The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, only for the fourth time in its long history, this time due to the corona virus, tops the list of the most important sports news of a brutal year that is already drawing to a close.
The postponement of the Olympic event, which is estimated to cause losses of about $ 1.9 billion, will occur until July 23 of next year, if the virus does not spread further than expected.
The pandemic disrupted the sport on the planet by suspending or changing the calendar and nature of the major tennis events, NBA, Major League Baseball, Formula 1 and the football championships in England, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, to name but a few to name a few. Some.
Most survived the Covid-19, but they had to be staged with empty stadiums, sometimes with stiff faces to make up for something, the absence of the audience, which is the reason for those shows, after all.
The NBA, one of the best-run leagues, passed it paralyzed after four and a half months, opening a bubble in Disney World that allowed its resumption.
The competition had a happy ending with the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James and Anthony Davis defeating Pat Riley’s Miami Heat in four of the six games, the architect of many of the 17 titles won by the California franchise.
Incidentally, the Lakers were level with the Boston Celtics, their great rival, at the top of the teams that have won the largest number of titles.
Other epic trophies that hit the sports world this year were Rafael Nadal’s with Roger Federer, both of them with 20 Grand Slam, something that seemed as far away as the seven trophies Michael Schumacher achieved in Formula 1.
English driver Lewis Hamilton chased “Schumi” last November when he took the top spot in the Turkish Grand Prix, the fourteenth round of the 17 that make up the season.
Not satisfied with that, Hamilton not only equaled the great German midfielder’s 91 victories, but later, in the Portuguese Grand Prix, dethroned him as the historic leader in his all-new Mercedes, a record that seemed unattainable.
Within the tennis world, Novak Djokovic’s surprise disqualification from the United States Open was also relevant after he inadvertently handed a ball to the linesman during the round of 16 match he played against Spain’s Pablo Carreño.
“I didn’t see the moment,” explained the world’s number one.
“I looked at my coach, celebrated the break and then I saw the linesman on the ground. I was shocked “.
Soto, bat leader
Transcendent for the Dominican Republic was the batting title won in the National League by Juan Soto, of the Washington Nationals, who averaged .351 in a shortened season of 60 games due to the corona virus.
The banilejo outfielder became the youngest player to get it since the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 22-year-old Pete Reiser beat him in 1941 with a .343 average.
The Los Angeles-based Dodgers took the World Series trophy for the first time since 1988 by beating Tampa Bay in the seventh game of the same game.
Local plan
The hiatus in the sport came at a time when the country was preparing for what is projected to be one of its best appearances at the Olympics.
With five individual places and one for the team, the country was secured, when there were still qualifying series left for a dozen sports in which hopes had been established to add more athletes.
The Queens of the Caribbean got their ticket to the Olympics, the third in their history, by beating their arch-rival from Puerto Rico 3-0 in the final of the qualifying tournament, held to a packed house at the Palacio de los Deportes Professor Virgilio Travieso Soto.
At the time of the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Dominican Republic had two athletes in equestrian sports (Héctor Florentino and Ivonne Losos de Muñiz), three in taekwondo (Bernardo Pie, Moisés Hernández and Katherine Rodríguez) and the women’s volleyball team or Queens of the Caribbean.
Swimmers Josué Hernández and Cristal Lara have a B mark.
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Champions
On January 28, the Romans were crowned champions, the third in their history and the first since 2011. They went on to win the Caribbean Series, ending a seven-year winless streak.
Diseases
Due to the virus, the Professional League and the tournaments of the District, Santiago, La Vega, San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana were suspended.
Survives
Thanks to the efforts of the government and Lidom, the fall-winter baseball tournament was saved, although it had to be held behind closed doors.