Some things are worth remembering, even in a year we would rather forget

For reasons that probably don’t need to be explained, this is likely to go down as a year the world would rather forget.

So much has happened in 2020 that the entire globe has been rattled, yet for all we’ve been through, it feels like nothing much has happened at all.

Nine months after South Africa was first locked down, there still seems to be no real end in sight amid raging debates about reliable vaccines and the costs attached.

The sporting calendar was stripped to its bones this season as federations tried some unique ideas in their attempts to keep their heads above water in a new environment which has completely shunned the gathering of people.

Many of the most anticipated sports events of the year were cancelled or postponed, and those which did take place were largely centred around elite athletes, with fans and amateur participants having to accept that they would remain sidelined indefinitely due to health and safety restrictions.

And as we roll into a new year, little has changed.

Through the madness, however, there have been glimmers of light, and in Olympic codes there have been flashes of brilliance which will go down in the history books.

In the swimming pool, Tatjana Schoenmaker emerged from the lockdown to shatter some national short-course records.

Her performances won’t necessarily translate directly to sterling results in the longer format, but it has provided an indication that she hasn’t let the enforced hiatus affect her long-term ambitions.

On the track, he didn’t get many opportunities to race, but Akani Simbine also proved he won’t be shaken by the pandemic after bouncing straight back to top form and going unbeaten on his European tour.

Similarly, 400m sprinter Wayde van Niekerk didn’t set the world alight, but he showed real promise despite having to fight back from a serious knee injury before having his shortened campaign
disrupted even further by a positive coronavirus test.

These performances might not be hailed as particularly spectacular in the bigger scheme of things, and other results will better encapsulate the careers of Schoenmaker, Simbine and Van Niekerk, but they have done well to offer some light in the darkness.

And their results, among others, will at least provide evidence that 2020 might not have been action-packed, but it did happen, and some of it is worth remembering.

Wesley Botton

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