April 8, 2020

Today, April 8, Behind the Headlines was originally scheduled to cover this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball championships in the United States. However, the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments were canceled in March because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The tournaments were not alone: nearly all sports leagues and sporting events have been suspended or canceled because of COVID-19, putting sports on hold in all corners of the globe. COVID-19 is a pneumonia-like disease caused by a coronavirus, a type of virus that also causes the common cold and other diseases of the upper respiratory system. To date, COVID-19 has killed more than 80,000 people among nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases.

Dodger Stadium sits empty in Los Angeles, California. Baseball stadiums, usually teeming with people at this time of year, are going unused throughout the world as leagues have been suspended or canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: John McCoy/Getty Images

All collegiate and high schools sports in the United States were suspended or canceled because of COVID-19 (the schools were then closed), and Little League Baseball, too, had to put off the start of its season. In professional sports, Major League Baseball, which had begun its annual spring training, canceled all exhibition games on March 12 and indefinitely delayed the start of the regular season. Minor League Baseball shut down, as did baseball leagues in Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and other countries. The National Basketball Association suspended its season on March 11, and basketball leagues in other countries were also shut down. The recently launched XFL football league suspended its first season on March 12, and the fledgling Basketball Africa League also lost its inaugural season, which had been scheduled to start on March 13.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo until 2021. Credit: Pakpoom Phummee/Shutterstock

Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League suspended their seasons in March, and other hockey and soccer leagues around the world were forced to do the same. Rugby and cricket leagues and tournaments were suspended, as were the upcoming Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and British Open golf competitions. In tennis, Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since World War II (1939-1945), and the French Open was postponed. The Kentucky Derby horse race and the Indianapolis 500 auto race were postponed, and the Monaco Gran Prix auto race was canceled. (All three races are usually run in May.) Marathons around the world have been canceled or postponed, and athletes of all types will have to wait for the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were postponed a year until July 2021.

This illustration of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) shows the spikes on the outer surface of the virus that appear as a corona, giving the virus its name. Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of sports continued to be played without fans in attendance, but fears for the safety of athletes quickly led to the canceling of the competitions themselves. Suspended and postponed sports leagues and events have issued optimistic timelines about when they will resume or take place. All timelines, however, depend on the containment or continued spread of COVID-19.

The sports cancellations are part of social distancing, also known as physical distancing, an effort to slow or stop the spread of a contagious disease by limiting contact between people. Social distancing is most effective against illnesses that can be transmitted by coughing or sneezing, direct or indirect physical contact, or through the air. Typical social distancing measures call for the closing of such public places as sports arenas, schools, restaurants, museums, and many offices and stores. They may also call for people to maintain a distance of around 6 feet (2 meters) between them in public places.

January 22, 2020

On Friday, January 17, weary and filthy racers from all over the world completed the final stage of the Dakar Rally, pulling their off-road vehicles into Qiddiya, a new entertainment “megaproject” on the outskirts of Riyadh, the capital of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The racers entered the vast construction zone of Qiddiya and crossed the finish line after 12 grueling stages of gritty cross-country racing, covering 4,660 miles (7,500 kilometers) of dirt, rock, and sand—lots of sand.

Casale Ignacio of Chile rides an all-terrain vehicle through the desert near Neom, Saudi Arabia, during stage three of the Dakar Rally on Jan. 7, 2020. Credit: © DPPI/ASO

The Dakar Rally, once known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, is an annual cross-country endurance race. The rally includes five different vehicle categories: cars; motorcycles; quads (all-terrain vehicles, or ATV’s); trucks; and utility task vehicles, or UTV’s (a two-seater style of ATV also known as a Side-by-Side, or SxS). This year’s race began with 351 vehicles carrying 557 racers from 53 countries.

Dakar Rally 2020 logo.
Credit: © ASO

The race began in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah on January 5, ran north along the Red Sea coast to the new city of Neom near the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, and then turned east through the barren Northern Deserts to Riyadh. The racers then headed through the Nadj (central plateau) and skirted the vast Rub al Khali (empty quarter) before doubling back to Qiddiya. The long route circled mountains and crossed canyons, wadis (usually dry valleys or ravines), and immense sand dunes. The extreme remoteness and rugged terrain of the route tested navigational skills and pushed drivers to the limits of endurance. Often the going was dangerous: the Portuguese motorcyclist Paulo Gonçalves was killed in a crash during stage seven between Riyadh and Wadi Al Dawasir on January 12.

