireland semi-final, which they lost by two points. His second stint in charge, in 2024, yielded the exact same results. Donegal, of course, tweaked things enough to win the All-Ireland in 2012 and with Michael Murphy back now, and a costly training camp in the UAE already completed, it is clear what their target will be in 2025. Would it be an even greater achievement this time, considering the players at their disposal? Probably.
‘I’ve been through a lot this year, professionally and personally.’ Rory McIlroy’s 10-word answer upon winning November’s DP Tour Championship may be the understatement of 2024. The somehow-just 35-year-old remains one of the most compelling characters in sport. A campaign which brought $21.1m in prize-money was also filled with heartache: an almighty choke job at Pinehurst when his Major woes looked all but over, Olympic agony too. But 2025 offers fresh opportunity. An Open Championship on home turf at Royal Portrush would be an epic (if, given links struggles, unlikely) place to end the drought.
A Ryder Cup in New York will be raucous, can’t-miss stuff. There’s also the high-profile launch of his mega-millions Premier Golf League venture with Tiger Woods. Is 2025 the year of Rors? Either way, McIlroy will remain must-watch.
What does the first 50-50 player in Major League baseball history do for an encore? He's ready to get back to being a dominant two-way player as a right-handed starter at the front of the rotation after resting his surgically repaired, possibly bionic, throwing arm to recover from UCL surgery. Ohtani is 38-19 in 86 career starts with the Angels from 2018-2023. In 2022, he was 15-9 with 219 strikeouts and a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts.
From a career high of 28th in the world in 2022, ending that year 29th, the Waterford man is currently 132nd. Hip and back injuries have been an issue over the last two seasons but positive results towards the end of 2024 in the FedEx Cup events augur well. Power's stated ambition for 2025 is to make the Ryder Cup team and guaranteed entry for big money PGA Tour events early in the year - Pebble Beach and the Genesis Invitational - gives him half a chance of building a head of steam. Considering he turns 38 in March, another Power surge is required sooner rather than later.
There was some eye rolling outside of Leinster when the hype around the Kildare man originally started to build but since making his test debut in November, it’s not hyperbolic to state that he has taken Irish rugby by storm. Just three caps into what promises to be a long international career, he looks sure to pip Jack Crowley to the number 10 jersey in the Six Nations and continues to stand out in a marvellous Leinster team, being named man of the match in a clinical display against Munster in Thomond Park. He will only continue to improve.
Rare company lines Scheffler's resume, and he rips into 2025 as the three-time defending PGA Tour Player of the Year. Only Tiger Woods had won three in a row before Scheffler chewed up the competition in 2024 with a top-10 finish 16 times in 19 starts, another Masters win -- his second -- plus an Olympic gold medal and seven Tour wins. It was the best single-season based on results since Tiger's eight-win 2006 season.
As the first Irishman home in the 2023 Dublin marathon, more was expected of the Belfast man in 2024. It turned out to be a frustrating year for the Tokyo Olympian who attributed some of his injury issues to the sprint finish he produced in that Dublin marathon. He ran a relatively disappointing 2.16.04 in London in April, ending his hopes of competing in Paris. The thing is, even at 36, the 2.09.49 runner (London, 2020) still has the capacity to produce special results - if fit and focused. An ADHD diagnosis in 2022, along with various other personal battles over the years, has made him a riveting subject. Crucially, he is committed to continuing the grind despite increased YouTube and business interests.
Following back-to-back wins against Tyson Fury, Usyk has leverage few heavyweight champions have had in several decades. Defeating the opponent who many boxing pundits felt was the division's best, Usyk is set on beating IBF champion Daniel Dubois if Dubois gets through Joseph Parker in his next fight.
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