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Dear reader,

It was exactly a year ago today that www.insidethegames.biz chief senior reporter Liam Morgan wrote a story about “reports on the outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan” that was beginning to cause some concern in Asia ahead of several Olympic qualifying events for Tokyo 2020 that were due to take place in the Chinese city.

Liam reported that the first person had died of the pneumonia, “caused by what is believed to be a new type of coronavirus”.

When the International Olympic Committee were contacted, they told us that they were “aware” of the situation but “that there is no convincing evidence of human-to-human transmission”.

It was only a year ago but, given what has happened since, it seems like another lifetime.

Of course, the boxing qualifier in Wuhan did not take place and sporting event after sporting event has been postponed or cancelled since, a devastating domino effect caused by COVID-19.


 
We have had the unprecedented scenario of the Olympic and Paralympic Games being cancelled and postponed until this year. As bad as the situation was last year, few surely could have imagined in their worst dreams that with only 193 days to go until the re-arranged Olympics are due to open in Tokyo there is still great uncertainty as to whether they will take place.

With the coronavirus still prevalent and seeming to have picked up momentum again, and an effective vaccine only now beginning to be rolled out across the world, there remain serious doubts over whether Tokyo 2020 will go ahead. And soon doubts over the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing will begin to surface, I am sure.

Liam is emblematic of the highly skilled journalists that www.insidethegames.biz has deployed to cover this complex, ever-expanding and profoundly serious story.

We have drawn on our entire staff to bring you essential information and the latest news while also digging into the implications of this serious situation, from the financial repercussions to how it is affecting athletes’ mental health. Our dedicated journalists have been working tirelessly around the clock bring you all the latest news, writing thousands of stories on the crisis.

As the spread of coronavirus has touched everything that we hold dear we at www.insidethegames.biz fully understand our responsibility to keep you informed. I am proud of the dedication and talent my colleagues have brought to this important story. They have showed stamina and plenty of it.

We are fully committed to covering every aspect of this story for as long as the crisis lasts, with the clarity and command of the subject that is required.

We are deeply grateful to our partners for making this coverage possible. The journalistic resources necessary are immense and growing, and we could not do our work without their support. It is thanks to their continued support that we can ensure all our coverage is free to all.

News continues on many other fronts as well. There is a lot to cover. We will stay on top of those stories with expertise and vigour.

Thank you again for reading www.insidethegames.biz, and please stay safe and healthy during a period unlike any of us has ever seen before.

Yours in sport

Duncan Mackay
Editor
www.insidethegames.biz