Summer McIntosh is the clear choice for Canadian athlete of the year

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In two weeks, a bunch of Canadian sports media VIPs will gather (virtually) to decide the winner of the Northern Star Award for Canadian athlete of the year.

Last December, the award formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy went to basketball star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after he finished fifth in NBA MVP voting and led the Canadian men's team to a World Cup bronze and its first Olympic berth in a generation.

My vote, if I had one, would have gone to SGA. But you could have made a good case for Connor McDavid, who finished off his incredible 153-point season in 2023; golfer Nick Taylor, who became the first Canadian in 69 years to win the men's Canadian Open; and swimming phenom Summer McIntosh, who won her third and fourth career world titles and broke two world records.

This year, there's really no debate. McIntosh is the obvious choice after her historic hat trick at the Summer Olympics in Paris. Before celebrating her 18th birthday, she won a Canadian-record three gold medals and added a silver as the country enjoyed its most successful non-boycotted Summer Games ever.

WATCH | McIntosh discusses life after her sparkling Paris Games:

To boil it down to an elevator pitch: in an Olympic year, the Northern Star Awards typically goes to an Olympic athlete. And McIntosh just won the most gold medals ever by a Canadian at a single Games. Seems like a no-brainer.

Having said that, many other Canadian athletes had a great year too. So here's a look at some that may have deserved the Northern Star if McIntosh hadn't done what she did.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: In many ways, SGA was even better this year than in 2023. He moved up to second in the NBA MVP vote last spring and was third in scoring while leading the rising Oklahoma City Thunder to the best record in the Western Conference. The 26-year-old guard was also the second-leading scorer in the Olympic men's tournament, but Canada got bounced in the quarterfinals by France despite SGA's 27 points.

Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg: Sticking with summer Olympic athletes, these two swept the hammer throw gold medals in Paris, becoming Canada's first-ever Olympic champions in the sport. While we're here, a shout-out to Canada's other gold medallists in Paris: Christa Deguchi (judo), Katie Vincent (canoe), Phil Wizard (breaking) and of course the men's 4x100m relay team of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse, whose astonishing upset victory was the very best moment of the Games for most Canadians.

Connor McDavid: The best hockey player on the planet had a relatively quiet regular season, finishing third in the NHL scoring race with "only" 132 points. But he went nuclear in the playoffs, racking up 42 points (the most by anyone other than Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux) in 25 games and helping Edmonton become the first team in 79 years to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final after trailing 3-0. The Oilers fell to Florida, but McDavid still won the Conn Smythe Trophy as post-season MVP, which rarely goes to a player on the losing team.

Brady Oliveira: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers' hometown running back led the CFL in rushing yards again and became just the fourth player ever to win the league's Most Outstanding Canadian and Most Outstanding Player awards in the same season. Oliveira's year ended on a sour note though as the Bombers lost their third straight Grey Cup game.

Natalie Spooner: One of the most important sports moments of 2024 was the launch of the new Professional Women's Hockey League on New Year's Day. Spooner led the league in goals and points and was named the regular-season MVP before a knee injury knocked her out of the playoffs and her Toronto team lost to eventual champion Minnesota.