Olympics

South Korea said on Tuesday it plans to lodge a protest with the global top court for sport and an Olympics body over the disqualification of two short track speed skaters which triggered public furore at home. Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were disqualified from the men's 1,000 metres semi-finals at the Beijing Winter Olympics on late Monday, for an "illegal late pass" and a lane change, respectively, both causing contact with another skater. Many South Koreans questioned the decisions, especially as Hwang,

Zhangjiakou, China: Therese Johaug won the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, finishing first in the women’s 15-kilometer cross-country skiathlon. The Norwegian fought wind and frigid temperatures to ski away from a chase group of four. Russian athlete Natalia Nepryaeva, the current overall World Cup leader, pulled away from the group on the last climb to take silver. Teresa Stadlober of Austria followed just behind for the bronze medal. The skiathlon is a mass-start race that began with 7.5 kilometers

There will be some bad blood at the bobsleigh track where Kaillie Humphries, after winning gold for Canada at the 2010 and 2104 Winter Olympics, defected to the U.S. over a dispute with the national federation and will compete in Beijing as an American. As sporting rivalries go the United States and Canada does not reach the intensity of Argentina and Brazil but when it comes to Winter Olympics the North American neighbours turn the heat up. Canada may be out-matched by the

Bethany Shriever added a world title to her Olympic crown as the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist won the women's BMX World Championships. Shriever, 22, cruised to victory in the final after a three-rider crash took out reigning world champion Alise Willoughby of the United States. The former teaching assistant is the first woman to hold both BMX supercross titles at the same time. Judy Baauw was second, with Dutch compatriot Laura Smulders third. Shriever, who started in lane eight, looked elated as she

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics will not have any spectators as the Covid-19 situation in Japan remains serious, according to organizers. The announcement was made on Monday, following a remote meeting of four Paralympic and Japanese government groups responsible for the Games. "In light of the current emergency declaration issued for Tokyo, Saitama and Chiba Prefectures, another declaration of the state of emergency being requested by Shizuoka prefecture and the current infection situation broadly, more stringent measures will be taken for competitions to be

American midfielder Carli Lloyd has announced she will retire later this year after an illustrious career. The 39-year-old has made 312 international appearances, scoring 128 goals for the USA women's soccer team (USWNT). Lloyd, who had a loan spell at Manchester City in 2017, won two World Cups and two Olympic golds. "Every single day I stepped out onto the field, I played as if it was my last game," she said. USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski said Lloyd is "a true legend"

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers have cancelled two days of rowing with adverse weather conditions expected to hit Japan's capital. It comes on the same day an extreme weather policy was activated in the tennis tournament. Temperatures reached 32C in Tokyo on Sunday. On Saturday, world number one Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev both complained about the heat during their first-round wins. The International Tennis Federation activated its policy once the reading went above 30.1C, with players given a 10-minute break between the second

Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui took a shock gold medal in the men's 400m freestyle on Sunday. The 18-year-old won from the outside lane after qualifying slowest, but finished with stunning pace to beat Australia's Jack McLoughlin with a time of three minutes 43.36 seconds. "I just can't believe it. It's a dream and it became true. It was great, it was my best race ever," said Hafnaoui. It was Tunisia's fifth ever gold - and third in swimming. US swimmer Kieran Smith took

Britain's two-time defending champion Andy Murray has withdrawn from the men's singles at the Tokyo Olympics with a minor thigh strain. The Scot, who won his opening men's double match with Joe Salisbury on Saturday, had been due to face Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime on day two. The 34-year-old will still compete in the doubles but was advised not to compete in both events in Japan. He has been replaced in the singles draw by Australian Max Purcell. "I am really disappointed at having

Two athletes have become the first to test positive for coronavirus at the Tokyo Olympic athletes' village - five days before the start of the Games. Organisers say the duo are from the same team and sport as the official who tested positive on Saturday. Other members of the team are being isolated in their rooms. The pair are the first athletes to test positive in the village, although a further athlete also tested positive on Sunday elsewhere. In total, organisers on Sunday reported

