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I would like to share the stories of a Chinese family over 4 generations:above: taken in 1984.These were My dad’s parents, his grandmother , his EIGHT siblings and their spouses and kids. I was the baby being held on the very right. Woman holding me is my mother.1. My grandparents‘ generation - before PRCMy Nainai (the mother of my father) was born in the 1920s. She was born into a wealthy family. Her family owned almost all the land in the village. She knew simple maths and how to write and read, and she knew how to use an Abacus - she was an educated Chinese woman, and it was a big deal at the time, it’s the ultimate sign of being someone from a privileged family (at least in this part of China). She had 11 siblings, all shared the same father but different mothers, which was totally legal and socially acceptable at the time. Life was great for her until 1949 - The communist party confiscated everything her family owned then divided their family properties equally among the villagers. My grandma also received her fair share of land like everyone else, but this time , she had to grow plants on it herself instead of having other people do it for her.In order to receive more “quotas”(the bigger one’s family was , the bigger the land one could get from the Party) and creat more man power to work on farming， she gave birth to 11 children over the course of 15 years. 2 of them died shortly after birth. The remaining 9 children are still alive and well as of today.My Popo ( my mother‘s mother) was also born into a wealthy Chinese family, but unlike my Nainai, her childhood and youth was far from being privileged. My Popo‘s mother ( my mum’s grandma) was sold by her parents into that wealthy family as a child bride at the age of 11. her family was poor and had too many children so her parents decided to only keep the boys and the oldest daughter ( because the oldest daughter could manage the household and do chores) and sell “the rest”. Being someone from the bottom class, my Popo’s mother was never treated any better than a “servant girl” . The only difference between her and other servants was that she had to take care of the young son of that wealthy family, sexually. That rich young boy became my Popo’s biological father .My Popo’s mother’s life would have improved a lot had she given birth to a boy. But She never did. Instead , she gave birth to four girls. So, like her mother, my Popo was never treated any better than a servant girl. Her biological father got married to another woman from a “good” family later on，and my Popo served her half sister as a lady‘s maid.My Popo remained a servant until 1949, and then she was released as a “free woman” by the CCP. Like my Nainai, she also received land from the government. Her mother had passed away already by then. She decided to leave her land and biological father and half siblings behind and move to another city - Foshan. There, she met a boy, they had 5 children together. One died, 4 lived. Life was never easy for her, but she did smile, and laugh, and live life.Above: my Popo and me. 1986.2. My parents’s generation - the beginning of PRCIf I am to retell the childhood stories my father and mother shared with me over the years ,it would make this an even longer answer, so I’m gonna skip it. I will however , sum it up with 3 words - it was difficult.My dad has 8 siblings and my mum has 3, China was in ruins back then. Think of Syria, think of Iraq, think of Iran now, then imagine it being even worse (if it’s possible) then you can see what China was like back then……Not only all my parents and their siblings grew up “fine”, they also all had been to school. They all know how to read, write , and count. Even the girls. Even though they weren’t privileged in any shape or form.According to our local culture, a Chinese woman cannot leave the family she was born into until she gets married. And when she gets married, she goes from one home straight into another - the husband’s home. All my father’s sisters got married young ( 18–22), my Nainai told them it’s time for them to find their own men to look after them. None of my aunties have been to high school, they all had to cut their education short in order to support their brothers to seek further education. As my grandma puts it “Boys are more important”. - since they couldn’t afford to send all the kids to high school , they picked the ones that “mattered”...Above: my Nainai and two of her daughters.Two of my aunties resented my Nainai for years. They wanted to learn more , they wanted to see more, they wanted to live more. But instead, they were pulled out of school just because they were girls. They were told that marrying a nice husband was more important/ “better” than finding a job. They felt unjust. But eventually they both forgave my Nainai - because after they became mothers, they too, had to make similar decisions as their mother. ( my untie on the left has 3 kids, the one on the right has 5)My mother on the other hand, had received way more education than other girls from her generation. The boys in her family quit school and started working early to put her through high school ( tuition was free , but someone had to work to feed her and the rest of the family) then Teachers’ College. She was one of the first generation of qualified teachers in PRC China. She can even speak English.My Popo told her: education is your only way out.so there she was, holding hard onto her only way out. Even through the infamous Cultural Revolution….My