Dakar Rally drivers from the United States took home first-place trophies for the first time in 2020. California’s Ricky Brabec, racing in his fifth Dakar Rally, took the motorcycle competition with a total time of 40 hours, 2 minutes, and 36 seconds. Racing in his second Dakar Rally, Casey Currie—also from California—won the Side-by-Side race (along with his navigator, Sean Berriman) with a time of 53:25:52. The other Dakar categories were won by racers from Chile, Spain, and Russia. Accidents, mechanical failures, and other problems accounted for an attrition rate (percentage of racers unable to finish the rally) of 31 percent.

A lone biker follows a remote desert track in Argentina during the 2017 Dakar Rally. Credit: © Dan Istitene, Getty Images

The first Dakar Rally began on Dec. 26, 1978, as 182 motorcycles and cars revved their engines on the Place du Trocadéro in Paris, France, preparing for the 6,200-mile (10,000-kilometer) journey to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Covering more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) per day, the winning racers crossed the Dakar finish line on Jan. 14, 1979. Just 74 vehicles completed the race. The racers followed a route from Paris to Marseille, where boats carried them across the Mediterranean Sea to Algeria. From there, the route continued through the dunes and dust of Niger, Mali, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), and, finally, Senegal.

The Dakar Rally continued annually and gained popularity, reaching a peak of 688 racers in 2005. In 2008, security threats in Mauritania (Mali’s neighbor to the west) shut down the race, and it was moved to the deserts and scrubland of South America. After 11 races through Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, the Dakar Rally moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.

May 29, 2019

On Sunday, May 26, 35-year-old Simon Pagenaud became the first French race car driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since Gaston Chevrolet in 1920. (Gaston’s brother Louis created the Chevrolet Motor Company). Pagenaud, a veteran of Formula One and IndyCar racing, earned his first Indianapolis victoire (French for victory) in his eighth attempt. Pagenaud finished the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” a split-second before 2016 champion Alexander Rossi of the United States and 2017 winner Takuma Sato of Japan. Last year’s champion, Australian Will Power, finished fifth on Sunday. The Indianapolis 500 is the premier event of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and one of the world’s most famous and prestigious auto races.

The French driver Simon Pagenaud celebrates his first Indianapolis 500 victory on May 26, 2019. Credit: © Action Sports Photography/Shutterstock

Pagenaud started the race in the pole position as the race’s fastest qualifying driver—averaging 230 miles (370 kilometers) per hour—and he led 116 of the race’s 200 laps. It took a valiant effort in the penultimate (next-to-last) lap, however, for Pagenaud to wrestle the lead from Rossi (who led 22 laps) and hold on for the checkered flag. After winning the race, Pagenaud stopped his car and climbed down to reverently kiss the strip of bricks at the start/finish line (a holdover from the track’s original surface). He then pulled into Victory Lane and stood overjoyed in the cockpit of his Chevrolet race car. After posing with the giant Borg-Warner Trophy that will soon bear his likeness, Pagenaud drank and drenched himself with the traditional bottle of milk. “This race chooses its winners,” the exhausted champion said after the frantic finish. “Today, I was the chosen one.”

The Indianapolis 500 (often shortened to Indy 500) takes place on the 2 1/2-mile (4.02-kilometer) oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. There are 33 starting positions. Drivers with the highest average speeds in four qualifying laps earn the chance to race. The first driver to complete 200 laps around the track—a distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers)—wins the race.

In an event known for its sometimes spectacular crashes, this year’s Indy 500 had just one accident bad enough to pause the race. In lap 178, five cars tangled and were eliminated from the race, but there were no serious injuries. Danica Patrick, who raced her final Indy 500 in 2018, served as an analyst for the NBC Sports television broadcast.

May 31, 2018

On Sunday, May 27, 37-year-old Will Power became the first Australian race car driver to win the Indianapolis 500, the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Power, a Queensland-born IndyCar veteran, took the checkered flag at the end of a crash-filled race that saw pole-sitting United States driver Ed Carpenter finish three seconds behind in second place and New Zealander Scott Dixon finish third. (In 2008, Dixon was the first winner from New Zealand.) The Indianapolis 500 is the premier event of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and one of the world’s most famous and prestigious auto races.

Australia’s Will Power leads the pack in his number 12 Chevrolet race car during the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27, 2018. Credit: © Patrick Smith, Getty Images

Power first raced at Indianapolis in 2008 and nearly won in 2015, when he finished just 1/10th of a second behind winner Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia. After winning on Sunday, Power pulled into Victory Lane and stood overjoyed in the cockpit of his Chevrolet race car. Looped in a wreath of flowers, Power drank and drenched himself with the traditional bottle of milk. After posing with the giant Borg-Warner Trophy that will soon bear his likeness, Power climbed down to reverently kiss the strip of bricks at the start/ finish line (a holdover from the track’s original surface). “I just can’t believe it,” he said. “I can’t describe it. I feel like collapsing. … I couldn’t stop screaming [in the race's final lap].” Power had good qualifying runs and began his 11th race at Indianapolis in the third position.

