After a 2020 marked by cancellations, 2021 was the year in which all competitions returned under the new normal, including the long-awaited Tokyo Olympics. With his return, the feats of athletes that left their mark on the memory and hearts of millions of spectators also returned.
2021 will be remembered as the year the sport returned. Although still marked by Covid-19, fans from all over the world vibrated again before the Olympic Games, returned to stadiums and races and witnessed the efforts of idols, who after a 2020 of blockades, reminded them that life goes on, and the sport too.
The year left great moments for contemporary heroes: from a Messi consecrated as king of the Ballon d’Or, a crown over Jamaican Elaine Thompson as queen of speed or the four definitive boxing belts for Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez.
Two other great feats were carried out by the Australian Emma McKeon, the first swimmer in history to take home seven Olympic golds, or the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the undisputed leader of the Tour de France with a five-minute lead behind the finish line. These, among more success stories.
Here are the exploits of the ten great sports figures of this 2021:
Lionel messi
The Argentine lived two momentous episodes in 2021. On the one hand, the forward changed teams, something unprecedented in his professional career: he left Barcelona to sign for PSG.
On the other hand, he got his first title with the Argentine National Team. It was in the Copa América played in Brazil and defeating the hosts in the final. According to experts, obtaining that title is what has earned him, to a large extent, his seventh Ballon d’Or.
Messi, 34, beat Polish Robert Lewandowski, Europe’s top scorer last season, and Italian Jorginho, double champion of the European Championship and the Champions League with Italy and Chelsea respectively. A controversial choice but one that does not tarnish the great tournament that Messi did with the Albiceleste in the Copa América.
Alexia putellas
The Barcelona player became the first Spanish woman to receive the Ballon d’Or and the second person from her country to obtain such an award. At 27, this offensive midfielder put the icing on the cake to a perfect season with her club. Alexia won the Spanish League, the Queen’s Cup and the Women’s Champions League in the 2020/2021 season.
The Spanish completed 33 goals and 19 assists during that period and beat four other teammates who were also finalists for the Ballon d’Or. The award also recognizes Spanish football, which for years has been seeking the way to make its league professional and reach decisive instances with the senior team.
Rebeca Andrade
Without a doubt, Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade was one of the great surprises at the Tokyo Olympics. After an Olympic cycle marked by injuries, the 22-year-old took the gold in the jump of the colt and won the silver in the individual complete exercise.
Quite a feat for an athlete who has suffered three cruciate ligament tears in her knees. The last one was in 2019.
Rebeca finished 2021 with a gold in the Gymnastics World Cup, in the jump of the colt, and a silver in the uneven bars.
Karsten warholm
The Norwegian broke one of three world records set at Tokyo 2020. Karsten Warholm won Olympic gold in the 400m hurdles with a time of 45.94 seconds. A record that could well reach to get into a final of the 400-meter dash at the continental level. It was the second time of the year that he broke the record. The first time it was with a 46.70 that knocked down the mark of the American Kevin Young of 1992.
But the achievement of the Tokyo record is that it has been one of the fastest races in the history of this discipline. Silver went to Rai Benjamin, from the United States, with 46.17 and bronze went to Brazilian Alison dos Santos with a surprising 46.72 seconds.
Elaine thompson
This Jamaican established herself in Tokyo as the queen of speed. Elaine Thompson did not make it to the Olympics as the favorite for the queen of athletics. His compatriot, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, achieved before those jousts what was the second best mark in history in the 100 meter sprint with 10.63 seconds. Shelly-Ann had also won gold at the 2019 World Athletics Championships at this distance.
But Thompson didn’t understand favoritism. She won gold in the 100 and 200 meter sprints in the Japanese capital and became the first woman to revalidate the Olympic titles in these two disciplines.
In addition, in August she ran the hectometer in 10.54 seconds, the current second best mark in history, only behind the 1988 record of the American Florence Griffith with 10.49 seconds.
Emma mckeon
The other great figure of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was the Australian Emma McKeon. Never before has a swimmer won seven medals in a single edition of these jousts.
Four of those medals were gold, in the 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, the 4 x 100 style relay and the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. In addition, three bronzes in the 100 m butterfly, 4 x 100 mixed styles relay and 4 x 200 women’s freestyle. Only the Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya had achieved such a number of medals in one Games.
At 27, he already has a total of eleven Olympic medals, since in Rio 2016 he won another four and says that he already has his sights on the next Paris 2024 event.
Tadej pogacar
Once again, the Slovenian rider finished the season as the best in the pack. This 2021, Tadej Pogacar was not a revelation, like the previous year, but a confirmation.
Pogacar, 23, revalidated the title in the Tour de France and this time he prevailed almost without suffering during the three weeks of the race. A more than five minute lease on the runner-up, Danish Jonas Vingegaard, speaks of his great performance.
This year it won its first monuments: the Tour of Lombardy and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The Tirreno Adriatico and the Olympic bronze in the road event are other of the several achievements that Pogacar added to this season. It is a race that continues to rise and with the great question of knowing if he has a rival who can face him.
Novak Djokovic
The Serbian tennis player was the great dominator on the men’s circuit by winning three of the four Grand Slams that were in dispute. The Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. This allows the Balkan to add 20 great titles and equals the Spanish Rafael Nadal and the Swiss Roger Federer.
The Masters 1,000 in Paris is also on Djokovic’s record in 2021. ‘Nole’ finished the year again as world number one, something he did for the seventh time and is a record on the men’s circuit.
The debt was the opportunity to have also stayed with the US Open, in which he lost the final against Russian Daniil Medvedev.
‘Canelo’ Alvarez
The 31-year-old Mexican boxer reaffirmed himself in 2021 as the great star of international boxing. Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez became the sixth man to be crowned undisputed champion by winning the four belts of the four organizations that govern this sport.
In November, the Guadalajara-born defeated American Caleb Plant by technical knockout and won the super middleweight belts of the World Boxing Council (WBC), the World Boxing Association (WBA), the World Boxing Organization ( OMB) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
The objective of ‘Canelo’ seems now to be at cruiserweight, the category before heavyweights. The World Boxing Council has already given him its approval so that he can play a fight in this division.
Max verstappen
The Dutch driver starred in one of the most exciting events in sport in recent years. Max Verstappen reached the last Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season with the same points as Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, who was defending the title and seeking the record of claiming his eighth World Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen, from the Red Bull team, overtook Hamilton, from Mercedes, on the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to win the race and win his first championship at just 24 years old.
Max counted until the last race with the help of his teammate Sergio Pérez, from Mexico. The Guadalajara driver gave him the suction in qualifying to help Verstappen to stay with the pole position and in the race he knew how to stop Hamilton to prevent him from having enough advantage to change the tires without losing his head. the race.
.