[NOTES on a SCORECARD] Shohei Ohtani Being Passed Over for SI's 2024 Sportsperson of Year Hard to Understand
Jack Gallagher 
Shohei Ohtani hit a career-high 54 home runs in 2024, his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. (©SANKEI)
Read the full story on SportsLook - [NOTES on a SCORECARD] Shohei Ohtani Being Passed Over for SI's 2024 Sportsperson of Year Hard to Understand
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani had a phenomenal year in 2024. It was the best by a professional athlete in North American sports without question. However, it wasn't enough for one venerable publication.
Once upon a time, Sports Illustrated was considered like the bible of American sports. Published weekly, with fantastic photos and outstanding prose, it was a must-read for sports fans in the United States.
The publication has been on the slide for years now, and some of the choices made for their annual honor of Sportsperson of the Year have reflected that. Political correctness has been an issue in American life for decades, but only in the past 10 years or so has it crept into the field of sports.
The most recent example came in early January when Sports Illustrated passed over Ohtani for the Sportsperson of the Year in favor of American gymnast Simone Biles.
Shohei Ohtani Deserved the Prestigious Honor
Now there is no question that Biles, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and has 11 Olympic medals in total, is one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. But last year she featured at an event that was two weeks long, while Ohtani dominated the sporting landscape with one of the greatest seasons in baseball history over the course of six months.
In awarding Biles that honor, Sports Illustrated wrote, "The most decorated gymnast of all time is more than her staggering medal count. She has altered the face of gymnastics, sparked sweeping change across sports — and this year capped it all with an astonishing personal comeback."
Sports Illustrated Has Honored International Stars Since its Inception
In the long history of Sports Illustrated, which began in 1954, the magazine has named a foreign-born person one of its top athletes more than 10 times, with England's Roger Bannister, who broke the four-minute mile, being the first back in SI's inaugural year.
Other legendary names that have received the accolade include Canadian ice hockey greats Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky, Sweden's heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar Johansson, Scotland's auto racing star Jackie Stewart and Japan's tennis phenom Naomi Osaka.
Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find Jack's articles and podcasts on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
