Paris Olympics, Tyson Fury and cricket in America: the unmissable sporting events of 2024

Six Nations 2 February–27 April

After a thrilling men’s World Cup, international rugby union returns with the Six Nations in February, March and April. It all kicks off with a mouthwatering contest on a Friday night in Paris between two wounded teams, France and Ireland, who both feel they should have won the World Cup. The Irish will be aiming to defend their crown as grand slam champions, and England’s women will try to do the same in a tournament that picks up the baton the weekend after the men’s championship finishes.

Boxing is a world that often resembles business more than sport, and it is frustratingly rare to see two outstanding heavyweights of the same generation agree to go head-to-head in the ring. But that is exactly what we will get when Tyson Fury, the WBC and lineal world champion, takes on Oleksandr Usyk, the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO king next month. A generous dose of Saudi money has made it happen, and the contest in Riyadh promises to be one of the sporting events of the year. The winner will become the first undisputed heavyweight world champion (holding all sanctioned belts) since Lennox Lewis in 2000.

Golf’s annual visit to the pristine Augusta National is always a highlight of the calendar, but the year’s first major will carry heightened significance in the wake of showdown talks this month between PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of the Saudi Public Investment fund, to decide the future of the game. Jon Rahm, the returning champion, is now a LIV Golf star and his presence will emphasise the game’s divide. And, of course, there will still be that perennial question: will Rory McIlroy finally win a fifth major and the thing he most desires, a first green jacket?

If you don’t already know where the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup will be staged, it might surprise you to hear that the great cricketing nations will be coming to blows in New York, Miami and Texas this summer. It is a bold play by the ICC to broaden narrow horizons, even if the US will share the hosting burden with the Caribbean and the final will be held in Antigua. England will need to put up a better fight than at the ODI World Cup to retain their title. The women’s edition will follow later in the year in Bangladesh, although there are scant details so far.

The format may remain horrid, with a clunky 24 teams and a group phase that carries minimal jeopardy for the best sides, but the Euros always put on an entertaining show and Germany will be an excellent host. What’s more, England and Scotland will arrive with optimism and real hope of making a mark in the tournament. The Scots showed in qualifying they can be a match for anyone, and England have real hopes of going all the way so long as they can keep Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham fit and fresh.

America, it seems, is the centre of the sporting universe right now. Overlapping the T20 World Cup is the Copa America, as the continent’s international teams battle for football supremacy. It has been tipped as Lionel Messi’s last major tournament and his Argentina side are the reigning champions, looking to defend their crown and add one last layer of history to his legacy. The Copa America final will take place on the same day as the Euros final and the Wimbledon men’s singles final...

Last year’s Wimbledon singles finals inspired awe for different reasons: Marketa Vondrousova made history as the first unseeded woman ever to win the title before Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz produced one of the greatest matches in the history of tennis, and their rivalry will again be a major storyline. On the women’s side, Emma Raducanu will hope to make an impact on her home grand slam after a horror year suffering with a wrist injury, while the brilliant Coco Gauff will look to win her first Wimbledon title having won her first slam in New York in September.

Paris will stage its third Olympic Games this summer, 100 years after the last occasion, joining London as the only city to have held three. It promises to be a great event from athletics at the Stade de France to surfing in Tahiti. The world will look to Simone Biles as she returns to the Olympic stage following her torturous Tokyo experience, while there are a raft of British stars to follow, like Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Adam Peaty, Keely Hodgkinson and Sky Brown. Meanwhile, the sole new event, breakdancing, will certainly be a conversation starter if nothing else.

For the first time in history, the men’s Tour de France will finish outside Paris when it winds up in Nice in August, as the capital focuses its resources on the Olympics. But the women’s route is even more intriguing, starting in the Dutch city Rotterdam, crossing into Belgium and finishing in France with what promises to be a spectacular finale upon the iconic Alpe d’Huez. Reigning champion Demi Vollering will be among the favourites once more on a route well suited to her skills.