Olympics

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At the End of 'Dark Tunnel,' an Olympic Light

Official dates set for next year's Games in Tokyo: July 23 to Aug. 8

(Newser) - There's now an official date for the 2020 Olympics in Japan, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Olympics officials and Japanese organizers announced Monday that the Tokyo Games will be held next summer from July 23 to Aug. 8, TMZ reports. Officials say this schedule was chosen to help...

For First Time, Olympics Will Be Held in an Odd Year

Japan Prime Minister Abe, IOC head in '100% agreement' games must be postponed till 2021

(Newser) - Serious rumblings of a postponement of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo began over the weekend , and are now official. Per the Wall Street Journal , Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach by phone on Tuesday, and the two agreed that putting off the Games...

Japan Official Says It's a 'Fact' Olympics Are 'Cursed'

Deputy prime minister points to what happened in 1940, 1980

(Newser) - The Olympic flame is currently en route from Greece to Japan, where it will arrive on Friday ahead of a relay that's scheduled to begin next Thursday, reports Reuters . Japan and the International Olympic Committee are continuing to insist that the Tokyo Games will take place as scheduled in...

If the Olympics Happen, This 11-Year-Old Will Be There

Organizers continue debate what to do amidst the coronavirus epidemic

(Newser) - An 11-year-old girl from Syria is set to become the fifth-youngest Olympian in history. The Guardian reports Hend Zaza qualified for the Tokyo Games in table tennis, a sport that has no minimum age, upon winning a qualifying tournament in Jordan last week. Hend, who is ranked 155th in the...

Iranian Olympic Medalist Defects, Cites Oppression
Olympian Defects From Iran
Jan 12, 2020 10:50 AM CST

Olympian Defects From Iran

'Whatever they said, I wore,' says Kimia Alizadeh, the nation's only female medalist

(Newser) - Iran's only female Olympic medalist said she defected from the Islamic Republic in a blistering online letter in which she described herself as "one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran." Taekwondo athlete Kimia Alizadeh posted the letter on Instagram, the AP reports, as Iran's...

For First Time, Olympians Will Snooze on Cardboard Beds

Bed frames at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo will be made of cardboard

(Newser) - Tokyo Olympic athletes, beware—you may not want to celebrate your gold by jumping on the bed. That's because the bed frames in the athletes village at this year's Olympics will be made of cardboard. Sturdy cardboard. "Those beds can stand up to 200 kilograms," explained...

Russia Can't Compete in the Next 2 Olympics

Nation banned from world competition for 4 years because of systematic doping

(Newser) - The official sports world is unanimous: Russia cheats. And as a result, the nation cannot compete in next year's summer Olympics in Japan. In fact, Russia is banned from international sporting events for the next four years, a span that includes the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing and the...

New Olympic Logo Features Rings, City Name, and ... Marianne

People aren't quite sure what to make of design for 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris

(Newser) - A French government spokeswoman calls it "magnifique," while an International Olympic Committee rep says it's "innovative." The rest of the world ... isn't quite sure what to make of a new Olympic logo unveiled for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The BBC notes that...

Tennis Phenom's Big Move: Give Up US Citizenship

Naomi Osaka had to make a decision by age 22, per Japan's rules

(Newser) - Naomi Osaka, born in Japan to a Japanese mom and Haitian-American dad , currently holds both US and Japanese citizenship. But once she turns 22 next week, Japan's nationality laws dictate she'll have to choose between the two—and the tennis star says she's going with the latter,...

Gymnast Shoots for Olympics at Age 44

Oksana Chusovitina waits to hear if she'll make the team for the 8th time

(Newser) - Oksana Chusovitina intends to keep her mind off gymnastics until Saturday night, when she will find out whether she'll be competing in the Olympics for the eighth time. She'll look for distractions and maybe take a walk, USA Today reports. "But I will peek into my phone...