dad was a “Red Guard” during the Revolution. In order to get a train ticket to go from Guangzhou to Beijing to see Chairman Mao, he sold his English Teacher out. He ratted her out, told the authority that she was reading an English book. He led a Red Guard Team into her dorm , turned it upside down, found the book, burned it, and threw her in a dirty pigsty. They shaved half of her hair off, threw eggs at her, called her a “capitalist” and a “traitor”. Then he got “the ticket”. He went to Beijing. He heard a speech made by his hero, Chairman Mao. He felt proud.My mother was 16 when the revolution started. she loves foreign literatures, Charles Dickens, The Bronte sisters , Jane Austen, the father and son Dumas…she told me she used to sell her own lunch at school to buy books. She‘s a romantic really, she used to fantasize about the Lords and Ladies in the books, their castles, their nice clothes, their silk gloves, their butter and cheese , their blue eyes and blonde hair, their sweet words, their elegance, their passion for love … A world filled with abundance, she wanted to see it one day. Until then , she would just lose herself in the world of “ western books that promote feudalism, capitalism and hierarchy”.When the Red Guard turned up at her home asking her to handover the books, she said she was a true communist and she had burned all the “evil books”. She lied. She had buried the books somewhere deep in the ground. The Red Guards didn’t believe her and turned her home upside down. They couldn’t find anything but still, she was asked to leave her post as a high school teacher and joined a re-education camp in the countryside. They called her a “traitor”.Fast forward to the 1980s, my mum met my dad. They fell in love. Then they had me.Above: “The Red Guard” , “ The Traitor” and me3. My generation - the growth of CCPThe year was 1989. We were living in a city called Foshan. Foshan is very close to Hong Kong, and we used to watch a lot of Hong Kong channels (our TV could catch the HK TV signals). I remember during the Tiananmen Square Movement, at 18:00 everyday, when the TVB news (the most popular HK news program in the 80s and 90s) came on, my mum and dad would drop everything they were doing, closed the door, drew the curtains, turned down the volume of the TV and watched the news without saying a word. When they finished watching it, they would open the curtain and door then go back to whatever they were doing before. I was 5 years old then and didn’t think much of it. Until one day….As a young child without too many toys with play with, I liked to draw, I didn’t have any drawing books so I liked to draw on pictures on the newspaper. One day, I was drawing something funny on a picture of a man printed on the newspaper, a ridiculous moustache, bright red lips that kind of thing. My mum saw it and her face went white. She grabbed the newspapers, torn it into million pieces, she closed the door and drew the curtains, started a fire in the middle of the living room. Then she burned the newspaper. She did all that in silence. Then she said to me: that was Deng Xiaoping you were drawing on. You are not allowed to draw on him ever again. A few seconds later, she said , you are not allowed to draw on any men on the newspaper ever again.That was the first time I felt scared of the government.But it was also the only time.I didn’t have any history class until I was in Junior High. At the age of 12, I attended my first ever history class and for the first time in my life, I watched a war documentary that haunted me for life. I refuse to get into the details of what I saw, but anyone who was in a Chinese Junior high in the mid 90s will know what I saw. The lesson of my first ever history class was this: the life we have now did not come easy.The message of that history class was not about how we should hate wars, or how we should hate our enemies, or how brave and great the Chinese Communist Party was. It was all about the sacrifice our parents, grandparents and great grandparents made. It was all about us staying united and treasuring what we have. At the end of that class , our history teacher said: the only way to prevent history repeating itself , is for us to stay strong. And the only way we can stay strong as a nation, is through education and hard-work.I would say my childhood was great. I mean I didn’t have many commercial toys but my mother made me plenty of others - paper planes, handmade kites, handmade board games, bamboo shooting guns, mini sand bags to learn how to count and do maths, flash cards to learn Chinese characters.I could read books already when I was 6. I had read the “The Arabian Nights “, “Grimm‘s fairy tales“, “Andersen’s fairy tales” before I started school at 7. I read all these foreign books openly. My mother even taught me some basic English and we used to have simple conversation in English in public.Oh, and I have a younger brother.He was born in the late 80s , the hype of the One-Child Policy. Once my mum’s tummy started to show, we started to get “visitors”, constantly. They were all local government officials from different levels. They were all trying to convince my mum to get an abortion. “You will lose you job”, “ one child is enough”, “we can’t let you be the special case”, “how can we implement the national policy if everyone acts like you”, “you are being selfish, you are putting yourself before the greater good of the country”. My mother didn’t give in, and she went into hiding for the remaining of her pregnancy.My brother was born in a hospital