Organizers of the New York City Marathon announced they will be canceling the event this year, which would've celebrated its 50th anniversary, as the city remains engulfed in the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The marathon is one of the largest in the world with over 50,000 runners and 10,000 volunteers participating. Nearly a million fans spread out across the city to watch the 26.2-mile race. The marathon is both prestigious and lucrative for the city, per the Times.
Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver at NASCAR's top level, was not the target of a hate crime after a noose was found in his garage stall at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, the FBI said Tuesday.
The big picture: It was found weeks after Wallace helped push for the Confederate flag to be banned from the circuit's events and properties. The FBI said in a joint statement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama that investigators found the noose had been in the garage since last October. "Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week," the statement said.
Novak Djokovic, the world's top-ranked tennis player, announced Tuesday that he tested positive for coronavirus after facing widespread criticism for organizing an exhibition tournament that also left other players and coaches infected.
Why it matters: The fallout highlights the difficulty in returning to sports in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic — even in relatively distanced sports, like singles tennis — if safety protocols aren't strictly implemented and followed.
It sure looks like baseball will finally be played in 2020.
The state of play: MLB owners voted unanimously Monday to impose a 60-game season that will begin around July 24, assuming players sign off on health-and-safety protocols and agree to arrive in home markets by July 1 to begin "spring" training.
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