2021 in the sport of athletics

2021 in the sport of athletics
Major world events2020 Olympic Games
2020
2022


In 2021, like the previous year, the sport of athletics was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, at both the elite and local level. The main competition was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which had been rescheduled. The rescheduling meant that the World Athletics Championships, originally set for 2021, was postponed given the presence of the Olympics in a World Championships year.

Several other competitions were held in 2021 after being delayed from their usual schedule in 2020, including 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships. However, the severity of the impacts of the pandemic remained high and other major competitions were pushed to a later date (such as the 2021 World Athletics Indoor Championships and 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships), while others were cancelled completely, including the African Championships in Athletics and Asian Athletics Championships.[1][2][3]

Smaller-scale meetings generally proceeded where pandemic restrictions allowed, although continued restrictions resulted in the cancellation of the British Indoor Athletics Championships,[4] USA Indoor Track and Field Championships,[5] Tokyo Marathon,[6] and both Chinese legs of the 2021 Diamond League.[7]

  1. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (2021-05-29). Nigeria steps in to host African Athletics Championships in time for Tokyo 2020 qualification deadline. Inside The Games. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  2. ^ Athlétisme: les 22e Championnats d’Afrique annulés. RFI (2021-06-04). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  3. ^ CANCELLED – 24th Asian Athletics Championships 2021. Singapore Athletics. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  4. ^ British Athletics cancels 2021 Indoor Championships due to COVID-19. ESPN. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  5. ^ 2021 USATF Indoor Championships Have Been Canceled Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Runner's World (2021-01-11). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  6. ^ Tokyo Marathon 2021 Postponed. Tokyo Marathon. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  7. ^ China Diamond League meets cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Stabroek News (2021-06-25). Retrieved 2023-07-23.