An unexpected consequence of the covid shutdowns --
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy stopped recording thru-hiker and section-hiker data on March 31, 2020 in order to discourage hikers from being in situations where they would potentially be exposing each other to covid. They have no authority to shut the trail down (although it was officially closed in some National and State parks it runs through) but they just stopped acknowledging anyone's efforts on that date, so there were no officially acknowledged thru-hikers in either direction in 2020.
Then in 2021, they opened the registry back up again on May 11. Many hikers feel that that date made no sense, since most northbound thru-hikers start their efforts in March in Georgia in order to get to Mt. Katahdin in Maine before winter sets in. Some cynics have pointed out that the annual AT hikers festival in Damascus, VA started on May 14 that year, with vendor setups on May 13 (the Festival is coincidentally the biggest fundraising haul for the ATC every year). There are many youtube posters complaining that because they started their hikes in March they will not be recognized as thru-hikers for 2021, despite having walked every mile of the trail and not having broken any national or local covid restrictions in the process. The ATC has offered them a compromise - rehike the sections covered before May 11 2021 before May 11 2022 and therefore qualify for thru-hiker status under the existing rules that allow a full year to complete the task. There is a little revolt going on in the serious hiker community, with many abandoning ATC for other organizations with less strict rules, such as the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association.