Olympics

Olympics 2024: What to know, who to watch during shooting competition

Shooting begins on July 27, the day after the opening ceremony, and runs through Aug. 5

UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians athletes at Olympics

Russian athletes who have actively served in the military invasion of Ukraine should be allowed to return to international sports if they did not take part in war crimes, according to a United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee. The U.N. special rapporteur for cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, said late Sunday only Russian military members implicated in "allegations of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war" should be denied neutral status to compete in international sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Xanthaki angered Ukrainian athletes who took part in an IOC-hosted call to consult them ahead of an Olympic announcement due Tuesday to update guidance for sports bodies 16 months before the opening of the Paris Games. Ukrainian government and sports officials want the IOC to ban all Russians from the 2024 Games and claim most of the country's recent Olympic medalists were affiliated with the military. Xanthaki wrote on he

I'm not willing to retire yet, am a victim of age limit: Mary Kom

Boxing legend says fitness and performance should be 'determining factor' for athletes

Tokyo Olympic bribery trial opens; accused Shinichi Uneo accepts guilt

A trial looking into widespread bribery at the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee began Friday with a former head of a major ad company admitting to the charges. Shinichi Uneo, who formerly headed ADK Holdings, quietly told the Tokyo District Court the allegations were accurate. In Japan, a trial continues even if a suspect admits guilt. Three prosecutors took turns reading their opening statement during a two-hour session. Ueno is accused of paying nearly 15 million yen ($110,000) to Haruyuki Takahashi, a former executive at ad giant Dentsu, who wielded powerful influence in selecting sponsors for the 2020 Games. Ueno is among 15 people arrested in the bribery scandal. Takahashi has long been a prominent person in sports marketing with Dentsu, the official marketing partner of the Tokyo Olympics. Dentsu has also been implicated in a scandal to bribe International Olympic Committee members who picked Tokyo back in 2013. The sprawling scandals around the Tokyo Olympics have badly ..

Australian govts agree on 50-50 funding split for 2032 Brisbane Olympics

The federal and the Queensland state government have agreed on an almost 50-50 funding split to build or remodel venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Queensland state capital Friday to make the formal announcement about a deal worth an estimated 7 billion Australian dollars ($4.8 billion). The federal government will create a new 17,-000 indoor arena at Roma Street, the city's main public transport hub, and contribute to other stadium and venue refurbishments. The state government will be responsible for demolishing and rebuilding the Gabba, which will be the main stadium for the Olympics. The Gabba is the long-time home of cricket in Queensland state. This will leave a really lasting legacy for Queensland, Albanese told local radio station 4BC. "It's an investment that will produce a return with increased economic activity, increased visitors ... Queensland is such a fantastic tourist destination and this will really showcase

Sweden emerges as sudden front-runner in troubled search 2030 Olympics

Sweden emerging as the front-runner in a troubled search for a 2030 Olympics host is as much a surprise in Stockholm as elsewhere. The year started with Sweden not on the radar of a Winter Games race where longtime favourite Sapporo faded during a criminal investigation of alleged bribery linked to the recent Tokyo Olympics. Salt Lake City is targeting 2034. In Sweden, memories are also fresh of a bruising loss for Stockholm-Are against Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo in the 2026 Olympics vote the Nordic country's eighth beaten candidate for the Winter Games. The picture changed when Swedish officials met last month in Switzerland with International Olympic Committee leaders who faced uncertainty and time running out to find a 2030 host. We had a meeting in Lausanne in mid-January after the holidays, Swedish Olympic official Hans von Uthmann told The Associated Press on Thursday. On our journey back we realised, Hey, there really is an opening.' Urging caution just one week after the S

