Top Sporting Events in 2021
The year 2020 has proven that you cannot be sure about the hosting of sports tournaments. The coronavirus pandemic and the introduction of quarantines have led to the fact that even the world’s largest sports tournaments are either canceled or postponed. Therefore, all the events that are planned for 2021 should be treated with a certain degree of skepticism since they can be postponed or canceled altogether.
We have collected the most interesting sporting events to be held in 2021. Some of these events have dates and participants. Others are only in plans. And during the year, many more events will be organized that well deserve to be considered the main ones.
Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020
Most of the top sporting events that were scheduled for 2020, but postponed to 2021, left the affix “2020” in their names. This applies to both the Tokyo Olympics and the European Football Championship.
The Tokyo Olympics will take place from July 23 to August 8. It is planned to play 339 awards on it.
It should be added that this was not the first time the Olympics were postponed. The capital of Japan was to host the tournament in 1940. But in 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War began, so the competition was moved to Helsinki. But in the capital of Finland, the Olympics did not take place on the scheduled date due to the Second World War.
In 1964, Tokyo again won the right to host the Olympics. And the tournament was again in jeopardy. This time because of the intense heat. However, the games were not moved to another city or canceled ‒ the date was simply shifted from summer to autumn.
After the Olympics, the Paralympics are traditionally held. It was scheduled to take place from 24 August to 5 September. It will take place in Tokyo.
Euro 2020
The European Football Championship has also shifted by almost one year. And the grand opening is scheduled for June 11, 2021. The rest ‒ unchanged: the opening match ‒ in Rome, the final ‒ in London, which is scheduled for July 11.
The final stage of the League of Nations
In October 2021, with some teams competing for the 2022 World Cup, four teams will be competing to win the Nations League. The final of the four is scheduled for October 6-10. The teams of Italy and Spain (October 6), as well as Belgium and France (October 7), will play in the semifinals. The winners will play in the final on October 10th.
Champions League and Europa League
2020 influenced both tournaments. Since some teams managed to play the first playoff games back in March, and the return matches were held already in August. We hope this will not happen again in 2021.
The first playoff matches will be played on 16 February. RB Leipzig-Liverpool and Barcelona-PSG will open 2021. These will be the Champions League 1/8 finals.
As for the first matches of the Europa League playoffs, they will take place on 18 February. Response ‒ February 25.
The Europa League final will take place on May 26 in Gdansk. The Champions League final is scheduled for May 29 at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.
Continuation of the biathlon season
Since biathlon is a winter sport, its season is in full swing. And the first World Cup races in 2021 are scheduled for January 8th. It was then that the stage in the German Oberhof starts.
The calendar for this season has been slightly changed, and Oberfoch will host the twin stage. Therefore, on January 13, another stage starts here, which will last until January 17. Already on January 21, the stage starts in Antholz, Italy. The double stage will also take place in Czech Nové Mesto: on March 4-7 ‒ the first, and on March 11-14 ‒ the second. The last stage of the World Cup will traditionally be hosted by the Norwegian Homlenkollen from 18 to 21 March.
The Slovenian Pokljuka will host the World Championship. It will last 12 days ‒ from 10 to 21 February.
Formula 1
For 2021, 23 stages are planned in royal auto racing at once. Formula 1 starts, traditionally, in Australia. The date of the first Grand Prix is March 21. The last race is scheduled for December 5 in Abu Dhabi.
It is not yet known where the fourth stage will take place. It was scheduled for April 25, but the venue has not yet been chosen.
Tennis ‒ the return of the Grand Slam tournaments
In 2020, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, Wimbledon, did not take place. The US Open and Roland Garros were postponed (but still held). It is hoped that this will not happen again in 2021. However, there is no exact calendar of events yet. And even the qualification for the Australian Open was moved from Australia to Dubai.
While it is known for sure that the Australian Open will take place from 8 to 21 February. Roland Garros is scheduled to take place from 17 May to 6 June. After that Wimbledon ‒ from June 28 to July 11. The dates for the US Open are from August 30 to September 12.
Top boxing fights
The dates of boxing matches are a little more complicated. Since very often boxers and their promoters cannot agree for a long time. Therefore, it remains only to wait.
Among the main boxing fights is the meeting between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
Other interesting fights that will take place in 2021, the confrontation of Saul Alvarez is also worth noting. He will defend his titles against mandatory WBC challenger from Turkey Avni Yıldırım. The fight is tentatively scheduled for February 27, 2021.
And for fans of ultimate fighting, there is another good news. Already on January 23, Conor McGregor will return to the octagon. He will fight Dustin Poirier. Their confrontation should be the main fight of the evening at the upcoming UFC 257 tournament.