The Indianapolis 500 (often shortened to Indy 500) takes place on the 2^½-mile (4.02-kilometer) oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. There are 33 starting positions. Drivers with the highest average speeds in four qualifying laps earn the chance to race. The first driver to complete 200 laps around the track—a distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers)—wins the race.

Danica Patrick, racing in her eighth and final Indy 500 (her first since 2011), finished a disappointing 30th after crashing in the race’s 67th lap. Patrick’s best finish at Indianapolis was a third-place run in 2009. Crashes also forced three-time winner Hélio Castroneves, 2013 winner Tony Kanaan, and last year’s champion, Takuma Sato, from Sunday’s race. Overall, eight drivers left the race after crashes or significant contact, but there were no serious injuries. Some drivers felt that new aerodynamic car designs and the race-record heat—92°F (33°C)—combined to make cars harder to control.

May 30, 2017

On Sunday, May 28, 40-year-old Takuma Sato became the first Japanese race car driver to win the Indianapolis 500, the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Sato, a Tokyo-born veteran Formula One driver, took the checkered flag just 0.2011 seconds—faster than the blink of an eye—ahead of three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves, who made repeated attempts to pass Sato in the race’s closing laps. Castroneves, from Brazil, finished second and British rookie driver Ed Jones finished third. The Indianapolis 500 is the premier event of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and one of the world’s most famous and prestigious auto races.

Takuma Sato of Japan celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 28, 2017. Credit: © Jamie Squire, Getty Images

Sato first raced at Indianapolis in 2010 and nearly won in 2012, when he crashed in the race’s final lap while trying to pass that year’s winner, Dario Franchitti (also a three-time champion). After winning on Sunday, Sato pulled into Victory Lane and stood overjoyed in the cockpit of his Honda race car. Looped in a wreath of flowers, Sato drank and drenched himself with the traditional bottle of milk. After posing with the giant Borg-Warner Trophy that will soon bear his likeness, Sato climbed down to reverently kiss the strip of bricks at the start/ finish line (a holdover from the track’s original surface). “It’s beautiful,” he beamed. “I dreamed of something like this since I was 12.”

The Indianapolis 500 (often shortened to Indy 500) takes place on the 2^½-mile (4.02-kilometer) oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. There are 33 starting positions. Drivers with the highest average speeds in four qualifying laps earn the chance to race. The first driver to complete 200 laps around the track—a distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers)—wins the race.

Sato had good qualifying runs and began the race in the fourth position. New Zealander Scott Dixon (the 2008 Indy 500 champion) won the race’s coveted pole (first) position but was wiped out in a spectacular crash on lap 53. Dixon’s car was reduced to a scorched cockpit, but he walked away with only the jitters.

May 31, 2016

On Sunday, May 29, Alexander Rossi, a 24-year old rookie driver from California, pushed his race car to the limit in the waning laps of the Indianapolis 500. As other contenders took late refueling pit stops—including Colombian Carlos Munoz, who was leading with three laps to go—Rossi took a chance and kept going. His fuel gauge was sitting on E—a pins-and-needles moment of fearful exhilaration for any driver—but this was the Indianapolis 500, the premier event of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and one of the world’s most famous and prestigious auto races. Rossi, who began the race in the 11^th position out of 33, saw his only chance was to literally finish on fumes—and he did. His car conked out as he crossed the finish line 4.5 seconds ahead of Munoz to win the race. “I’m out of fuel, guys,” Rossi radioed his crew after taking the checkered flag. A topping up of fuel gave his car the boost it needed to make the celebration in victory lane. Rossi, who began his racing career in Formula One, recently joined the IRL but had finished no better than 10^th in five previous races.

Alexander Rossi celebrates with milk, the traditional drink of victory lane, after winning the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, 2016. Credit: © Darron Cummings, AP Photo

The Indianapolis 500 (often shortened to Indy 500) takes place on the 2^½-mile (4.02-kilometer) oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. There are 33 starting positions. Drivers with the highest average speeds in four qualifying laps earn the chance to race. The first driver to complete 200 laps around the track—a distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers)—wins the race. The first Indianapolis 500 took place in 1911, but racing was suspended for two years during World War I (1914-1918) and four more years during World War II (1939-1945). This year’s race was the 100^th Indy 500.