Akshdeep, Priyanka win men's and women's 20km race championship gold

Unheralded Akshdeep Singh clinched the men's 20km event gold with a stunning national record time to qualify for this year's World Championships as well as 2024 Paris Olympics on the opening day of the National Open Race Walking Championships here on Tuesday. The 22-year-old from Punjab clocked 1 hour 19 minutes and 55 seconds to obliterate the earlier national record of 1:20:16 which was in the name of veteran Sandeep Kumar who finished a lowly seventh with 1:23.28. The men's 20km race walk qualifying time for both the World Championships to be held in Budapest in August and 2024 Olympics is 1:20:10. Before Tuesday's surprise result, Akshdeep's personal best was 1:26:10 which he had clocked at the Inter-University Championships at Moodbidri in Karnataka early last year. Women's 20km event national record holder Priyanka Goswami expectedly won gold with a time of 1:28:50 to also qualify for both the World Championships and 2024 Olympics. Her national record stands at 1:28:45 which

Doping suspension lifted after samples didn't match, says Peter Bol

Olympic 800-meter finalist Peter Bol on Tuesday said his provisional doping suspension has been lifted after the A and B samples didn't match. Usually testing of the B sample confirms the original adverse finding in doping cases. I was just informed that my B sample did not match my A sample, Bol posted on Twitter. My provisional suspension has been lifted by Sport Integrity Australia. Sport Integrity Australia later confirmed testing of the B sample by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory showed an atypical finding, but that in itself is not the same as a negative test result. The investigation into the matter remains ongoing. Sport Integrity Australia will, as part of its investigation, proceed to consider whether any anti-doping rule violations have been committed, the government-backed agency said in a statement. It is not possible to provide a timeframe at this point. Bol repeated Tuesday that he's never taken banned performance-enhancing substances and he descr

Russia issue looms for 2024 Summer Paris Olympics, Zelenskyy rebukes IOC

The question of if and how Russia competes at the Olympics hangs over the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Just as it has now for five straight Olympics during Thomas Bach's leadership of the IOC, whose support this week for some Russians to compete in Paris was publicly challenged Friday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia and its athletes have been at risk of being banned though ultimately competed at each Olympics since the steroid-tainted 2014 Sochi Winter Games that was Bach's first as president of the International Olympic Committee. This time it is Russia waging war on Ukraine. Previously it was Russian state-backed doping and then Russian authorities trying to cover up evidence of that scandal. Zelenskyy wants Russia excluded from taking part in Paris while its military is occupying and attacking his country. He stressed that this week in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. Ukraine's sports minister first warned on Thursday of boycotting the Olympics. Tha

IOC seeks to let Russians compete at Paris Olympics as neutral athletes

The IOC made clear Wednesday it wants Russians to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as neutral athletes, in defiance of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call to exclude them entirely. Citing a unifying mission during a time of war, the International Olympic Committee said no athlete should face discrimination based only on the passport they held. A pathway for athletes' participation in competition under strict conditions should therefore be further explored, the IOC said in a statement published after an executive board meeting. IOC president Thomas Bach did not hold his usual news conference after the meeting. Russia was not directly condemned in the statement though athletes who have been actively supporting the war in Ukraine face being excluded from the Paris Olympics that open in 18 months' time, the IOC said. The IOC cited the example of Yugoslavians competing at the 1992 Barcelona Games as independent athletes while the nation was under United Nations sanctions du

India will bid for 2036 Olympics, Ahmedabad likely to host: Anurag Thakur

He said a roadmap for India's bid will be presented to International Olympic Committee during the IOC session in Mumbai in September 2023

Three-time Olympic champion Lyu Xiaojun tests positive for doping

Three-time Olympic weightlifting champion Lyu Xiaojun of China has tested positive in a doping case, the International Testing Agency said on Thursday. The ITA said Lyu tested positive for EPO, an endurance boosting hormone banned in sports, on October 30 while he was training. The Chinese star is provisionally suspended while a disciplinary case is prosecuted. Now aged 38, Lyu said on winning a third straight Olympic title in Tokyo last year that he would target a fourth at the 2024 Paris Games. He was the oldest-ever weightlifting gold medalist when he won the men's 81-kilogram category in Tokyo.

