Famous sports stars who died in 2024: Beckenbauer, OJ, West, Mays, Kiptum | Sport News

Every year, the sports world remembers the deaths of current sports stars and long-retired legends, each of whom impacted their sport in unique ways.

Al Jazeera chronicles the sporting lives of five of the most prominent names who passed away in 2024:

Franz Beckenbauer (September 11, 1945 – January 7, 2024)

The German football star, who won the World Cup for his country as a player and coach, has died at the age of 78.

Born in Munich just four months after World War II, Beckenbauer is widely regarded as Germany’s greatest ever footballer.

On the pitch, he transformed the game in Europe. While still a teenager with Bayern Munich, he pioneered a highly innovative style of play that is now widely referred to as “Total Football”.

At international level, he led West Germany to victory in the World Cup on home soil in 1974.

Beckenbauer is one of only nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, European Champions Cup and Ballon d’Or.

As a coach, he enjoyed similar success, taking Germany to two consecutive World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990, and winning the trophy for his country at his second attempt in Rome.

In his later years, Beckenbauer is fondly remembered as one of the game’s greatest global ambassadors.

Kelvin Kiptum (December 2, 1999 – February 11, 2024)

The Kenyan marathon world record holder has died at the age of 24.

Kiptum burst onto the marathon scene in October 2023 when he ran a scintillating 2 hours and 35 seconds in Chicago, 34 seconds behind the previous world record of fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge.

The death of the 24-year-old, who was driving in western Kenya in February when his car overturned, shocked the athletics world. Kiptum was expected to be one of the track stars at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kiptum was born in Chepkoryo, a village located in the Rift Valley and the heart of the country Kenyan distance race; In a strange twist of fate, it also happened to be the place where his tragic death occurred.

His funeral was attended by thousands of friends, relatives and admirers. Kenyan President William Ruto was among those who paid tribute to one of the most talented running backs of all time.

OJ Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024)

The former Hall of Fame NFL football star and actor turned celebrity murderer has died at the age of 76.

Nicknamed “Juice,” Simpson was one of the best and most popular American athletes of the late 1960s and 1970s.

During nine seasons for the Buffalo Bills and two for the San Francisco 49ers, Simpson became one of the greatest ball carriers in NFL history. In 1973, he became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He retired in 1979.

Simpson parlayed his football stardom into work as a sportscaster, commercial man and Hollywood actor in films including The Naked Gun series.

That all changed after his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ronald Goldman were found murdered in a bloody double murder scene outside her Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994.

Simpson quickly emerged as a suspect. He was ordered to hand himself in to police, but five days after the killing, he fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate – carrying his passport and a mask. A slow-motion chase through the Los Angeles area ended at Simpson’s mansion and he was later charged with the murders.

What followed was one of the most high-profile trials in the United States of the 20th century and a media circus. Prosecutors made an unforgettable blunder when they ordered Simpson to try on a pair of bloodstained gloves found at the crime scene, confident they would fit perfectly and show he was the killer. In a highly theatrical display, Simpson struggled to put on the gloves and explained to the jury that they did not fit.

Simpson was later acquitted of the murders on October 3, 1995.

On October 3, 2008 — exactly 13 years after he was acquitted in a murder trial — a Las Vegas jury convicted him of felony charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery, in connection with a 2007 incident at a casino hotel.

Simpson was released on parole in 2017 and moved to a gated community in Las Vegas. He was granted early release from parole in 2021 for good behavior at the age of 74. Three years later, he died after a battle with cancer.

Jerry West (May 28, 1930 – June 12, 2024)

The famous American basketball player and CEO has died at the age of 86.

It’s not hard to make the case that Jerry West is the most important basketball player of all time:

• West, who played in the NBA from 1960 to 1974 and won an NBA title in 1972, was the first person to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.
• The official NBA logo, designed in 1969, carries his silhouette.
• West has reinvented how the shooting guard position is played. His impeccable jumping image, elegant footwork, and graceful footwork greatly influenced the basketball stars who followed him into the NBA for decades to come, from Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant.

Like Beckenbauer, he enjoyed a stunning second wave of success after his playing career ended, winning eight NBA championships as an executive with the team he played for his entire career, the Los Angeles Lakers.

West could never give up the game he loved, serving as an NBA consultant until the year he died and establishing friendly relationships with many of today’s basketball greats.

Willie Mays (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024)

The American baseball legend and all-rounder has died at the age of 93.

Mays was a beloved African-American professional baseball player, considered by many to be the greatest player in the history of the game.

Nicknamed the “Say Hey Kid,” Mays was an exceptional centerfielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1951 to 1973.

His long playing career spanned good and bad times in American baseball history. He was born during the Great Depression and experienced segregation and racism for most of his career. He was also part of the early player empowerment movement that eventually led to free agency being granted to MLB players in 1976, a legacy that exists to this day.

His career highlights included four MLB home runs, four stolen base titles, and one batting title. He was the seventh player to hit 50 home runs in a single MLB season, achieving the feat while playing for the New York Giants in 1955.