in a much smaller city nearby. He was well taken care of by the nurse, he was healthy. But both my mum and dad lost their jobs , and they had to pay a hefty fine - 3300RMB. To put what 3300RMB meant at the time in prospectives, a 170-square-meter piece of land costed 2000 RMB, My mother’s salary was 150RMB/month, my dad’s was 350RMB/month. They expected this, they had been told that this would be the punishment, but they had my brother anyway because they really wanted a son. Not just a second child,A son.Above: me and my broEverything happens for a reason I suppose. After losing his job, my dad started a business. Then we got rich( by a developing country’s standard). By early 2000s , we were living in a 760 square meter villa , front and back gardens, a swimming pool and a fish pond.Above: my nephews playing ball in front of our homeAbove: family dinner gatheringAbove: my dad chilling out by the fish pond after dinnerAbove: my dad cooking up a storm for the pool partyAbove: My bro and my hubby having a cuppa.Above: “The Red Guard”, “The Traitor” and their two grown kids. A.k.a the “selfish family that broke the One-Child Policy”My parents sent me to New Zealand to study when I was 17. They knew nothing about NZ, and all I knew about the country was that people speak English there and they have more sheep than men.They met with great disapproval from the rest of the family when they announced their plan to send me off. A little background, my parents started their business with borrowed money, every single one of their siblings chipped in for them to get their business started, in return, my parents give part of their profit to their siblings every year. They disapproved this plan because:I’m a girlinstead of paying for my expensive school, they should use the money to make more moneyThey still have a son, they should save the money for the son, not me. It is the son who will remain by their side till “the end” , not me.My dad had second thoughts after family discussions. It was my mother who insisted that I should go. She said, either both of her children get the best education they can afford , or neither of them should get it.So I went.Above: Christchurch , New Zealand, 2001.Above: Clock Tower, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 2002.In 2003, my brother joined me in New Zealand.It took both of us just a little more than 3 months to get a passport and the visa to go to NZ.I learned a lot about China when I was in NZ , not that the Kiwis like to talk or write about it, in fact , during the 10 years I was in NZ , nobody talked about Chinese politics with me , not even once. All they ever asked me was : aye? You have a bro ? (Lol…) I have never heard anything condescending from the people of this beautiful country. I learned a lot more about China through getting up close and personal to this civilized, developed , open-minded, kind western society. I learned about the pros and cons of democracy and what it was built on. I saw my 18 year old uni classmate go and vote for a politician he knew nothing about just so he wouldn’t get a fine for not enrolling to vote. I had also seen my working colleagues debate about which candidate’s policy would bring a better life for the people and a brighter future for the country. The good things is, for a country like NZ, more people are voting with the understanding and knowledge of their own country, a lot less people are voting just to avoid a “fine”. China on the other hand…I had a part time job with minimum wage, the girl I work with told me one day, that she was going to quit, she said she would receive more money making babies than working at a shitty job. A society like NZ can afford this, China on the other hand…I was also exposed to a lot of interesting people with amazing world views and concepts. The longer I stayed there, the more I understood the things I learned in my Political class back in China.“Group before individuals” (集体利益高于个人利益),is the key principle of the Chinese politics ( in my opinion). I used to hate studying for politics in China, because it was sooooooooo boring and there’s so much we had to memorize for exams. Memorizing , not understanding. It was impossible for a 12-year-old me to understand the CCP politics.It was much later on in life, after living on a several different continents, after meeting people from all walks of life , after learning more about the history of other countries, after knowing the social and political problems these countries have, I started to have a bit more understanding of the Party‘s controversial policies - they were necessary and the most effective policies for a country like China at the time - A country filled with hungry, uneducated, short- sighted, individuals.Everybody has heard about “The Belt &Road Initiative” now. You know when the first time was I heard about it ? 