Viacom18 bags 2024 Paris Olympics broadcasting rights for Rs 250 cr

Deal also includes 2024 Youth Olympics; will cover India and neighbouring countries

Neeraj Chopra replaces Bolt as world's most visible track and field athlete

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has dislodged the iconic Usain Bolt as the "most visible" athlete in the world after winning a historic gold medal in the Tokyo Games, claimed a World Athletics study. The 24-year-old Indian further enhanced his superstar status by winning a silver at the world championships. Chopra led a star-studded field in terms of media coverage with 812 articles published in his name, followed by Jamaican sprint trio of Elaine Thompson-Herah (751), Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce (698) and Shericka Jackson (679). The charismatic Bolt, also a Jamaican, was in the fifth spot with 574 articles in his name, according to the statistics released by World Athletics during President Sebastian Coe's year-end interaction with a select group of Asian journalists, including from PTI. The data was provided by Germany-based media monitoring firm Unicepta. This is the first time that Bolt, who retired in 2017 and who still holds the world record in 100m and 200m, has not led the ...

Russians face major hurdles for return to Olympic track amid Ukraine war

The International Olympic Committee's complex discussion about allowing Russian athletes to participate at the Paris Games in 2024 if their country is still at war provided no short-term help in improving the athletes' standing among leaders in track and field, the biggest sport on the Olympic programme. In a year-end interview this week, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe suggested the Russian war in Ukraine, to say nothing of the still-active doping sanctions against Russia that have been in place since 2015, have led to a more difficult path for Russian track athletes to reach the IOC goal of participating as neutrals either at next year's world championships or at the Olympics the year after that. Coe sketched out a two-part process for Russian reinstatement. First, the doping sanctions would have to be lifted at a World Athletics council meeting in March, a prospect that seems more likely after a series of positive reports from a task force that monitors Russia's compliance

PT Usha becomes first woman president of Indian Olympic Association

Ushering in a new era in country's sports administration, the legendary PT Usha was on Saturday elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The 58-year-old Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth place finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final, was declared elected unopposed for the top post in the polls. The elections were held under the supervision of Supreme Court-appointed retired SC judge L Nageswara Rao. The election of Usha to the top job marked an end to the long drawn crisis in the faction-ridden IOA, which was warned of a possible suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if elections are not held this month. The polls were originally due to be held in December 2021. Usha's anointment to the top post was a forgone conclusion late last month after she emerged as the lone candidate for the top post. Nobody was willing to fight against Usha, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the ruling Bhar

IOC to look to allow Russian, Belarus athletes' international participation

"The OCA offered to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in competitions in Asia under its authority, while respecting the sanctions in place"

IOC denies to lift boxing body's suspension; writes letter listing concerns

The International Olympic Committee has decided not to lift the suspension of the International Boxing Association's recognition and involve it in conducting boxing competitions at the Paris Olympics

1960 Olympic 5,000-meter champion Murray Halberg passes away at 89

Murray Halberg, who overcame serious injury to win the 5,000-meter gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics and later devoted his life to charity work, has died. He was 89. His death was confirmed by Athletics New Zealand which did not specify a cause. Athletics New Zealand described Halberg as one of the most iconic names in New Zealand sport. Halberg also won gold medals in the three-mile race at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games and was the first New Zealanders to run a sub-four minute mile. He achieved all of those successes though his left arm had withered after he was injured playing rugby as a teenager. He later became best known in New Zealand for his work with the Halberg Trust which helped disabled children play sport. The organization is now known as the Halberg Disability Sports Foundation. The Halberg Award is presented annually to New Zealand's Sportsperson of the Year and the Halberg Games are staged over three days each year for athletes aged eight to 21 with a phys

In light of Hans Niemann's Chess scandal: 10 cheating scandals in sports

Cheating in sports has existed as long as sports. Unfair advantage is sought by athletes and coaches to make sure they or their teams win at any cost. Here's a list of the 10 such instances