Tokyo, Japan | XINHUA | Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised on Thursday that the Tokyo Olympic Games would be held this summer although Tokyo area has entered a second state of emergency. Suga, who became Prime Minister last September, told a press conference, “I am determined to …
Read More »Nobody wants to see Olympics held behind closed doors, says Tokyo 2020 spokesman
Tokyo, Japan | XINHUA | Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya on Tuesday did not rule out the possibility of hosting the postponed Olympic Games behind closed doors while insisting that nobody wants to see the games without spectators. Japan’s JIJI Press last week quoted an unnamed Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) …
Read More »Tokyo Olympics volunteers worry about pandemic impact
Tokyo, Japan | XINHUA | More than 60 percent of the volunteers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are “worried or anxious” about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Games, a survey has found. Japanese state broadcaster NHK said on Friday that Tokyo 2020 organizers conducted the …
Read More »Virus could end Paralympic dream for British badminton player
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Multiple sclerosis sufferer Mary Wilson fears the coronavirus pandemic could have robbed her of her dream to play badminton at the Paralympics. Wilson, who hoped to qualify for Tokyo 2020, says if she does make it to Japan next year it will “be the biggest …
Read More »Olympic Games postponed to 2021
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been postponed to no later than the summer of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, the International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday. The Games were scheduled for July 24-August 9, but after telephone discussions between IOC president Thomas …
Read More »Kipchoge headlines Kenyan team for Olympic marathon
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, the first to break the mythic two-hour mark, and Vivian Cheruiyot will lead the Kenyan marathon team for the Tokyo Olympics in August. Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jackson Tuwei said the country expected a drug-free Olympics and hoped the selected …
Read More »OLYMPICS: Uganda plans to send 50, including rower
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s local Olympics organizing committee plans to send close to 30 competitors in five disciplines to Tokyo 2020. Together with officials, Uganda’s delegation is expected to be 50, and would be the largest ever entry for Uganda since it first competed at the Melbourne …
Read More »Murray moves nearer return while Tsitsipas moves into top five
Washington, United States | AFP | Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray moved closer to a singles return six months after right hip surgery while Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas rolled into the world’s top five Friday at the ATP Washington Open. Britain’s Murray and his brother Jamie, in their first doubles …
Read More »Kenya makes strides on doping, but hurdles remain
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya suffered international embarrassment in 2016 when a string of doping scandals brought the country famed for its distance runners within a whisker of disqualification from the Rio Olympics. “It was a time when Kenya faced an enormous challenge in terms of the very integrity of …
Read More »China swim star Sun ‘no drug cheat’ – coach Cotterell
Gwangju, South Korea | AFP | Chinese swim king Sun Yang is no drug cheat and has been the victim of “ill-informed” protests from athletes at the world championships, insists his Australian coach. Denis Cotterell has worked with the 11-time world champion since the 2008 Beijing Olympics and maintains China’s sporting …
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