Sports Highlights from 2021

The year 2021 was tough in many aspects, although many people believed it would bring some relief when compared to 2020. Although it was specific for the organization of sports events, the year 2021 had particular dynamics as far as tournaments and championships were concerned. Certain sports supporters can describe it as the worst year for sport due to many limitations, while others can call it successful as some of the competitions actually took place as opposed to 2020. Even though many people couldn’t watch their favorite competitions on courts, they were seen watching the live streams and using the bet365 Bonus Code or similar codes for added fun. The following paragraphs will reveal all the sports highlights of 2021 and their significance for the history of the sport. 

COVID measures and limitations

Unfortunately, this is the first thing that comes to one’s mind when a person thinks of sports events in 2021. The first half of the year was followed by many cancellations and the vaccines fighting coronavirus were not available to all the countries, athletes, and people. The other half of the year saw people returning to the courts and pitches, yet with certain propositions. All of these facts caused big financial losses in the field of sport, and a lot of professional athletes’ salaries were cut down due to bad financial situations. In other words, 2021 was just a continuation of 2020 and that was the time when the pandemics hit their peak.

Athletes’ mental health put into questions

Many professional athletes simply could not handle mentally all the obstacles brought by the pandemics, and the majority of them were out of their regular routine which further caused the weakening of both their physical and mental state. Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, and she was willing to talk publicly about the general mental state of athletes who had to face life with coronavirus. World racket no.1 Novak Djokovic also spoke publicly about the mental health of athletes who couldn’t make a solid living out of the professional sport, and he tried to organize the Adria Tour to motivate less successful tennis players to ‘see a light at the end of the tunnel’. The Adria Tour was cancelled after several matches since the Djokovic family caught the coronavirus. 

Tokyo 2020 Olympics under masks

The most important sports event of the year required even more thorough preparation and organization. Although it was organized one year after it had been planned, it seemed that it also kept the shadow of COVID limitations, since the athletes could not leave the Olympic village, the audience was minimal, and there were strict isolation rules for those in contact with contagious people. It was a bit weird to watch the Olympic games with no fans supporting in the background, yet they brought a bit of hope that they are possible even under these kinds of circumstances. 

Sport vs. Politics – where is the line?

Since politicians are in control of most countries’ finances, it can be said that the sports enthusiasts felt that politics dabbled its fingers into the sport more than it should. As it became the most obvious in 2021, some of the leagues managed to strike back and keep the tournaments out of any kind of political activism. The best example of it is the NFL which managed to keep the focus on sport, and many claim that it couldn’t have been imagined five years ago when politics was dominant on the court.