THEIR Olympic bids may have been sidetracked with the decision to postpone the Tokyo Summer Games to next year because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), still national athletes EJ Obiena (pole vault) and Junna Tsukii (karate) have their quest firmly on sight, aided by aminoVital.

Wimbledon is gone for the year, and, while expected, the decision of the All England Lawn Tennis Club nonetheless underscores the gravity of the situation in which humanity finds itself. Notwithstanding the vagaries of holding a fortnight’s worth of topnotch competition on extremely fickle perennial ryegrass, the tournament has been around since 1877, and through all of history save for a six-year period covering the Second World War. And yet, organizers felt compelled to scuttle the proceedings, chucking tradition, however reluctantly, in favor of public safety given concerns on the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.

NATIONAL Basketball Association fans missing their favorite players in action get to see them strutting their stuff albeit on a different platform by way of the NBA 2K video game.

WITH an end to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic anything but certain at this point, world basketball governing body FIBA moved to update the 3x3 World Tour season calendar.

The FIDE Candidates Tournament began on March 16^th, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, with eight of the top players of the world to play a double round-robin to decide who would challenge the reigning world champion, Magnus Carlsen, in December for the title. The 14-round event took place in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Yekaterinburg, Russia -- play was originally scheduled 17 March to April 3 this year with a prize fund of €500,000.

For hoops fans, and especially for those who followed the National Basketball Association through the Bulls’ Dynasty in the nineties, ESPN’s decision to move up the release of The Last Dance two months to April 19 is a welcome one. With the new coronavirus pandemic forcing most countries in the world to implement quarantine measures, the broadcast giant will most certainly be serving the 10-part documentary to a captive audience. As the Lakers’ LeBron James argued on The Road Trippin’ podcast of former teammates Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye last week, “if I’m Michael Jordan, I’m going in there and I’m making a conference call and I’m like, ‘Okay, what’s the reason that we’re going to hold onto it until June now? Compared to now when everybody is at home?’”

TOKYO -- The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 next year and run until Aug. 8, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said on Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to plan and prepare for them properly this year.

HAD HIS flourishing boxing career halted at one point for a year and a half because of contract dispute with his former handlers, undefeated Filipino boxer Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo is now excited to turn a new leaf after signing a deal to be part of MP Promotions last month.

THE NATIONAL Basketball Association has plans for a players-only NBA 2K video game tournament to be shown on ESPN, Yahoo Sports reported Monday evening.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has effectively shuttered all sporting activities in the country but the sports community is finding ways to make its presence felt, stepping up and doing its share in the fight against the pandemic.

There can be no discounting the power of celebrity when it comes to raising awareness for a cause. It was certainly on display over the weekend, when the Warriors’ Stephen Curry went on Instagram Live for the better part of half an hour to talk about the new coronavirus. It helped, of course, that he had Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, by his side. “Information is power,” he noted, and promptly discussed the importance of taking preventive measures with the key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

USA Basketball is weighing alternative roster options in the event of a potential conflict between the delayed Tokyo Olympics and the National Basketball Association season.