20 years ago in my political class. They called this policy “西部大开发“(The development of the western region in China). I thought at the time, yeah right, giving out all the high hopes again. And now , I say to myself, no kidding, they are really doing it.4. My daughters generation - established PRC.My husband is Austrian. I was 33 when our daughter was born.Shehaseverything.She was born in the most expensive private hospital in HK.She had everything a new born needs and doesn’t need, before she was even born. She had gifts sent to her from friends and family all over the world. She had her own little fancy baby bed, organic baby clothes, BPA free plastic drinking bottles, fancy shampoo and shower gel for babies only, a shock-resistance baby stroller,she has an Austrian passportand a Chinese (HK) passport.she has everything I didn’t have when I was a child.I had everything my parents didn’t have when they were children.when she’s asked “where are you from”, she will answer “I’m Chinese and Austrian” not “I’m half Chinese and half Austrian”I told her she doesn’t have to be “either” “or”, and she isn’t “half “ of anything.And her name is Anna Chen-RainerAbove: that’s her, holding a picture of me.We are currently living in Austria and we go back to China twice a year. Anna loves going to China. My parents spoil her rotten, and she loves the attentions she gets from the locals , they call her “洋娃娃”- a baby doll. Near our neighbourhood in China, we have a massive park with beautiful landscapes and playgrounds, an indoor swimming pool, an outdoor swimming pool with a manmade beach (yeah I know … ), iMax cinemas , gyms, tennis courts , basketball courts, library, museum …. - all within 10 mins of driving. Compared to our nice quiet life in Austria, Anna loves the “exciting” Chinese vocation equally muchMy dad told me he regretted deeply of what he did to his English teacher, he thought he was doing the right thing, he was told that he was doing the right thing. He has been trying to make up for what he did all these years, he would send gifts and money to his teacher on every traditional Chinese holiday, he would visit her and talk to her regularly, he would drive her to the hospital if her kids are tied up with work…My mother said she forgave the Red Guards like my dad. She said they were just “misguided youths”My Nainai, the once landlord’s daughter, the daughter of the most hated family by the CCP, was a well respected person in the village. She used to write and read letters for other villagers ( she was one of the very few people who could read or write in the village). When she passed away, the entire village came out and walked alongside her for her last journey on planet earth. She used to tell me how grand her life was before the CCP took everything.My Popo worshiped the CCP and told me they saved her and changed her life.The village looks like this nowAbove 3 photos: Village dinner. 3 times a years every year, the village will host public gatherings on certain traditional Chinese holidays. Any villager above the age of 60 can just come and eat for free. And it’s 50 RMB for everyone else. Many “former villagers” ( like my dad) will make donations during these kind of events, and all the money goes to maintaining our ancestral temple . The Chen’s ancestral temple. My family temple.I even got married in our Ancestral Temple.The truth is , Chinese people have a love hate relationship with their government. I can not speak on behalf of all the Chinese, there are 1.4 billion of them after all. I can’t even speak on behalf of anyone who isn’t my immediate family. Over the four generations of my family , we have all been hurt by our government, on different levels, at different times. There were times when we had been very unhappy.We didn’t forget , we just forgave. My family don’t blame the ill fortune brought upon us on the CCP. We blame it on the individuals that were leading the CCP.My mum and dad are retired now. My mum goes to the local “College for Senior Citizens ” 3 times a week , she’s taking singing class, cooking class, dancing class and English class. All with a very small fee. My dad on the other hand , he just plays Mahjong everyday with his friends. They both enjoy free health care, they stopped driving around 6 years ago - they were given “Senior Bus Cards”, and they can ride around Foshan City for free. For the last 5 years, they have been going on overseas holiday once a year.We are very happy.and grateful for the life we have.I have been called a Wumao before, as much as they can’t prove that I am, I can’t prove that I am not. But I will say this: I am real.I’m a blogger with 144k followers, on my blog, I write about my life as a woman who gave up a career to be a full time mother , I write about life as a Chinese living in foreign countries. And of course I write about the usual subjects like fashion items and such.I am writing this answer in the honor of those who sacrificed their own individual benefits for the greater good of China, for I am sure a beneficiary of their sacrifice.

I do not think is there is a superior sport. Many people’s favorite sports can be trash when looked by other people. Liking a sport if often a result of being raised on it or with it on the culture surrounding you.Saying that, I do prefer some things on Rugby over American Football.But we first must be clear there are two codes of Rugby, Union and League. So some things might aply only to one code. Then I would say Union or League.Rugby allows for continious play. Two halves of 40 minutes. I cannot stand the endless timeouts and truck, insurance, food and i phone commercials in American Football games. They break my concentration.Rugby have smaller teams, with few substitutions in a game, and they use a jersey, shorts and boots as uniform. And a mouthguard. That makes forming a team and traveling with the team, cheaper. American football teams are huge and very expensive to outfit.Rugby lack of helmets and pads make recognizing the players easier, and showing their human emotions. It also might make the sport safer since Rugby players have to tackle smarter not harder. More like an a tackedown than a hit.Rugby Union is a truly international sport while American Football is mainly a