Looking back with hindsight and through the prism of coronavirus, it seems staggering to think the event took place in 2020.

The world now is unrecognisable compared with the one that greeted the more than 1,800 athletes from across the world who descended on the Olympic Capital for the Games.

It was during the Games where the novel coronavirus first threatened to impact a sports event, albeit thousands of miles away.

A growing number of cases in Wuhan, where the virus now known as COVID-19 originated, sparked concerns over the Asia and Oceania boxing qualifier for Tokyo 2020 in the Chinese city.

I vividly recall sitting in the lobby of the Palace Hotel waiting for a pre-arranged meeting while writing a story based on a statement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the status of the event, moved to Amman in Jordan two days after the conclusion of Lausanne 2020.

Almost exactly two months after the Closing Ceremony of the third Winter Youth Olympics - where hundreds, possibly thousands, of people gathered in close proximity in a small area of Lausanne, something which is unthinkable now - the IOC was forced to make a decision which fully merits the use of the word unprecedented.

On March 24, the IOC and Japan announced the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The weeks leading up to the momentous decision had been littered with an insistence from senior IOC officials, including President Thomas Bach, that the Olympics would open as scheduled on July 24.

It was a different story behind the scenes, where the IOC was holding talks with its Japanese counterparts on a possible postponement.

In fairness to the IOC, the rapidly developing nature of the pandemic, which was changing almost minute-by-minute, triggered significant uncertainty and was hardly conducive to decisive action.

As someone close to the IOC told me at the last Executive Board meeting held with media in attendance before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, "if we have to postpone the Games the world will have much more to think about than a sports event". How prescient those words proved to be.

But the IOC's dithering approach was equally worthy of criticism. IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser had broken ranks with her own public take on the organisation's stance, which she called "insensitive and irresponsible", a week before the postponement was announced.

Bach insisted he had no regrets over how the IOC had handled the crisis, claiming on a teleconference call with media which attracted record interest that a rising number of cases in Africa left no alternative other than to delay the Games.

What the IOC President should regret - but probably does not - is the way in which Wickenheiser was rebuked for her honest comments that had resonated with dozens of other athletes at the time.

It was symptomatic of a trait which has been prominent throughout Bach’s Presidency - a my-way-or-the-highway attitude where critics are as welcome as Sebastian Coe at the German lawyer's Christmas dinner table.

Bach had also conceded the postponement raised "thousands of questions" for the IOC, Tokyo 2020 organisers and Japan.

The IOC has promised some of these will be addressed in the early part of 2021, but, as in March 2020, the key one is far from easy to answer: Can an Olympic Games go ahead in a pandemic?

A "toolbox" - the word that has replaced Agenda 2020 at the top of Bach’s preferred lexicon - of countermeasures is being developed to limit the risk posed by COVID-19 at the Games but save for limits on the length of stay for athletes and banning them from tourism activities, very little details have been revealed.

Concerns have also grown in recent weeks after a new variant, thought to be around 70 per cent more transmissible but thankfully not more dangerous, was discovered in Britain.

Japan is among the countries to have confirmed cases of the strain, while Tokyo reported its highly daily number of infections today.

Aside from the Games themselves, the latest developments pose renewed issues for an already problematic qualification process for Tokyo 2020, which has been severely impacted by the pandemic.

At the risk of sounding overly pessimistic - others might say realistic - there has been a smattering of positive coronavirus-related news at the back end of this year following the approval of two COVID-19 vaccines, with at least one other in the pipeline.

We have also seen dozens of sports events, competitions and tournaments resume and conclude during the pandemic, while there are countries which have returned to a semblance of normality after successfully tackling the COVID-19 crisis.

It would be reasonable to expect a decision on Tokyo 2020, one way or the other, by March, but until then the questions, concern and uncertainty will continue.

Yet there are encouraging signs and, if we are very lucky, 2021 will turn out to be the year 2020 was meant to be.

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While the postponement of Tokyo 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic - which ground sport across the world to a halt - have dominated the agenda this year, it would be remiss of me not to mention a few other stories that have hit the headlines in 2020.

The Russian doping scandal rumbled on, culminating in the Court of Arbitration for Sport cutting by half the period of sanctions imposed on the country for its flagrant manipulation of the Moscow Laboratory data.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport also controversially watered down the punishments, leading to an intense backlash from athletes and other officials.

Lamine Diack, the disgraced former head of the International Association of Athletics Federations, and his son Papa Massata were among those jailed for corruption by a Paris court in September.

The year 2020 saw the loss of two figures who transcended their respective sports, Kobe Bryant and Diego Maradona. 

The Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the death of George Floyd in the United States, was prominent across sport, with numerous high-profile athletes taking a stand against racial injustice.

Discussion, debate and disagreement over the IOC's controversial Rule 50, which prohibits athlete protests at the Olympic Games, has been a frequent topic throughout the year. 

Back in January, athletes were warned they could face disciplinary action for demonstrating at the Games. A consultation process led by the IOC Athletes' Commission is nearing its end and the first set of recommendations are due to be delivered next month.

The IOC held its first virtual Session in July, where Bach announced he would run for re-election next year. To the surprise of absolutely no-one, he was confirmed as the sole Presidential candidate in November.

Sport itself has shown resilience, adaptability and strength this year, and perhaps it is suitable to end on a positive given the turbulent, tumultuous and torrid 2020, which we will all be grateful to see the back of.