Someone Is Extremely Excited About the 2026 Olympics Pick

The mayor of Milan's joy is captured by photographers

(Newser) - The International Olympic Committee's decision was met with cheers of "Italia! Italia!" on Monday, and for an obvious reason: Stockholm-Åre lost out on the chance to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, with the honor going to Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo. That means two decades will have elapsed...

How Lamar Odom Scammed the Olympics
How Lamar Odom
Cheated the
Olympics
May 18, 2019 9:32 AM CDT

How Lamar Odom Cheated the Olympics

The NBA champion found a way around the drug test

(Newser) - Lamar Odom admits he beat an Olympic drug test by using something huge, rubber, and black. In his new memoir Darkness to Light, the NBA champ says it was "one of the biggest honors in my career" to be offered a place on the US Men's Olympic basketball...

2024 Olympics May Boast 'More Artistic' New Sport

IOC appears to be on board for break-dancing

(Newser) - Break-dancing might just become an Olympic sport. Organizers of the 2024 Games in Paris have put forth their suggestions for four sports to be added to the current roster of 28, with breakdancing listed alongside surfing, climbing, and skateboarding. The latter three sports are already confirmed for Tokyo 2020, but...

Taiwan to Consider Whether to Drop 'Make-Believe' Name

It competes at Olympics as 'Chinese Taipei'

(Newser) - Because of pressure from China, athletes from Taiwan compete at the Olympics under the name of a make-believe country: Chinese Taipei. They march behind an imaginary national flag and, if they win a gold medal, hear an "alternate national anthem" being played. Imagine if France or Australia had to...

Calgary Residents on 2026 Olympics: That's a Hard No

Vote was nonbinding, but it looks like city's bid will be nixed

(Newser) - "Does Calgary really want the Winter Olympics? Does anyone?" That's the question posed by the New York Times on Monday, and it looks like the first question has just been answered. The AP reports that, in a nonbinding referendum held Tuesday, 56% of voters (more than 170,000...

Olympian Is 'So Sorry' About His Halloween Costume

Shaun White dressed as a disabled character from 'Tropic Thunder'

(Newser) - Shaun White knows how to snowboard—but dress up for Halloween? Not so much, it seems. The three-time winner of Olympic gold went out this weekend as Simple Jack, the disabled character from the movie Tropic Thunder, and promptly issued an apology Monday, People reports. "I owe everyone in...

Track Star May Have to Lower Testosterone Levels

New IAAF rules could affect whether South Africa's Caster Semenya can compete

(Newser) - If Caster Semenya wants to compete in certain women's Olympic and world championship events, the South African track star will have to start undergoing hormone replacement therapy or otherwise find a way to lower her hormone levels, per new rules from the International Association of Athletics Federations. CNN reports...

Olympics Ratings Are Significantly Down

And that could be bad news for NBC

(Newser) - Was NBC's $12 billion investment in the Olympics a good idea? Based on the ratings from the Pyeongchang games, it's not clear. Viewership in the coveted 18-49 demographic is down 24% compared to the winter games in Sochi four years ago, CNN reports, though NBC points out it'...

N. Korea's Olympic Delegation Head: Man Blamed for Deaths

2010 attack killed 46 South Korean sailors

(Newser) - South Korea is about to host a man blamed for the killing of 46 of its citizens as part of the closing ceremonies for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Kim Yong Chol—who formerly led the North Korean military intelligence agency blamed for the deadly 2010 attack on South Korean ship...

The 'Mediocre' Skier Raising Eyebrows at the Olympics

Elizabeth Swaney didn't do any tricks on her halfpipe run, deliberately

(Newser) - On the surface, there's nothing at all ordinary or subpar about a 33-year-old Berkeley and Harvard grad who's competing with the best of the best at the Olympics. Yet Elizabeth Swaney has caused a hubbub in Pyeongchang, after turning in what Digg labels a "hilariously mediocre" ski...

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