American game, played at a competitive level only by Americans and some Canadians. Rugby Union is played at a good level by England, New Zealand, Australia, Wales, South Africa, Argentina, France, Fiji, Samoa and in a moderate level by many more nations, like Japan, Rusia, Italy. That makes internatinal play more interesting. Rugby League is mostly Northern England/Ëastern Australian thing. I love to support the smaller nations like New Zealand, Fiji or Ireland.Rugby has integrated women more than American Football. There is a big hoopla in the US when a female kicker gets into a college team or when a female gets to linebacker on a junior high team. Rugby have whole teams of women playing and even a female World Cup. I love to see women beating the crap of each other.Rugby requires that their players be big and strong but also that they have some aerobic fitness because they run from 6 to 8 km a game depending on their position. They run more that basketball players per game, and much more than wide receivers and cornerbacks in American Football. Rugby players are like the heavyweight boxers of team sport American football players are more like a combo of wrestlers, powerlifter and short sprint runner. Putting maximun effort but only for a few seconds.Rugby Union requieres to play defense and attack at the same time, making the game unpredictable. I like the suspense. Rugby League and American Football have definite ball posession, so the teams take turns attacking and defending. In my personal taste that makes the game more predictable unless somebody intercepts a pass. I cheer when that happens. I like US College Football better than the NFL for that reason. Less predictable.Rugby players have to be athleticaly more versatile, they should know how to tackle, run with the ball, pass the ball, dropkick and place kick. American Football used to be like that, remember Jim Thorpe. But since the arrival of platoon football in the late 1940s, some teams play only defense, some play offense. Some players throw the ball, some run to catch it, some run with the ball, some tackle. Its like a chess, but now players are too over specialized, like the| punters or kickers….Rugby Union game officiating its legenday. Its like life leasons on every ruling. League and American Football not so.I was tempted to put this in number Seven but that would be cheesy. Rugby Sevens is going to be a Olimpic Sport… a fun gateway to Rugby. Rugby comes back to the Olimpic… and to worldwide recongnition.Again, this are my personal preferences. In not putting down American Football or Rugby League and much less the brave players. But I do lile Rugby Union, then League then American Football in that order.

The coronavirus outbreak has decimated the sporting schedule and affected some of 2020’s biggest events.A range of sports have had to take action to prevent the spread of the virus, with Euro 2020 put on hold for 12 months and postponements also hitting domestic football in England and Scotland.The Guinness Six Nations, London Marathon and Formula One have also been impacted, as has golf after the Masters was postponed.With the Olympics also on the horizon this summer, we take a sport-by-sport look at the impact of the coronavirus. Updated 18/03.FootballUEFA announced on Tuesday that Euro 2020 has been postponed until the summer of 2021, with new dates of June 11 to July 11 next year proposed. The official announcement from European football’s governing body also confirmed that the Euro 2020 play-offs, due to be played later this month, will now be played in the June 2020 international break.The 2021 Nations League finals, UEFA Under-21 European Championships and the Women’s Euro 2021 were also postponed.The 2020 Copa America is to move to 2021 to give South American players based in Europe the opportunity to finish their league campaigns.The Premier League was suspended until April 4 and the EFL until April 3 at the earliest.All Scottish football was suspended with immediate effect and the Irish Football Association suspended the current season in Northern Ireland until at least April 4. The Football Association of Ireland announced all football activity under its jurisdiction was suspended until March 29.England’s two friendlies later this month at Wembley against Italy and Denmark were cancelled, and were followed by the friendlies with Austria and Romania in June. Wales’ international matches with Austria and the United States at the end of March were also called off.The Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship were also postponed by the FA.UEFA announced all Champions League and Europa League fixtures scheduled for the week commencing March 16 were postponed, as well as the quarter-final draws for both competitions.FIFA relaxed rules on clubs having to release players for forthcoming international fixtures and also recommended that “all international matches previously scheduled to take place in March and April should now be postponed until such time that they can take place in a safe and secure environment”.Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus.Mikel Arteta tested positive for the virus (Action Images/Reuters)Everton’s entire first-team squad and coaching staff undertook a period of self-isolation after a first-team player reported symptoms consistent with coronavirus while three Leicester players showed symptoms and were kept away from the rest of the squad.Bournemouth announced five of their employees, including goalkeeper Artur Boruc, were self-isolating having displayed symptoms consistent with the virus.Half of the Vanarama National League was postponed on March 14, despite the league insisting that it would be played as normal. Games between Harrogate and Solihull Moors, Boreham Wood – who share facilities with Arsenal – and Torquay, Barrow and Wrexham, Woking and Dagenham, Bromley and Chorley and Yeovil and Barnet were postponed along with five games in the National League North, though the South division went ahead unaffected. The Vanarama National League suspended all fixtures until at least April 3 on March 16.Juventus defender Daniele Rugani tested positive, as did Fiorentina striker Patrick Cutrone, on loan from Wolves, and team-mate German Pezzella and club physio Stefano Danielli. Blaise Matuidi later became the second Juventus player to test positive.Ezequiel Garay became the first LaLiga player to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus, with Valencia later confirming five positive tests among players and staff.Real Madrid players were told to go into quarantine after a member of the club’s basketball team tested positive. LaLiga suspended “at least the next two rounds of matches” as a result of the quarantine in place at Real.Barcelona suspended all first-team activity after taking advice from their medical staff.LaLiga side Espanyol confirmed on March 17 that six cases of Covid-19 had been detected among the first team and the technical staff.All domestic sporting action in Italy – including Serie A matches – was suspended until April 3.Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the top two divisions in France, are suspended until further notice.Ligue 1 is among the competitions suspended (AP)The German Football League suspended games in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga until at least April 3, with a review to be undertaken on March 30.Major League Soccer announced the suspension of matches for 30 days with immediate effect.The South American (CONMEBOL) World Cup qualifiers scheduled for March 23-31 were postponed to a later date.The Northern Premier League announced all fixtures have been suspended until further notice.The Scottish Professional Football League postponed all games ‘pending any Government order and/or further direction from the Scottish FA’.The Football Association announced it was “advising that all grassroots football in England is postponed for the foreseeable future”.The Professional Footballers’ Association announced it had postponed this year’s awards ceremony, which had been due to take place on April 26.The final Hillsborough memorial service, which was due to take place at Anfield on April 15, was postponed.Olympics and ParalympicsThe International Olympic Committee remains fully committed to staging the Tokyo 2020 Games as scheduled this summer, despite Japan’s Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto suggesting it could be postponed until later in the year.The British Olympic Association still plans to send a delegation of around 55 people to Tokyo this month for a “detailed operational recce”.The Greek leg of the Olympic Torch Relay was cancelled the day after the first flame-lighting ceremony since 1984 to take place without spectators.The Olympic boxing qualifier in London was cancelled having initially moved the tournament behind closed doors.Rugby UnionThe Six Nations game between Wales and Scotland in Cardiff scheduled for Saturday was postponed on Friday, joining the games between France and Ireland and Italy against England.The Gallagher Premiership was suspended for five weeks on Monday.The Guinness PRO14 was suspended indefinitely.The Premiership Rugby Cup final between Sale and Harlequins was originally given the go-ahead, only to be postponed two days prior following an individual on staff developing symptoms consistent with coronavirus.All rugby is off (Getty)The Super Rugby season was suspended after the decision of the New Zealand government to quarantine people entering the country for 14 days.Rugby Australia closed its Sydney headquarters for an “intensive clean” after two members of its Australian Sevens program showed signs and symptoms associated with coronavirus.South Africa Rugby suspended all competitive matches until April 25 at the earliest and called off all national team training camps and business travel.The Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup quarter-finals were postponed.The Melrose Sevens, scheduled for April 9-12, was postponed, while the Rugby Players’ Association awards were put back from May until September.MotorsportThe season-opening Australian Grand Prix was called off along with the races in Bahrain, Vietnam, China and Holland. Formula One hopes to start the season at the end of May.F1's 2020 season will be heavily restructured with both the Spanish and Dutch Grands Prix to be moved (AP)McLaren had already withdrawn from the Australian race earlier on Thursday after a member of staff tested positive for the illness. It is understood the team member reported symptoms associated with the virus in the Albert Park paddock on Wednesday morning.Formula E temporarily suspended its season.Nascar postponed its race events in Atlanta (March 15) and Miami (March 22). All races were postponed until May 3.MotorcyclingThe opening four races of the MotoGP season in Qatar, Thailand, the United States and Argentina were called off. The Qatar race was cancelled, while the other three have been moved to later in the season, which is now due to get under way in Spain on May 3.GolfThe Masters at Augusta, traditionally