Pyeongchang, South Korea | AFP | As American sport reels from a horrifying sexual abuse scandal, athletes competing in this month’s Pyeongchang Olympics will have access to trauma units for the first time in Games history. The Winter Olympics open in South Korea on Friday after long-time USA Gymnastics team doctor …
Read More »IOC steps up drug tests ahead of Winter Games
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | More than 14,000 anti-doping tests on more than 6,000 athletes have been conducted in the lead up to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang next month, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday. The tests, conducted between April and December 2017, represent a 70 percent increase on …
Read More »S. Korea’s Moon willing to hold summit with Kim Jong-Un
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Moon Jae-In said Wednesday he would be willing to sit down with the nuclear-armed North’s leader Kim Jong-Un, as the international community welcomed an agreement for Pyongyang to send its athletes to the Winter Olympics in the South. The Games in Pyeongchang …
Read More »Russia faces decision on Winter Olympics ban for doping
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | The International Olympic Committee meets from Tuesday to decide whether to bar Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping violations, in one of the weightiest decisions ever faced by the Olympic movement. The build-up to the high-stakes summit in Lausanne just 66 days before the …
Read More »Marathon champ Paul Tergat to head Kenya NOC
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Former marathon world record holder Paul Tergat was named president of Kenya’s strife-hit Olympic committee on Friday, hoping to end months of controversy and infighting. “Since Paul Tergat is unopposed, he is now the new president of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya,” said Omweri …
Read More »Rio probe puts IOC back under Olympics corruption spotlight
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | The Rio 2016 cash-for-votes inquiry in Brazil has placed the International Olympic Committee under a fresh cloud of corruption less than a week before it is due to award the 2024 Games to Paris. Almost two decades after its image took a battering with the …
Read More »Brazil police say Rio Olympics were bought in corrupt scheme
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazilian officials said that the country’s Olympics chief was the “lynchpin” in a plot to bribe the International Olympic Committee into awarding Rio de Janeiro last year’s Games. Brazilian police said in a statement they were probing “an international corruption scheme” aimed at …
Read More »Keino to step down as Kenyan Olympic chief
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan Olympic chief Kipchoge Keino said Wednesday he will not stand for re-election during the General Assembly in Nairobi on September 29. The 77-year-old double Olympic gold medallist has been at the helm of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) since 1999 when he …
Read More »Olympics: LA agrees to host 2028 Games, Paris set for 2024
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Los Angeles formally announced its intent to host the 2028 Summer Olympics on Monday after agreeing a deal with Games officials that paves the way for Paris to host in 2024. “The Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic bid committee in cooperation with the …
Read More »S. Korea president invites N. Korea to Pyeongchang Olympics
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday invited North Korea to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, saying sports could serve as a peace maker. The South and nuclear-armed North Korea are separated by one of the world’s most heavily armed borders and remain technically …
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