based in victoria would relocate to either queensland or western australia for the rest of the season. this came due to victoria ordering a six-week lockdown to deal with a surge in cases. on 21 july, the afl announced an accelerated schedule for rounds 9 through 12, with games played daily from 29 july to 17 august. two games were played on selected mondays, wednesdays, and thursdays during this period. in addition, matches were not played in new south wales due to an increase in coronavirus cases in that state. the remaining games of the 2020 season were played predominantly in queensland and south australia, as well as western australia and the northern territory. crowd levels were capped, but by the conclusion of the season, crowds of over 20,000 were able to attend games. the 2020 grand final was held on 24 october, around a month later than usual, at the gabba, in brisbane, queensland—the first time the grand final was played outside of victoria. in 2021, due to an outbreak of the virus in victoria, all games in the state in round 11 had no crowds, and all games were played outside of victoria in round 12. additionally, round 7 of the vfl and round 13 of the vflw were postponed, and in round 8 of the vfl, only games between non-victorian teams proceeded as scheduled. as the season wore on, it was becoming increasingly clear that the 2021 grand final would not be able to take place in front of a crowd. for the second year in a row, it was relocated, this time to optus stadium in perth. the 2022 season could mostly go ahead as intended due to 95% of the adult population being vaccinated to the two-dose standard. the afl maintained a strict vaccination requirement and implemented a generous top-up list to compensate for self-isolating players. the 2022 grand final eclipsed 100,000 spectators for the first time since 2019. financial losses like many professional sports leagues, the afl sustained heavy operating losses during the first couple years as it scrambled to mitigate the financial damage of the pandemic. in 2020, the afl posted a a$22 million (us$16.5 million) loss, while 2021 saw an additional a$43 million (us$32.3 million) in losses, totalling a$65 million (us$48.9 million) in the worst-affected seasons. badminton originally, all scheduled badminton world federation tournaments were suspended until 12 april due to coronavirus concerns. the affected tournaments are swiss open, india open, orléans masters, malaysia open, and singapore open. previously the body had suspended the german open and pushed the lingshui china masters from february to may 2020. the 2020 thomas & uber cup was originally scheduled for 15–23 august, but on 29 april was postponed to 3–11 october after denmark extended a ban on "larger gatherings" to 31 august. on 15 september, it was again postponed, and on 21 december, it was announced that the tournament would take place on 9–17 october 2021. in the end, all tournaments through 11 october were suspended, and world rankings were frozen from 17 march 2020 to 2 february 2021. biathlon the 2019–20 biathlon world cup ended eight days earlier than previously scheduled. the world cup final in norway was cancelled as was the last day of the penultimate world cup in finland. before the races in finland and norway, the world cup races in nové město, czech republic, 5–8 march, were held without spectators. the 2020–21 biathlon world cup changed some locations to minimize travel between venues. the 2020–21 ibu junior cup and some events of the 2020–21 ibu cup were cancelled. bodybuilding several competitive events in international competitive bodybuilding on the amateur and professional levels have seen limitations, postponements, or even cancellations due to concerns about the spread of covid-19. due to these concerns ohio governor mike dewine reduced the 2020 arnold sports festival in columbus, ohio on 3 march, before any cases or deaths had been reported in the state. the cancellation was widely regarded as 'radical' at the time. the fitness expo (under orders from the state government) held the bodybuilding and physique competitions, including the arnold classic, without spectators with exceptions for parents and guardians of minors participating in the competitions. similar arnold sports festivals planned to be held in africa, australia, and south america were postponed for later in the year. on 16 march 2020, jim manion, president of the ifbb professional league and the national physique committee announced that competitions planned through to 10 may 2020 in the united states would be postponed for later in the year or canceled until the 2021 season. bowls the 2020 world outdoor bowls championship, scheduled to be held on the gold coast from 23 may to 7 june 2020, was postponed to 25 may to 6 june 2021 before being officially cancelled on 9 march 2021. castells in response to the shutdown of extracurricular activities for children in catalonia, the coordinadora de colles castelleres de catalunya (cccc), the governing body for castells (catalan human towers), issued a statement on 10 march 2020, recommending the suspension of all castells practices and performances. subsequently, the lockdown imposed throughout spain shut down all castells activities throughout catalonia as of 15 march. the postponement to 2022 of the tarragona castells contest, scheduled for 3 and 4 october 2020, was finally announced on 15 july 2020. another major castells festival, the festes decennals de la mare de déu de la candela, held only once every ten years and scheduled for 29 january-7 february 2021, was also postponed. if it is held in 2022 as tentatively planned, it will be the first time since it was founded in 1791 that it will be held in a year not ending in 1. according to the cccc, the last april without any castells was in 1966. chess the 44th chess olympiad scheduled to take place in moscow, russia, from 5–17 august 2020 was postponed and rescheduled for the summer of 2021. the fide candidates tournament 2020, held in yekaterinburg, russia, was suspended at the mid-point of the tournament on 26 march. fide decided to postpone the second half of the tournament after russia announced it would be interrupting air traffic with other countries starting on 27 march. cross-country skiing 2019–20 fis cross-country world cup the 2020 holmenkollen ski festival in oslo, norway, part of the 2019–20 fis cross-country world cup, was held on 7–8 march, without spectators in the stadium part of the holmenkollen national arena. the final two events of the world cup season, the 2020 sprint tour (14–17 march, in quebec city, canada and minneapolis, united states) and the 2020 world cup finals (20–21 march, in canmore, canada), were cancelled on 12 and 13 march. 