Why Caitlin Clark is Time’s Athlete of the Year
Historic. That is the word Caitlin Clark chose when asked to describe her 2024 in the Time interview for Athlete of the Year. And it’s true, Caitlin Clark has repeatedly made history in 2024.
Caitlin Clark during Time Magazine’s Photo Shoot (TIME)
Her collegiate career is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, and she was unanimously named the WNBA Rookie of the Year. It is hard to believe that she is only 22 years old with one WNBA season under her belt because of the incredible impact she has already had on women’s basketball. Deemed the “Caitlin Clark effect,” she has played a huge role in the growth of not just women’s basketball but women’s sports.
“I’ve been able to captivate so many people that have never watched women’s sports, let alone women’s basketball, and turn them into fans… These people aren’t supporting women’s sports to check a box. It’s going to be the new normal.”
She has set records upon records this year, including the new NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball scoring record in February. Her college championship game attracted an average of 18.9 million viewers, and it was the first time that the women’s NCAA final had more viewers than the men’s. In her first WNBA season, viewership increased by 48%, with more than 54 million viewers.
Her fans extend beyond young women in America. The Time interview details examples of her range of fans, including the male owner of a Chinese restaurant and a watch party that was held for her in Iceland. Athletes whose accomplishments have transcended their sport on a global level are a rarity, but Caitlin Clark is undoubtedly one of them. She is well and truly deserving of the Athlete of the Year accolade.
Despite the achievements, her year has not gone without its challenges. She has faced gender discrimination by the media and the rest of the internet, and she was surprisingly left out of the Team USA basketball squad for the Paris Olympics. Her WNBA team, Indiana Fever, lost early in the playoffs this year, and she has expressed the difficulty she has experienced in the step up from the collegiate to the professional game. There is still lots more that she wants to accomplish, and she has her sights set on it.
2024 may have been her breakthrough year, but Caitlin Clark is just getting started.