As 2024 draws to a close, Biniam Girmay will be among the Africans proudly reflecting on etching their names into sporting history.
The Eritrean cyclist enjoyed unprecedented success at the Tour de France before the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics provided other memorable landmarks for the continent.
Ivory Coast’s footballers ultimately delivered on home soil yet South Africa’s cricketers will be among those mulling over missed chances.
BBC Sport Africa rounds up the main highlights of the past 12 months.
Triumphs in the French capital
Beatrice Chebet was the stand-out performer at the Olympics, with the 24-year-old winning the women’s 5,000m and 10,000m double to help Kenya finish top of Africa’s medal table once again.
Algerian teenager Kaylia Nemour created history as the continent’s first medallist in artistic gymnastics by securing a stunning gold in the uneven bars.
Meanwhile, Letsile Tebogo became the first athlete from Botswana to top the podium as well as Africa’s first Olympic sprint champion, setting a new continental record of 19.46 seconds as he stormed to victory in the men’s 200m.
Barriers were broken in basketball as Nigeria’s women became the first African side to reach the knockout stages, while South Sudan’s appearance brought pride to the world’s youngest nation.
One third of the continent’s 39 medals were gold, yet Nada Hafez epitomised the Olympic movement’s spirit when the Egyptian fenced while seven months pregnant.
At the Paralympics, Raoua Tlili continued her global dominance – with her F41 discus and shot put titles making her Tunisia’s most-decorated para-athlete with 10 medals earned across five different editions of the Games.
Algerian sprinter Skander Djamil Athmani also returned home with two golds and Nigerian teenager Mariam Eniola Bolaji became the first African to win a Paralympic or Olympic medal in badminton.
There was history for Mauritius too, as Yovanni Philippe won the island nation’s first Paralympic medal when he took bronze in the men’s T20 400m.
Tour de France milestones
Girmay has cemented himself as the poster boy of African cycling over the past three years and broke further barriers at the sport’s highest level.
The 24-year-old became the first black African to win a stage at the Tour de France, and two more stage victories helped capture the green jersey for the highest points scorer – a first for anyone from the continent.
Cycling-mad Eritrea is also beginning to dominate at continental level, with the small East African nation finishing top of the medal table at October’s African Road Championships.
Elephants tread tightrope at Afcon
The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) regularly delivers compelling storylines, but this year’s delayed 2023 edition proved a cut above.
Hosts Ivory Coast sacked their coach as they appeared set for an embarrassing group-stage exit, but interim boss Emerse Fae then masterminded a fairytale run which ended with the Elephants lifting the trophy.
Their route through the knockout rounds was dramatic in the extreme, while Sebastien Haller scored decisive goals in the semi-final and final to cap his own remarkable comeback from testicular cancer.
In November the line-up for the 2025 Afcon was decided, with Sudan and Botswana surprise qualifiers for the finals in Morocco.
Lookman and Banda
Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman picked up the men’s African footballer of the year after coming 14th in the Ballon d’Or.
The 27-year-old was named in the Afcon team of the tournament and then became the first man in 49 years to score a hat-trick in a European final, as his treble secured Atalanta the Europa League title.
Al Ahly’s men registered a record-extending 12th African Champions League title while TP Mazembe won the women’s equivalent for the first time.
Barbra Banda was voted the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year on the back of her impressive form with Orlando Pride and then became the first Zambian woman to be named the continent’s best.
However, it was her Copper Queens team-mate Racheal Kundananji who became the most expensive female player of all time when she joined Banda in the USA, moving to Bay FC in February.
Distance records broken
Ghana hosted the 2023 African Games in March after an outlay of almost $250m (£200m).
The competition, with events in 29 disciplines, endured teething issues amid a time of economic turmoil in the West African nation and many big names in athletics did not attend.
Later in the year, Chebet was one of five Kenyans to win Diamond League titles while her compatriot Ruth Chepngetich smashed the women’s marathon world record in Chicago.
The 30-year-old’s time of two hours, nine minutes and 57 seconds surpassed the previous record, held by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, by nearly two minutes.
Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha lowered the bar in the men’s half marathon, clocking 57 minutes 30 seconds in Valencia.
Glory amid tragedy in the octagon
Francis Ngannou’s year in combat sports was overshadowed by the death of his 15-month-old son Kobe.
That sad news came in April, a month after the Cameroonian was knocked out by Anthony Joshua in the second round of their boxing bout in Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou recorded a first-round stoppage of Renan Ferreira on his return to action in October, in what was his first mixed martial arts contest in nearly three years.
The 38-year-old shed tears as he dedicated the victory to Kobe.
“I went to fight for him. I hope they can remember his name because without Kobe, I wouldn’t have fought.”
Meanwhile, Dricus Du Plessis came out on top in the UFC’s ‘Battle for Africa’ against Israel Adesanya, with the South African forcing his opponent to submit in the fourth round to retain his middleweight title.
South African success, opportunties missed
South Africa secured their first Rugby Championship title since 2019 before flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit was crowned World Rugby player of the year, becoming the first Springbok to win the award twice.
But the curse of major tournaments once again struck the country’s cricketers in two T20 World Cup finals.
The Proteas men suffered an agonising seven-run defeat against India in June, while the women were beaten by New Zealand by 32 runs in October.
In tennis, South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane added the Wimbledon women’s wheelchair doubles trophy to her cabinet.
But Ons Jabeur appears further away from her first Grand Slam triumph after an injury-hit year saw her slide down the women’s rankings.
The 30-year-old’s best showing came at the French Open, where the Tunisian exited in the quarter-finals.
In squash, Nouran Gohar won an all-Egyptian Women’s World Championship final, defeating seven-time winner Nour El Sherbini to claim a first title. But Mostafa Asal could not make it a clean sweep on home soil in Cairo as he was beaten in the men’s final.