A total of 15 athletes will represent Qatar in 7 sports at Tokyo 2020 Olympics which will be hosted by Japan from July 23 to August 08, 2021. Team Qatar roster in Tokyo 2020 Olympics includes: Mutaz Barshim, Abderrahman Samba, Abubaker Hayder, Abdirahman Saeed Hassan, Musab Adam, Ashraf Amgad El-Seify (Athletics), Femi Ogunode, Mohamed Ahmed Al Rumaihi (Shooting), Fares Ibrahim (Weightlifting), Cherif Younouse, Ahmed Tijan (Beach Volleyball), Ayoub Al Idrisi (Judo) and Abdulaziz Al Obaidly (Swimming). The Qatari women will be represented by

TOKYO: Japan is set to outline how it will lift its "state of emergency" curbs while keeping some restrictions, including spectator numbers at big events, amid fears that next month's Olympics could trigger a new wave of COVID-19 infections. Media reports say the government is considering allowing up to 10,000 spectators into stadiums during the Games, in line with a plan endorsed by health experts on Wednesday (Jun 16) for local events. Later on Thursday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is due to announce

OTA, Japan: Australia's softball team became the first athletes to arrive in Japan for the Olympics on Tuesday (Jun 1), in a major step forward for the pandemic-postponed Games as organisers battle COVID-19 fears. The arrival offered a taste of the strict biosecurity measures that the Games will entail. All members of the delegation are vaccinated, but they still had to be tested before travel and on arrival. They filed off the plane sporting masks and green and gold uniforms, escorted by greeters

The US has issued a travel warning for Japan over the country's Covid-19 surge, amid heightened scrutiny just weeks before the Tokyo Olympics. But US Olympic officials have said they are confident their athletes will be able to take part safely in the Games. Japan already bans most travellers from entering the country. It long had low numbers of Covid cases but is now seeing a fresh wave of infections pushing the healthcare system in some cities to its limit. Japan has recorded

International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach on Saturday asserted that the Tokyo Olympics will go on as scheduled despite opposition from the majority of Japanese population amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.The IOC president said hosting the Olympics, already postponed by a year in 2020 due to the unprecedented health crisis, will send a strong message that there is still "light at the end of the tunnel." Bach made the statement during his address at the 47th International Hockey Federation (FIH) Congress held virtually.  "With Tokyo (Olympics) finally on

TOKYO: Hundreds of Japanese towns and cities have been forced to rethink plans to host Olympic teams because the coronavirus will prevent public appearances and require costly safety measures. The western town of Okuizumo spent more than US$5 million preparing to welcome India's hockey team for a pre-Games training camp, only to scrap the visit because of COVID-19. After sinking money into upgrading sports facilities, Okuizomo balked when it became clear it would have to provide bubble-like biosecurity measures with regular virus tests

After a year’s delay, the Tokyo Olympics are set to begin in July, with the Paralympics scheduled to start in August. Years of planning — and billions in television dollars at stake — mean Olympic organizers are keen to hold the event without postponing again. But polling in Japan has trended strongly against the Games, as Motoko Rich and Hikari Hida report in The Times. Thousands of athletes and other participants will be heading to Tokyo, and less than 1 percent of Japan’s population has been

SYDNEY - Australia is confident all of its athletes will be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they head off to the Tokyo Olympics, Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman said at the unveiling of the uniforms for the Games on Wednesday. Vaccination is not a prerequisite for athletes competing in the delayed Games but Chesterman said it was “common sense” to add a “layer of safety” around the delegation and ensure they did not bring the virus home with them. “We are very confident that

India is expected to send a contingent of close to 150 athletes for the Olympics, which were postponed last year after the outbreak of the pandemic. India’s medal prospects for the Tokyo Olympics are preparing for a scenario where their personal coaches and other support staff — physiotherapists, psychologists, etc –, as well as family members, will not be with them during the event. This is because of the decision announced by the organisers of the Tokyo Games on Saturday to not allow overseas

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, a top Qatari pair, had a strong showing at the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup 4-star, but they were unable to turn a one-set lead into victory in the quarterfinals, losing to Czechia's Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner in a thrilling tiebreaker. They settled for the fifth spot at the Doha 1-star just two weeks after winning their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold as a team. Cherif, who has a habit of setting high goals, was dissatisfied