BURSTIt’s an annual question that usually makes for fun debate: Who was Canada’s athlete of the year?
Except, in the case of 2024, there isn’t much debate at all.
Swimming sensation Summer McIntosh appears exceedingly likely to win the Northern Star Award (formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy) when it is announced Tuesday.
McIntosh won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics and at 17 years old, she became the first Canadian to accomplish that feat. If that wasn’t enough, she also added a silver medal, two Olympic records and helped carry the Canadian flag during the closing ceremony for good measure.
McIntosh’s resumé is, essentially, undeniable.
But for argument’s sake, let’s look at some other candidates whose names may come up when the country’s top sportswriters convene to vote on the honour.
The would-be winners
A group of athletes who would be serious candidates if it wasn’t for McIntosh …
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The reigning Northern Star Award winner went up a level over the past year as he helmed a surging Oklahoma City Thunder squad to the top seed in the Western Conference and the second round of the playoffs. Gilgeous-Alexander also placed second in MVP voting after averaging 30.1 points per game and finished seventh for Defensive Player of the Year.
At the Olympics, the Hamilton native emerged as Canada’s best player. If Canada had advanced past the quarterfinals, Gilgeous-Alexander might have truly threatened McIntosh for the award. Alas, the team was eliminated by France in front of a raucous home crowd.
Connor McDavid
Another for the what-if category: McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the top performer in the NHL playoffs. If his Edmonton Oilers completed their comeback from down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final against the eventual champion Florida Panthers, No. 97 would have carried a strong case to win the Northern Star for the first time.
Instead, the Oilers dropped Game 7 in Florida, and McDavid memorably did not leave the locker room to accept his individual accolade. Still, his playoff run bears repeating: his 34 assists broke a post-season record held by Wayne Gretzky, he was the first player ever to have back-to-back four-point games and he is ranked fourth all-time for most points in a playoff year with 42. Oh, and he also dished out a cool 100 assists in the regular season.
Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg
There was no ruing what could have been for these hammer throwers, who won Olympic gold in the women’s and men’s events, respectively. Canada had never before claimed an Olympic throwing championship — yet after two weeks in Paris, it could suddenly lay claim to two.
Entering the Olympics as world champions, neither Rogers nor Katzberg could be considered a surprise winner, but they certainly introduced themselves to the wider Canadian audience with their performances.
Katzberg, of Nanaimo, B.C., won by over four metres and was the only competitor to cross the 80-metre threshold, doing so twice.
Rogers, of Richmond, B.C., became the first Canadian woman to win gold in an athletics event since 1928.
The questionable calls
Two athletes who have some connection to Canada …
Freddie Freeman
“Freeman hits a ball to right field … she is goooone! Gibby, meet Freddie!”
It’s a call that will live on forever.
Freeman, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series MVP, authored one of the most iconic home runs in years, walking off the New York Yankees with a grand slam in Game 1 and doing it while impersonating Kirk Gibson and playing through injury.
The play, part of Freeman’s record six straight World Series games with a homer, merits consideration for sports moment of the year. But for our purposes, it may not qualify. Freeman is a Canadian citizen, his parents were both born in the country and he wears the maple leaf internationally as an homage to his late mother. Still, he was born and raised in California, and his 2024 accolades all came for American teams, making his eligibility murky at best.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Unlike Freeman, Guerrero Jr., was born in Canada and plays in the country. But he represents the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic and does not have Canadian roots other than his dad playing for the Montreal Expos at the time he was born.
However, Guerrero Jr., was recently handed the Tip O’Neill Award as the top Canadian baseball player of the year.
When he finished second in MVP voting to Shohei Ohtani in 2021, he also finished second in Northern Star voting to Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner.
So, it’s worth considering Guerrero Jr.’s 2024 achievements, which included a Silver Slugger nod, an All-Star berth and a sixth-place MVP finish after hitting .323 with 30 homers and 103 RBIs on a disappointing Toronto Blue Jays team.
The longshots
You’d get good odds betting on any of these athletes — just don’t expect to see much return …
Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney
This foursome produced one of the most memorable moments for Team Canada at the Olympics when it shocked the world to win gold in the men’s 4×100-metre relay despite racing from the outside lane with the worst qualifying time in the field.
Natalie Spooner
It used to be near-impossible for a women’s hockey player to earn consideration for this award in a non-Winter Olympic year, but Jan. 1 changed everything when the puck dropped on PWHL action for the first time. Spooner was named the league’s first-ever MVP while playing for Toronto before falling in the semifinals to eventual champion Minnesota.
Vanessa Gilles
Gilles scored the winning goal for the Canadian women’s soccer team in a group-stage match against France, giving hope to a squad that was handed a stiff penalty for the scandal that became known as drone-gate. But she didn’t just get the job done on the field — the veteran Gilles also morphed into the team’s heartbeat as players dealt with the consequences of their coaches’ actions.
