Organizers were forced to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(CNN)The year 2020 was supposed to be a golden one for sport, with this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo a mouth-watering showpiece that should have had the world tuning in to see incredible feats of human athleticism. Instead, as with virtually all aspects of public life, the coronavirus has had an immeasurable impact on the world of sport, leaving a trail of empty arenas, canceled events and economic turmoil in its wake.
RELATED: Covering the pandemic — CNN correspondents reflect on how we got here
From the beginning of the outbreak in late 2019 and the first sporting fixtures canceled in the early weeks of 2020, CNN journalists have covered this unprecedented event from every angle. This is the story of the pandemic that brought sport to a standstill, from those who have witnessed and reported on it first-hand.
The beginning of the outbreak
In late 2019, the World Health Organization receives word of a pneumonia-like disease in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The story develops into 2020 with the first known death in Wuhan on January 11.
