A Lot To Look Forward To

Now that the "fun" of 2020 is behind us, it's time to look ahead to the jam-packed schedule of sporting events ahead of us in 2021.  In fact, the next several years will be loaded with high-level events, as everyone looks to get back on schedule after all of last year's postponements.  Of course, this is all still subject to change depending on how much longer this all lasts, but I'm choosing to be optimistic and think everything will be able to happen as scheduled.

Last year being completely wiped off the sporting calendar had some effect, but it was really the Olympic postponement that set all the wheels in motion.  Most Olympic sports hold their World Championships in odd years, so all of those had to be moved, creating a situation where those sports will have Worlds in back-to-back years.  In fact, we'll see a global championship five years in a row in a majority of them!

Track & field and swimming are the most obvious examples of this.  The 2021 World Championships were rescheduled for 2022, with everything getting back on schedule in 2023.  So, they'll have an Olympics in 2021, followed by World Championships in 2022 and 2023, then the Paris Olympics in 2024 and another World Championships in 2025.  Five straight years with elite-level international competition.  Same thing with beach volleyball, another marquee Summer Olympic sport.

That's huge for the growth of these Olympic sports, especially heading into the 2028 Games in LA.  It'll really give the athletes a chance to become household names.  Instead of fading into the typical post-Olympic obscurity, known only to the die-hards, they'll have an opportunity to be center stage each summer from now until 2025.

Ordinarily, the World Championships are the only major competition of the year for FINA and World Athletics.  However, that won't be the case in 2022, when they'll be held in the same year as the smaller, secondary global meet (the World Indoor Championships for track & field and World Short Course Championships for swimming).

In fact, the 2020 World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, which were originally postponed a year, have been pushed all the way back to 2023.  So, for track & field, it'll go: 2021-Olympics, 2022-World Indoors & Outdoors, 2023-World Indoors & Outdoors, 2024-World Indoors & Olympics, 2025-World Outdoors.  For swimming, it's Olympics & Short Course in 2021, Worlds & Short Course in 2022, Worlds in 2023, Olympics & Short Course in 2024.

None of this even includes the 2022 Commonwealth Games or biennial European Championships.  Or the Pan Am Games, Asian Games and European Games.  So, needless to say, these athletes will have plenty of international opportunities in the coming years after 2020 was completely wiped out.

It's not just Olympic sports and their World Championships, either.  With Euro 2020 pushed back a year, FIFA will now also have a major tournament four years in a row.  The Euro and Copa America are just 18 months before the 2022 World Cup, with the 2023 Women's World Cup following six months after that.  Then, it's the next Copa America and Euro in 2024 before international soccer finally takes a summer off in 2025.

There will be a World Baseball Classic at some point, too.  It was originally supposed to be played this March, but has been delayed for obvious reasons.  MLB and the MLBPA still aren't sure when it'll happen, although 2023 is the rumored date.  With baseball back on the Olympic program in Tokyo, but not in Paris, the 2023 date would actually make a lot of sense.  I'd even argue that they could then hold the next one after that in 2026 (the 20th anniversary of the first) as a prelude to the 2028 Olympic tournament at Dodger Stadium (I'm assuming baseball will be back on the program then).

Throw in the 2022 Winter Olympics and you've really got a crowded international sporting calendar!  Although, I have a feeling the 2022 Olympics will get overshadowed simply by all the madness that'll be going on at home.  It's already going to be the first time the Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony happens before the Super Bowl.  Now, with the NFL planning to add a 17th game to the schedule next season, that'll move the Super Bowl back a week...which moves it from the first weekend of the Olympics to the middle of the Olympics!

And let's not forget how screwed up the domestic schedules still are after everything got so out of whack in 2020!  After their playoff bubbles, the NBA and NHL seasons will extend into the summer again.  The only reason European soccer won't is because they want to be done in time for the Euro.  So, that's a lot of stuff to cram into the first few months of 2021, all so they can get back on schedule for the 2021-22 season.

Of course, we can't forget the reason for all this: our dear, departed friend 2020.  Had last year been anything close to normal, this year would still feature Olympic sport World Championships, but the summer of 2022 would be exceptionally quiet (especially with the World Cup not taking place until November).  Instead, every summer will be busy.  (Let's not forget where the 2026 World Cup is, either.)

So, perhaps there's a silver lining to the mess that was last year.  We all had to endure something miserable.  Something miserable that still isn't over.  Something miserable that screwed up all of our lives in so many ways, and we'll hopefully never experience anything remotely close ever again. 

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and a massive reward waiting for the world in Tokyo.  That's just the start, too.  After an entire year off, it's gonna be sports overload.  And, frankly, we all deserve it.