2020–21 fis cross-country world cup the swedish ski association elected not to send a full squad of skiers and support staff for the first round of the 2020–21 fis cross-country world cup in rukatunturi, finland, 27–29 november. the second round of the world cup, to be held in lillehammer, norway, 4–6 december, was postponed on 12 november, due to the current status of covid-19 prevention measures, with a new date to be announced later. on 1 december, the norwegian ski federation (nsf) announced that they would not send any skiers to take part in the world cup events in davos, switzerland, and dresden, germany, in december, and possibly not take part in the tour de ski, which is planned to begin on 1 january 2021. espen bjervig, manager of the nsf's cross-country section said the decision was based on "the risk of travelling, we have experienced that keeping distance and avoiding close contact in the world cup arena is more demanding than we first assumed", and that "endurance athletes have their lungs as a tool, and we do not know the after-effects of covid-19. therefore, we must take precautions". on 2 december, the swedish ski association and the finnish ski association announced that they would mirror norway's decision, and not send any skiers to the events in davos and dresden. international ski federation (fis) marketing director jürg capol was critical of the three countries pulling out of the events and said "we need solidarity. if it's not given it's going to be hard to find (competition) arrangers in the future", and added that "of course all nations must make their own decisions. the problem is not that they can not get to the competitions, but that they themselves have chosen not to go there". on 4 december, the fis cancelled the world cup races in beijing, china, citing travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, "including a current mandatory 14-day quarantine for all international visitors" in china. the races were supposed to be held 19–21 march, and would have acted as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming 2022 winter olympics in beijing. the fis said they would be looking for a replacement host for the races. on 9 december, the nsf announced that it would not send any skiers to take part in the 2021 tour de ski. 2021 fis nordic world ski championships the 2021 fis nordic world ski championships, from 22 february to 7 march, in oberstdorf, germany, are planned to go ahead as scheduled. the organiser has set a limit of two thousand spectators around the cross-country trails. curling the curling season typically ends in may but was cut short by the pandemic, effectively ending in early march. the world curling federation cancelled the last five championships scheduled for the 2019–20 curling season, most importantly the 2020 world women's curling championship, 2020 world men's curling championship, and 2020 world mixed doubles curling championship. the grand slam of curling cancelled its two remaining events of the 2019–20 season, the champions cup and players' championship. for the 2020–21 season, curling canada postponed the canada cup, and cancelled various other events such as the continental cup (due to international travel restrictions), canadian mixed curling championship, canadian curling club championships, canadian junior curling championships and canadian u18 curling championships, among others. in december 2020, curling canada re-located its remaining 2021 championships to a bubble in calgary, including the 2021 world men's curling championship. on 2 december 2020, the world curling federation postponed the 2021 world wheelchair-b curling championship, the inaugural 2021 world wheelchair mixed doubles curling championship (although referring to it as a cancellation, world curling stated that it was exploring rescheduling the event), and cancelled the 2021 world senior curling championships for the second straight year, citing a need to prioritize events with implications on qualification for the 2022 winter olympics and paralympics. due to the cancellation of the 2020 world championships, it was announced that the top six teams in the world men's, women's, and mixed doubles championships would qualify their respective national olympic committee for the olympics (rather than the previous plan of using points earned during the 2020 and 2021 world championships), with a final qualification tournament held in december 2021 to fill the remaining spots. the 2021 world women's curling championship was originally scheduled for switzerland. after local authorities withdrew their consent to host the tournament there, the world curling federation announced 8 february 2021 that the tournament had been cancelled. however, in early-march, the tournament was reinstated after curling canada offered to host it within the calgary bubble as well. in between the men's and women's world championships, the grand slam of curling would also hold their previously cancelled champions cup and players' championship. the world curling championships would present the first disruptions of competition within the bubble due to positive tests. during the men's championship, playoff matches on 10 april were postponed due to multiple positive tests being recorded, including one member of a playoff team (who was already vaccinated, and later rested negative), and four among players from eliminated teams. the four tests were later deemed false positives, and play resumed the next day. due to positive tests among the host broadcast staff, the world women's curling championship suspended all television coverage from 2–6 may, resuming in time for the playoff rounds. due to the second wave of cases nationwide, in december 2020 usa curling cancelled its 2020 seniors championship, and delayed all of its other national championships to no earlier than may 2021. as this falls after the world championships, usa curling announced that