regarded as the sport’s blue riband event, became the first golf major to be postponed. The US PGA was postponed to a date later in the summer.The Players Championship was cancelled along with all PGA Tour events for the next three weeks. The PGA also cancelled four other events in April and May – the RBC Heritage, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the Wells Fargo Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson.Six European Tour tournaments have been postponed. The Kenya Open has been joined by April’s Hero Indian Open, Maybank Championship and China Open. The Andalucia Masters, from April 30-May 3, was also postponed along with August’s Czech Masters.The Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International was postponed with a view to it being rescheduled later in the year.Africa’s Sunshine Tour has suspended all activities and will review the situation on April 20 “or as the situation demands”.The entire PGA EuroPro Tour schedule, due to run from May to October and covering 15 events in total, has been cancelled.The USGA cancelled first stage qualifying for the US Open and US Women’s Open.CricketEngland’s Test series against Sri Lanka was postponed with the touring players returning home.The start of the Indian Premier League was postponed from March 29 to April 15 as a precautionary measure.The annual Champion County match, regarded as the curtain-raiser to the domestic season, due to be played between the MCC and Essex between March 24-27 at Galle was called off, as was the MCC World Cricket Committee meeting in Colombo scheduled for March 28 and 29.Surrey, Lancashire, Worcestershire, Hampshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Yorkshire, Somerset, Sussex, Derbyshire, Durham and Warwickshire have cancelled or decided to return early from pre-season trips.The final two one-day internationals between India and South Africa will be rescheduled following an agreement between the countries’ governing bodies, while the remaining two ODIs between Australia and New Zealand were called off.Australia Women’s limited-overs tour of South Africa, consisting of three ODIs and as many T20s and due to start on March 22, will not take place.New Zealand Cricket cancelled the last two rounds of its domestic first-class competition after taking advice from medical experts. Wellington Firebirds, who finished the truncated season 26 points ahead of Central Stags, were awarded the 2019-20 Plunket Shield.Pakistan announced the third leg of Bangladesh’s visit, comprising of one Test and a one-day international, next month will be put back to a later date.Cricket South Africa has cancelled all forms of cricket for the next 60 days.Ireland’s limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe next month was postponed.Surrey sent six players home from training to self-isolate. Not all six reported symptoms but had been in close proximity to others who had.The Pakistan Super League announced on March 17 – the day the semi-finals were due to take place – that the competition had been postponed.England opener Alex Hales has revealed he is in self-isolation after developing coronavirus symptoms.BasketballThe NBA season was suspended “until further notice” after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus.The Brooklyn Nets placed their entire extended staff under self-isolation after four players, including Kevin Durant, were diagnosed with Covid-19.Basketball England cancelled the remainder of its 2019/2020 season on March 17.CyclingThe Giro d’Italia, cycling’s first Grand Tour of the season which was due to start on May 9 in Budapest, was postponed. The Strade Bianchi, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and the Giro di Sicilia races in Italy have been called off.Fears of two cases of coronavirus at the UAE Tour saw the race cancelled with two stages left.Team INEOS were among a host of teams who withdrew from all racing until the Volta a Catalunya on March 23.Cycling’s Women’s Tour, the UK’s WorldTour stage race, was postponed almost three months before it was scheduled to begin in Oxfordshire on June 8.On Sunday, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) announced the suspension of its calendar until at least April 3.The Tour De Romandie – scheduled to take place from April 27 to May 3 – was cancelled outright.Three more major events – the Paris-Roubaix, the Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege – were postponed on March 17.The Tour de Yorkshire, set to be staged on April 30-May 3, was also postponed.British Cycling announced it was suspending all sanctioned activities until at least April 30.TennisThe high-profile BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were due to compete, was called off.The ATP announced a six-week suspension of the men’s professional tennis tour due to “escalating health and safety issues”.The Miami Open tennis tournament, due to start on March 23, was cancelled after a ban on mass gatherings in Miami-Dade County.The Volvo Car Open in Charleston (April 4-12) was also been called off. Next month’s Fed Cup finals in Budapest and Fed Cup play-offs, due to be held in eight different locations, were postponed, while China’s Xi’an Open (April 13-19) and Kunming Open (April 27-May 3) were cancelled.The WTA announced the suspension of its tour until May 2, with the clay events in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague postponed.The French Open moved from its scheduled spring slot to September.RacingRacing in Ireland is closed to the public until