ABSTRACT
In March 2020, during the making of the present book, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic. COVID-19, which is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, spread throughout the world and had devastating consequences, including illness, death, loss of employment, financial problems, burden and burnout of healthcare professionals, food insecurity, massive implications on education, and division among people with differing views on the virus’ causes as well as the ways to manage the virus. Sport organizations and everyone involved in sports at all levels of competition were affected. Although the pandemic is ongoing and much of the aftermath remains unknown at the time of publication, we would be remiss not to acknowledge the influence of the pandemic on athlete mental health. In this brief chapter, we provide context related to the pandemic’s impact on sports and athletes, review some of the emerging findings, and offer our perspective on how sports and athletes may be affected post-pandemic.
