Every year, the sports world commemorates the deaths of contemporary superstar athletes and long-retired legends, each of whom impacted their respective sports in unique ways.

Al Jazeera chronicles the sporting lives of five of the biggest names leaving their jobs in 2024:

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

The German football superstar, who won the World Cup for his country as a player and coach, has died aged 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 changed the game in Europe. While still a teenager at Bayern Munich, he pioneered a highly innovative style of play that is now widely known as “Total Football.”

At international level, he led West Germany to a memorable home victory at the 1974 World Cup.

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

He had similar success as a head coach, leading Germany to back-to-back World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990, and a second World Cup title in Rome.

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

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

Kenyan marathon world record holder dies aged 24.

Kiptum burst onto the marathon scene in October 2023, when he ran a stunning 2 hours and 35 seconds in Chicago, beating fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s previous world record 34 seconds shorter.

The 24-year-old shocked the athletics world when his car overturned and died while driving in western Kenya in February. Kiptum is expected to be one of the track and field superstars at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kiptum was born in Chepkorio, a village in the heart of the Great Rift Valley. Kenya long distance running; Strangely enough, this is also where he died tragically.

Thousands of friends, relatives and fans attended his funeral. Kenyan President William Ruto is among those paying tribute to one of the most gifted running talents of all time.

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

The former NFL Hall of Fame football star and actor who later became a celebrity murder defendant has died at the age of 76.

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

In nine seasons with the Buffalo Bills and two with 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 transformed his status as a football star into a sportscaster, advertising spokesperson and Hollywood actor in the “Naked Gun” film series.

On June 12, 1994, his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found slashed in a bloody double murder outside their Los Angeles home After death, everything changed.

Simpson quickly became a suspect. He was ordered to turn himself in to police, but five days after the killing he fled in a white Ford Mustang with a former teammate, taking his passport and disguise with him. A slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area ended at Simpson’s mansion, where he was later charged with murder.

What followed was one of the most notorious American trials of the 20th century and a media farce. Prosecutors made the memorable mistake of instructing Simpson to try on a pair of blood-stained gloves found at the murder scene, believing they would fit perfectly and identify him as the killer. In a dramatic demonstration, Simpson struggled to put on the gloves and told the jury they didn’t fit.

Simpson was later acquitted on October 3, 1995.

On Oct. 3, 2008, 13 years after he was acquitted in the murder case, a Las Vegas jury convicted him of criminal charges that included kidnapping and armed assault in connection with the 2007 casino-hotel incident. robbery.

Simpson was paroled from prison in 2017 and moved into a gated community in Las Vegas. At the age of 74, he was granted early parole in 2021 due to good behavior. He died three years later after a battle with cancer.

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

The iconic American basketball player and executive 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 played in the NBA from 1960 to 1974 and won an NBA championship in 1972. He was the first person inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.
• The official NBA logo, designed in 1969, features his silhouette.
• West revolutionized the shooting guard game; his perfect jump shot, stylish moves and flawless footwork greatly influenced the superstars who followed him into the NBA over the decades, from Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant. .

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

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

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

The American baseball legend with superb all-around skills passed away at the age of 93.

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

Mays, nicknamed “Say Hey Kid,” was an outstanding center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1951 to 1973.

His long career spanned good and bad times in American baseball history. He was born during the Great Depression and endured segregation and racial discrimination for much of his career. He was also part of the early player empowerment movement that eventually led to free agency for MLB players in 1976, a legacy that continues to this day.

His most notable career achievements include four Major League Baseball home run titles, four stolen base titles and a batting title. He is the seventh player to hit 50 home runs in a single MLB season, a feat he achieved in 1955 while playing for the New York Giants.