Hollywood action star Gerard Butler, who portrayed King Leonidas in the 2006 blockbuster film '300', visited Sparta in mid-March 2020 to take part in the forthcoming 2,500 year anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Thermopylae.  Butler combined his visit to the city by also running as a torchbearer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, from the nearby Medieval city of Mystras to the ancient city of Sparta, finishing at the statue of Spartan King Leonidas.  The large waiting crowd heard some moving words from Gerard, finishing with his famous battle-cry of 'This is Sparta'.  Sadly, later that day, the Government announced strict restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic putting the whole of Greece in semi lock-down.  All malls, cafes, restaurants, bars, archaeological sites and museums had to close that day.

The day before, the Greek Government had already closed all courthouses, theatres, cinemas, gyms, playgrounds and nightclubs.

The Olympic torch had been ceremonially lit at Olympia on Thursday 12th March and had been carried down south through the Peloponnese, reaching Mystras.  Only a few days before Butler ran with the Olympic torch on Friday 13th March, he met a local woman named Toula Sidiropoulou.  Toula runs a successful local bakery in Sparta and her family is very well-known in the area.  Gerard quickly bonded with Toula and apparently fell head over heels for her.  When he was forced to isolate in Sparta, the pair decided to quarantine together at a local mountain cottage that Gerard had rented, to see if the relationship could work.  After the two week quarantine period ended, they made the momentous decision to get married, the wedding took place on 1st April,  April Fool's Day!

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, have now been postponed and rescheduled for 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.  The Games were postponed in March 2020 as a result of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, although they will still keep the name Tokyo 2020 for marketing and branding purposes.  This will be the first time the Olympic Games have been postponed rather than cancelled since the Games of the l Olympiad, that were held in Athens in 1896.