Olympics

Workers operate inside the construction site of the Olympic Village at the Porta Romana former rail...

Little sign of Olympics in Milan with only 3 years to go

MILAN (AP) — Perched incongruously on the 44th floor of one of Milan’s modern glass skyscrapers is a ski lodge. The “baita,” which is made of reclaimed wood from trees felled in a devastating storm that hit northern Italy in 2018, is in the headquarters of the organizing committee for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. The […]
1 year ago
FILE - Boats prepare to tow giant Olympic rings as they are removed from the waterfront area at Oda...

Dentsu and others charged in Tokyo Olympic bid-rigging probe

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympic bid-rigging scandal widened Tuesday with Japanese advertising giant Dentsu and five other companies charged by Tokyo district prosecutors. Executives or management-level officials at each of the accused companies, and a Tokyo Olympic organizing committee official, were charged with violating anti-monopoly laws. No trial dates have been set. The charges […]
1 year ago

Paul Cayard resigns as boss of US Olympic Sailing Team

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Paul Cayard has resigned as executive director of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team, the latest upheaval for a once-dominant squad that has become an afterthought on the world stage. Cayard, one of America’s most successful sailors, said Saturday that he couldn’t work under a restructuring of the Olympic team’s management. He […]
1 year ago
FILE -  A Russian flag is held above the Olympic Rings at Adler Arena Skating Center during the Win...

Russia’s sports exile persists 1 year after invading Ukraine

One year after the invasion of Ukraine began, Russia’s reintegration into the world of sports threatens to create the biggest rift in the Olympic movement since the Cold War. Russia remains excluded from many international sporting events, but that could soon change. Next year’s Paris Olympics are fast approaching and qualifying events are under way. […]
1 year ago
IOC (International Olympic Committee) president Thomas Bach walks in the finish area of the alpine ...

Nations: No clarity on neutrality, no Olympics for Russia

The governments of 35 nations released a statement Monday calling on the IOC to clarify the definition of “neutrality” as it seeks a way to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes back into international sports and, ultimately, next year’s Paris Olympics. “As long as these fundamental issues and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail […]
1 year ago

SafeSport Center suspends former interim CEO

The former interim CEO of the U.S. Center for SafeSport has been temporarily suspended by the center he used to run for failure to report a case. The center posted the suspension for Regis Becker earlier this week. It also included a charge of abuse of process. Becker served as a member of the center’s […]
1 year ago

Lawmakers ask EU countries to pressure IOC for Russia’s ban

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers have condemned the International Olympic Committee’s decision to set out a path for some athletes from Russia and Belarus to try to qualify for the 2024 Paris Games. In a resolution adopted Thursday by 444 votes in favor, 26 against and 37 abstentions, EU legislators said allowing them to […]
1 year ago
FILE - A person walks near Tokyo 2020 logo in Haneda Airport on June 14, 2021, in Tokyo. A trial lo...

Tokyo Olympic bribery trial opens; accused accepts guilt

TOKYO (AP) — 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 […]
1 year ago
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Queensland state premier Annastacia Palaszczu...

Australian governments agree funding split for 2032 Olympics

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — 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 […]
1 year ago
FILE - International Olympic Committee, IOC, President Thomas Bach from Germany, shakes hands with ...

Sweden emerges as sudden front-runner to host 2030 Olympics

GENEVA (AP) — 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 favorite Sapporo faded during a criminal investigation of alleged bribery linked to the […]
1 year ago
CAPTION CORRECTS THE SPELLING - Vadym Guttsait, Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister and President of...

Ukrainian Olympic head on Russian rival: ‘He is my enemy’

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — They fought on the same side and together won Olympic gold, young men from Russia and a newly independent Ukraine, joined for one last medal-winning hurrah on a short-lived post-Soviet Unified Team at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Now, former fencers Vadym Guttsait and Stanislav Pozdnyakov are on opposite sides of the […]
1 year ago
IOC (International Olympic Committee) president Thomas Bach walks in the finish area of the alpine ...

IOC’s Bach says Olympics on history’s side in Russia issue

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Insisting sports had to respect the human rights of all athletes, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on Sunday denied that the organization was on the wrong side of history by helping Russians and Belarusians qualify for the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Bach and the IOC have faced a widespread backlash […]
1 year ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sign a declara...

