It is no secret that the year of 2024 has been nothing short of a remarkable one for Bahamian women in sports at the professional and collegiate levels.

Whether it was making Bahamian women’s basketball history, setting world records on the big stage or surpassing longstanding national records, the Bahamian senior female athletes certainly left an imprint on 2024.

Jonquel Jones - First Place 

Grand Bahamian Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) pro Jonquel “JJ” Jones cemented herself as arguably one of the greatest Bahamian women’s basketball players of all time during her 2024 WNBA Finals run with the New York Liberty. 

Despite coming up short on three previous trips to the big dance, the Grand Bahamian big finally got a taste of what championship glory felt like in her fourth WNBA Finals trip against the Minnesota Lynx. The third time was certainly not the charm but the fourth swing at a title definitely came with a lot of historic firsts for Jones as the Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in game five.   

The 30-year-old propelled the Libs to their first title in franchise history, scoring a game-high 17 points, six rebounds and one dime while shooting 5-for-10 and 7-for-7 at the charity stripe in game five of the championship series.

She was a key cog in the Liberty’s second attempt at the WNBA crown, averaging 17.8 points per game and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 56 per cent from the field in the 3-2 series win. These numbers would rightfully earn her the 2024 WNBA Finals MVP honours to complement the first WNBA Championship of her career.

Jones was just the first Bahamian to win a WNBA title, the third non-American to win the hardware and just the 11th player to go home with both the title and Finals MVP honours.

During the WNBA regular season, the 2024 Finals MVP put up 14.2 points per game, 9 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 53.8 per cent from the field. She also capped off the 2024 WNBA campaign picking up her fifth career WNBA All-Star selection, fourth WNBA All Second Team selection and second WNBA All Defensive Second Team selection. 

Her already decorated basketball rèsumè was only missing one accolade, but the WNBA championship was the perfect climax to a story of delayed but not denied.

Devynne Charlton - Second Place

While Jones took the women’s basketball league by storm in the Big Apple, hurdler Devynne Charlton put the athletics world on notice during the indoor season. 

Charlton certainly had some bright spots during the 2024 athletics season but none brighter than her achieving the world indoor record at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow back in March.

The Olympian had already shown that she was on a mission after opening the season with a world-leading time of 7.75 seconds in the women’s 60m hurdles back in January at the Corky Classic in Lubbock, United States.

She stepped on the track and made history at the the Millrose Games in New York City, clocking what was then considered a world record of 7.67 seconds. Charlton broke the 16-year-old record of 7.68 seconds set by Susanna Kallur in 2008.

American Tia Jones then went on to share the world indoor record with Charlton, but the Bahamian hurdler went for all the marbles at the World Indoor Championships.

The 29-year-old became the sole record holder replacing her previous time of 7.67 seconds with 7.65 seconds to not only emerge as the world indoor champion of the women’s 60m hurdles, but also a national record holder and world indoor record holder for the event.

During the outdoor season, Charlton made it her second Olympics in Paris, France. She went on to finish sixth in the finals of the women’s 100m hurdles event stopping the clock at 12.56 seconds. 

Despite the sixth place finish, the gifted hurdler was the only Bahamian to advance to the finals at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Rhema Otabor - Third Place

Javelin sensation Rhema Otabor continued to strengthen her legacy as one of the Bahamas’ top collegiate athletes. Otabor had some pretty memorable performances during the 2024 season but the most memorable had to be her all around record-breaking performance at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) D1 Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

The 22-year-old thrower had been eyeing Laverne Eve’s 24-year-old javelin throw national record since last season but finally got the chance to make the record her own in June.

She tossed the javelin to 64.19m which did just the trick to help her surpass Eve’s previous national record of 63.73m, set on April 22 in 2000 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The winning heave not only set a national record but also a new collegiate, meet and school record. Additionally, she retained her NCAA DI javelin crown and qualified for her first Olympic Games.

Earlier in the season, she repeated as the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field women’s javelin champion. She won the event with a toss of 57.75m at the University of Michigan Outdoor Track Stadium. 

She collected a number of first place finishes during the season including wins at the BAAA Senior National Track and Field Championships, 114th Drake Relays and Jim Click Shootout and Multis.

The women’s javelin national record holder closed out the season with a throw of 57.67m at the Paris Olympics which earned her the 13th spot in her group and 27th placement overall.