Sports

COVID-19 recovery: how the sporting world resurfaced in 2021

Many of the major international sporting events, including those that were to take place in 2020, were postponed to 2021. Among the highlights were the Euros and Tokyo Olympics games.

In this post, we look at some of 2021’s most memorable sports events.

The Tokyo Olympic Games

Before we delve into the happenings of the Olympics, check out this Marshall World of Sport app download guide. If you are a sports fan, you will love this app.

Now, held in the middle of a resurging pandemic and devoid of spectators due to safety concerns, the Olympic Games in Japan presented endless logistical problems.

That aside, we witnessed performances like no other, with Italy’s Lamont Jacobs claiming gold in the 100m final. On the other hand, Jamaican’s Elaine Thompson became the first woman to carry the day in both the 200m and 100m races.

When it came to swimming, 18-year old Ahmed Hafnaoui caught everyone’s attention after comfortably winning the 400m freestyle. Also, the likes of Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon, Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel lived up to expectations in their respective swimming events.

From Tom Daley’s shedding tears of joy to Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles withdrawing from the floor finals due to mental health concerns, Tokyo Olympic Games produced some very emotional moments. It also introduced four new sports, allowing the Olympic family to broaden its horizons and interact with a new generation of athletes.

After around two weeks of competition, the U.S.A came first in the overall standings, followed closely by China and Japan. Despite the many concerns over the competition, athletes rallied together and succeeded in uniting everybody during a period of uncertainty, capping off an audacious risk that paid off.

Italy frustrate England to win at the Euros

The Tokyo Olympics was not the only event affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Euro 2020, which also started in 2021, saw football fans return to the stadium.

The tournament came to life in the last 16 after a challenging group round. The neutral fans were enthralled by Spain’s exciting 5-3 victory against Croatia, while Switzerland surprised France in a remarkable penalty shootout.

Having shown below-par performances in the 2018 world cup qualifying matches, Italy’s exceptional mix of youth and experience eventually paid off – they won their sixth major tournament title after beating England! It was a nice distraction for a nation that had been badly hit by COVID the previous year.

A year full of wasted chances

King Messi joining PSG, the most intense F1 championship fight for years, and Tadej Pogacar claiming a second successive Tour de France title, 2021 was memorable but could have been more special.

Well, what will come of 2022? The Winter Olympics in Beijing and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar are just two of the many events scheduled for 2022 that are supposed to be entertaining. Excited?