March 29.The British Horseracing Authority confirmed all meetings will be staged behind closed doors from Tuesday March 17, but on March 17 announced that all racing in Britain would be suspended until the end of April. Racing in France is suspended until April 15.The Grand National, due to take place on April 4, was cancelled.AthleticsThe London Marathon was postponed. The 40th edition of the race, due to take place on April 26, will be held on October 4. British Athletics will stage an Olympic trial at a closed location in April.The Manchester Marathon, due to take place on April 5 with 26,000 runners, was postponed, with a new date to be set in due course.The Paris Marathon, which was due to take place on April 5, was postponed until October 18 and the Rome Marathon, scheduled for March 29, as well as the Boston Marathon, slated for April 20, were cancelled.The World Indoor Championships, which had been due to take place in Nanjing in China this month, were rearranged for March 2021.The first three Diamond League meetings of the season – scheduled for April 17, in Qatar, and May 9 and 16, in China – have been postponed, likely until after the Olympics.All athletics activity within the UK, including competitions and leagues, member clubs, running groups and races, was suspended until the end of April, the Home Country Athletics Federations announced on March 17 in cooperation with UK Athletics.TriathlonThe International Triathlon Union moved the 2020 ITU Paratriathlon World Championships, planned for May 2, from Milan to Montreal. It later announced that all activities would be suspended until April 30.Rugby LeagueThe Betfred Super League match between Catalans Dragons and Leeds in Perpignan was postponed after one of the Rhinos’ players was put into self-isolation after showing symptoms of coronavirus. The club announced on March 17 that eight members of the club’s first-team squad and backroom staff had gone into self-isolation.The Coral Challenge Cup fixture between York City Knights and Rochdale Hornets was switched to the Millennium Stadium in Featherstone after York City cancelled the availability of Bootham Crescent.Canadian club Toronto Wolfpack stood down their entire UK-based playing staff after four players presented with “mild possible” coronavirus symptoms and were put into self-isolation.Dewsbury Rams say their Betfred Championship match against Toulouse has been postponed.All rugby league fixtures, from the Betfred Super League to “the community game”, were suspended until at least April 3.England coach Shaun Wane’s first get-together with his new squad, set for Old Trafford on March 23, was postponed.BoxingTop Rank announced the postponement of its shows at Madison Square Garden on March 14 and 17. Belfast featherweight Michael Conlan’s bout against Colombian fighter Belmar Preciado at the Hulu Theater on St Patrick’s Day was therefore scrapped.All events scheduled for March in Japan were cancelled.The British Boxing Board of Control announced on Tuesday that “all public tournaments” under its jurisdiction have been cancelled, and the position will be reviewed in early April. Matchroom Boxing postponed all of its events in March and April.SnookerThe £1million China Open, scheduled to start in Beijing at the end of March, was cancelled. The Gibraltar Open was played behind closed doors, with some players forced to referee their own games.Snooker’s Coral Tour Championship, set to be taking place this week in Llandudno, was postponed as a precaution against the spread of the virus.Swimming/DivingBritish Swimming has confirmed that the Diving World Series event scheduled for London later this month has been postponed.The British Swimming Championships and the British Para-Swimming International Meet – both scheduled for April – have been cancelled.EquestrianBritish Eventing has suspended all fixtures with immediate effect, just a fortnight after the scheduled eight-month season began.The Land Rover Kentucky Horse Trials in the United States – due to be held from April 23-26 – has been cancelled for the first time in its 42-year history.Ice skatingThe World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, scheduled for March 13-15, were called off. The World Figure Skating Championships in Quebec, planned for March 16-22, were also cancelled.JudoThe International Judo Federation cancelled all Olympic qualification events on the calendar until April 30.DartsThe Professional Darts Corporation cancelled the Premier League double-header in Rotterdam, the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen and the European Darts Open in Leverkusen, which were all scheduled for later this month, plus next month’s German Darts Grand Prix in Munich.Night seven of the Premier League in Newcastle, slated for March 19, was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, October 1.Ice hockeyThe NHL was paused with 189 regular-season games remaining. The Stanley Cup play-offs were due to start the week of April 6. Britain’s Elite League cancelled the rest of its season.NetballThe Superleague announced that its competition would be postponed with immediate effect and the future of the 2020 season would be discussed at a board meeting on Tuesday.American footballPublic events around the NFL Draft were cancelled, with the league saying it is working on a new format for the event which takes place in April.RowingThe Boat Race, scheduled to take place on March 29, was cancelled.BaseballMajor League Baseball announced the start of the 2020 season would be delayed for eight weeks.