Zelenskyy tells summit ‘no place’ for Russia at Olympics

LONDON (AP) — Russian athletes have “no place” at next year’s Paris Olympics while their country’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a summit of sports officials from 36 countries Friday. The International Olympic Committee argues it would be discriminatory to exclude Russia and ally Belarus from sports ahead of the 2024 […]
1 year ago
FILE - Visitors watch a simulation of the Parade of Nations exhibit during the opening day of the U...

Probe into US Olympic failings stunted by red tape in DC

DENVER (AP) — More than 27 months since it was greenlighted by Congress, the panel established to investigate the inner workings of the U.S. Olympic structure has yet to conduct a formal interview because of bureaucratic red tape and slow action from the same lawmakers who had expressed a pressing need for better oversight. Two […]
1 year ago
Elina Svitolina talks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Fe...

Svitolina calls for Russians to be banned from Olympics

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian tennis player and Olympic bronze medalist Elina Svitolina pushed for a total ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Games in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. Svitolina, who won her bronze medal in singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is visiting Ukraine for […]
1 year ago
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Dow...

IOC responds to Paris mayor on Olympic plan for Russians

GENEVA (AP) — The International Olympic Committee pushed back against the mayor of Paris on Wednesday, insisting there were no plans for “a Russian or Belarusian delegation” at the 2024 Games while also acknowledging some athletes from those countries could be welcomed. The IOC statement came a day after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said no […]
1 year ago
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, the Olympic rings are reinstalled after it was taken down ...

Tokyo Olympic official, 3 others held in bid-rigging probe

TOKYO (AP) — A senior official with the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee and three company executives were arrested Wednesday in an ongoing bid-rigging scandal related to the Games. Yasuo Mori, the Olympic official, was arrested along with Koji Henmi, who headed the sports division at Japanese advertising giant Dentsu. Two other business executives were also […]
1 year ago
FILE - A Russian flag is held above the Olympic Rings at Adler Arena Skating Center during the Wint...

Paris mayor: No Russian team at 2024 Games if war continues

PARIS (AP) — Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says there should be no Russian delegation allowed at the Paris Olympics next year if Moscow continues its war against Ukraine. Hidalgo previously said Russian competitors could take part under a neutral flag but she backpedaled on Tuesday in an interview with French media France Info. Acknowledging that […]
1 year ago
FILE - A woman passes by the Olympic rings at the City Hall in Paris, on  July 25, 2022. Latvia is ...

Nordic sports bodies urge IOC to ban Russian athletes

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The five Olympic committees in the Nordic region on Tuesday urged the International Olympic Committee to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from “international sports participation” because of the war in Ukraine. The bodies from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway said they wanted to expressed their “steadfast support once […]
1 year ago
FILE - United States Rosey Fletcher clears a gate during the women's snowboard parallel giant slalo...

Snowboarders sue coach, USOPC in assault, harassment case

Olympic bronze medalist Rosey Fletcher has filed a lawsuit accusing former snowboard coach Peter Foley of sexually assaulting, harassing and intimidating members of his team for years, while the organizations overseeing the team did nothing to stop it. Fletcher is a plaintiff in one of two lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles […]
1 year ago
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video ...

Column: IOC talks tough on Russia — until Paris on horizon

The IOC likes to talk tough — as long as it’s not heading into an Olympic year. Not surprisingly, as we draw ever closer to the cash cow that is Paris 2024, the hypocrites running the Olympic movement are eager to get Russia back in the games. They’ll surely find a way, despite Vladimir Putin’s […]
1 year ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen...

Olympic echoes of boycott era as Ukraine vs IOC intensifies

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — A contest that could define the 2024 Paris Olympics is playing out 18 months before medals are awarded. It’s giving the International Olympic Committee a political challenge with echoes of the 1980s. Ukraine fired up its campaign on Friday to have Russia and military ally Belarus excluded from the next Summer […]
1 year ago

Olympic bans and boycotts go back a century

Ukraine and the three Baltic countries, all former Soviet republics, moved a step closer Friday to boycotting next year’s Paris Olympics because of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The International Olympic Committee plans to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete as “neutral athletes” despite their invasion of Ukraine, saying it can’t discriminate athletes […]
1 year ago
FILE - Olena Kostevych and Bogdan Nikishin, of Ukraine, carry their country's flag during the openi...

Ukraine pushes to exclude Russia from 2024 Paris Olympics

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — With next year’s Paris Olympics on the horizon and Russia’s invasion looking more like a prolonged conflict, Ukraine’s sports minister on Friday renewed a threat to boycott the games if Russia and Belarus are allowed to compete and said Kyiv would lobby other nations to join. Such a move could lead […]
1 year ago