Professional and amateur sports practice has seldom experienced so many losses worldwide, as with the pandemic by Covid-19, which is still without an end in sight.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl for the second time (after winning in 2003) in the early hours of February 8 by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, the then defending champions of the American Football league (NFL), by expressive 31-9.

Europe is going through the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and Portugal faces incredible difficulties, having entered, in January 2021, new and severe confinement. Several other European countries are in lockdown again as well, even though the vaccines give us a renewed sense of hope for eradicating this health crisis this year. Nevertheless, this time around sports isn't stopping.

The COVID-19 pandemic arrived as an unstoppable avalanche across the planet and affected sectors that previously seemed untouchable, such as the Olympic Games, for all its global symbolic weight. The decision to postpone the competition had enormous financial costs. Japan, the host country, is betting strongly on preventive measures to make it possible to have the event in 2021 as a symbol of hope.

The pandemic has changed society and sport as well, be it amateur or professional sports. Globally, almost all activity stopped, with most competitions suspended or canceled - including the Olympic Games -, posing significant challenges to the sporting world.

The time has come for balance sheets and, except for some nostalgic people, no one wants to hear about 2020 again! It was, of course, a year full of challenges and (bad) news. Anyway, in good spirit and with renewed energy, we set out to do a review of the year passed highlighting ten moments we considered essential from this latest lap around the sun.