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The IOC showed no interest Wednesday in putting pressure on 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chair Casey Wasserman over personal emails released in the latest Jeffrey Epstein files. Wasserman has faced calls from lawmakers and those in political circles in L.A. to step down as chair of the city's Olympic project he has led since it was first a hosting candidate 11 years ago. International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry was asked Wednesday if Wasserman was still the right person to oversee the next Summer Games in light of flirtatious emails in 2003 exchanged with Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. "From the IOC point of view, the (organizing committee) and how they are structured is not something we are going to get involved into," Coventry said. The IOC leader spoke at a news conference one day after she shared a stage with Wasserman when the L.A. organizing team updated Olympic officials on their hosting plans. "He has put out a statement and there is really ..
Star Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Friday announced that she would be coming out of retirement to take another shot at an elusive Olympic medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Games as the "the fire never left" her and was merely buried under "exhaustion and noise". The 31-year-old had walked away from the sport after the heartbreak of the Paris Games last year, where she was dramatically disqualified for being 100 grams over the permissible weight limit ahead of her 50kg category gold medal bout. She had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking a joint silver medal, but the verdict remained unchanged, leading her to announce her retirement and join politics to be elected as an MLA from Haryana's Julana constituency. "People kept asking if Paris was the end. For a long time, I didn't have the answer. I needed to step away from the mat, from the pressure, from the expectations, even from my own ambitions. For the first time in years, I allowed myself to breathe," Vine
The IOC took a big step toward reintegrating Russia and Belarus into world sports Thursday by advising governing bodies to let the countries' youth teams and athletes compete with their full identity of national flag and anthem. Athletes have a fundamental right to access sport across the world, and to compete free from political interference or pressure from governmental organizations, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement. That message in support of athletes will be welcomed in Russia and Israel, whose athletes have faced recent discrimination, and comes less than three years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games that risks facing political crosswinds in the United States. The updated strategy on Russia was set at a so-called Olympic Summit a meeting chaired by IOC president Kirsty Coventry that invites key stakeholders from the Olympic family. It was recognized that implementation by the stakeholders will take time, the IOC said in a statement, adding tha
Manuel Frederick, the first person from Kerala to win an Olympic hockey medal, died in a Bengaluru hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for cancer, on Friday morning, family sources said. He was 78. Frederick, who hailed from Kannur district of Kerala, was the goalkeeper of the Indian team that won the bronze medal by defeating Holland in the 1972 Munich Olympics. He played for the Indian team for seven years and was honoured with the Dhyan Chand Award in 2019 for his contributions to sports. He also has the distinction of being the goalkeeper who helped his team win 16 national championships in tiebreakers. Frederick started as a striker in football and a goalkeeper in hockey. He became active in hockey through the St. Michael's School team in Kannur. Born on October 20, 1947, Frederick played in the Bombay Gold Cup at the age of 17 and played his first international match for India in 1971. He is survived by his two daughters.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Tuesday suspended Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat from all wrestling-related activities for one year after he failed to make weight at the Senior World Championships. The 22-year-old Aman, one of India's top medal hopes in the men's freestyle 57kg category, was disqualified from the Worlds for exceeding the weight limit by 1.7kg on the day of competition. "...you are hereby suspended from all wrestling-related activities, both at the national and international level, for a period of one (1) year, effective from the date of the show-cause notice," the WFI said in its letter. "This decision is final and binding. During the period of suspension, you are barred from participating in or associating with any activities organized or sanctioned by WFI at both national and international levels." In a letter dated September 23, 2025, the WFI had issued a show-cause notice to Aman seeking an explanation for the lapse. The federation sa
India's Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan bagged the gold medal in 10m air rifle mixed team event of 16th Asian Shooting Championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan here on Saturday. The Indian pair outclassed China's Dingke Lu and Xinlu Peng 17-11 to finish on top of the podium. The Chinese pair was leading in the initial round but the Indians, who faltered early with shots of 9.5 and 10.1, made a stirring comeback in the later rounds to claim the gold. It was the second gold medal for Elavenil in the event after finishing on top the table in the 10m air rifle women's competition. Earlier, the Indian trio of Babuta, Rudrankksh Patil, and Kiran Jadhav had clinched the team gold in men's 10m Air Rifle event.
After breaking the national record, quartermiler Vishal TK now hopes to secure a podium finish in next year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. Vishal shattered the national record in the men's 400m event at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2025 in Chennai on Thursday en route to a gold. "I tested myself, I did hard work and if you do hard work it will come through," Vishal told PTI in an interaction. The 21-year-old athlete won the gold medal with a time of 45.12 seconds, eclipsing the previous national mark of 45.21s, set by Muhammed Anas Yahiya at the 2019 Czech Athletics Championships. "Next year, I have Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and we have to work for it. I am still learning. I will end this season after this competition and the coach is already planning for the next season. My goal is to get medals in individual and relays in CWG and Asian Games," he added. Vishal's previous best was 45.57s while finishing fourth at the 2025 Asian Champions
Basketball at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will start two days before the opening ceremony for those Games, organisers have confirmed. FIBA, the sport's global governing body, said on Wednesday that it has reviewed a revised basketball schedule for Los Angeles and that games will begin on July 12, 2028 ahead of the July 14 opening ceremony. It is unclear if the men's tournament, the women's tournament or both will start before the official opening. A preliminary schedule released last month calls for three basketball games on July 12 and three more on July 13. "This adjustment allows the quarterfinals to be played over two days and will also ensure that no game will start earlier than (noon), enhancing the overall experience for players, teams, fans and broadcasters," FIBA said in a news release. Bronze-medal games will be played on July 28 and 29, and gold-medal games will occur on July 29 and 30. July 30 is the final day of the Games. Several other sports also are scheduled to
President Donald Trump on Tuesday established a task force on the 2028 Olympic Games being held in Los Angeles that he said would ensure the event is "safe, seamless and historically successful". The 2028 Games will be the first Olympics to be hosted by the US since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. "The LA Olympics is shaping up to be a wonderful moment for America. It is going to be incredible. It is so exciting," Trump said as he signed an executive order at the White House establishing the task force. The White House did not immediately release the text of the order or details about the task force's work. At the event, Trump praised Gene Sykes, chair of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee board of directors, for the USOPC's move to effectively bar transgender women from competing in women's sports. "The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics," Trump said. He questioned why he did not hear applause from the room when he .
Rowdy Gaines, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, minces few words when he broadcasts swimming for the American network NBC. And he didn't hold back in an interview with The Associated Press over the shaky state of American swimming. He's calling for big-time changes as the Americans struggle at the world championships in Singapore. The American team isn't winning as much as expected or dominating, it's battling a case of acute gastroenteritis picked up at training camp in Thailand before arriving in Singapore, and the governing body USA Swimming has been without a CEO for a year. Gaines called the body rudderless." Can you imagine any corporation going for a year without a CEO? Gaines asked. Underwhelming AmericansThe Americans were also underwhelming a year ago at the Paris Olympics. They led the medal table, but won only eight gold medals, the lowest total since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. We're far from killing it," said Gaines in a telephone interview from the United States.