BBC Sport selects 21 of the most striking sporting photographs taken in 2021.
14 February: Joey Logano and Cole Custer are involved in an on-track incident at the Nascar Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida12 March: Players of the Ordynskoye district ice hockey team and HC Sibir Novosibirsk take part in a friendly on the frozen Orda River in Russia’s Novosibirsk region9 July: Harmanpreet Kaur of India walks out to field in Northampton at the women’s first T20 international between England and India10 July: Lionel Messi drops to his knees in celebration as Argentina win the Copa America final after beating Brazil 1-025 July: Silver medalist Antoaneta Kostadinova of Team Bulgaria during the medal ceremony of the 10m air pistol women’s event on day two of the Tokyo Olympics at Asaka Shooting Range26 July: Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines celebrates a historic victory as her country’s first ever gold medal winner during the women’s weightlifting 55kg on day three of the Tokyo Olympics3 August: USA’s Simone Biles captured using combined multiple exposures, warming up prior to the women’s balance beam final on day 11 of the Tokyo Olympics17 August: Riders passing through a field of sunflowers during the 76th Tour of Spain in Molina de Aragon26 August: China’s Zheng Tao competes in the men’s 100m freestyle on day two of the Tokyo Paralympics3 September: New Zealand’s Holly Robinson throws for gold as she competes in the women’s javelin – F45 on day 10 of the Tokyo Paralympics9 September: Britain’s Emma Raducanu tosses a tennis ball to fans after beating Maria Sakkari to reach the US Open women’s final, which she would win two days later11 September: USA’s David Colturi dives from the 27.5m rock platform at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Mayo, Ireland3 October: Mud-covered cyclist Sonny Colbrelli of Italy celebrates winning the 118th Paris-Roubaix3 October: Runners cross Tower Bridge during the London Marathon, which attracted about 80,000 participants3 October: JD McKissic of the Washington Football Team dives for a touchdown while tackled by AJ Terrell of the Atlanta Falcons during the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia16 October: China’s badminton team cheer in a circle before the Uber Cup final against Japan on day eight of the Thomas & Uber Cup in Aarhus, Denmark23 October: Tommy Berry on Hilal wins race eight at the Bondi Stakes during Sydney Racing in Sydney, Australia26 October: The Czech Republic four-man bobsleigh team in Beijing, China during the IBSF sanctioned race – a test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics2 November: Richard Gasquet of France walks out to play Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov on day two of the Rolex Paris Masters11 November: Hopeful cricket fans in Karachi, Pakistan watch their team play Australia on a big screen in the T20 World Cup semi-finals27 November: Germany’s Tobias Muller falls as Austria’s Johannes Aujesky competes in the men’s ski cross at the FIS Cross World Cup in Zhangjiakou, China
All photographs from Getty Images and subject to copyright.
