Page 37 - Olympics

Best wishes to Indian contingent: PM Modi on Special Olympics World Games

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wished the Indian contingent at the Special Olympics World Games, saying "we are proud of every athlete representing us at the games". "As the Special Olympics World Games commence in Berlin, my best wishes to the Indian contingent," Modi said in a tweet. "We are proud of every athlete representing us at the games. May they shine brightly through their spirit, determination and resilience," he said.

Dentsu no more IOC broadcast partner in Asia due to corruption charges

Facing corruption charges linked to the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese marketing giant Dentsu will no longer be a major broadcast rights holder in Asia. The International Olympic Committee said Thursday it has awarded exclusive rights for four Olympics from 2026 to 2032 to the Switzerland-based, Chinese-owned sports marketing agency Infront. The 22-market Asian deal includes Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Taiwan and Vietnam, but not China, Japan or South Korea. A statement from the IOC and Infront did not mention Dentsu, which was the called the gatekeeper for selling Asian rights to broadcasters starting with the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics through the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Dentsu and other companies were charged in February by prosecutors in Japan for collusion in commercial contracts for the Tokyo Olympics. A former Dentsu executive is implicated in a separate bribery case linked to Olympic sponsorship. Dentsu helped Tokyo win the hosting contest in 2013, after losing the previous vot

Delhi HC permits govt to release funds for Indian team for Special Olympics

The Delhi High Court has allowed the Centre to release funds to enable the participation of the Indian team in the upcoming Special Olympics World Games, 2023, modifying a 2022 order barring the government from providing assistance to sports federations not compliant with laws governing sports administration. The court passed the order after the Centre said it was finding it difficult to release money to facilitate the participation of athletes in the Special Olympiad in view of its earlier direction. The government told the court that it had granted permission on earlier occasions to release funds to help Indian teams participate in various sporting events. "In view of the above, this Court is inclined to permit the Union of India to release money for travel expenses, accommodation, etc. for the participation of Indian team in Special Olympics World Games, 2023," said a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad in an order passed on June 2. Specia

Govt approves foreign training for Olympian sailors ahead of Asian Games

Olympian sailors -- Nethra Kumanan, Vishnu Saravanan, Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy -- will train and participate in competitions at various places abroad till September in preparation for the Hangzhou Asian Games later this year. This was decided after the Sports Ministry approved the proposal of the four Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) sailors towards foreign training and competitions from May to September. While Nethra will be training in Gran Canaria, Spain till September, she will also head to Keil, Germany (Kiel Week), followed by Marseille, France (Olympic Test Event) and Scheveningen, Netherlands (World Sailing Championship) for various competitions. Vishnu, on the other hand, will be training and competing at various locations (Valencia, Milan, Dublin, The Hague, Croatia and Mumbai) in the coming months. He is set to compete in the EurILCA Europa Cup, ILCA Open Asian Championship, Marseille Olympic Test Event, and World Championship (Olympic qualifiers) before heading

India set for Round 2 draw for AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament

The Indian women's football team has been placed in Pot 4 along with Iran and North Korea for the final draw of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Round 2

PT Usha calls wrestlers' protest indiscipline, who said what so far!

From Kapil Dev to Neeraj Chopra, many have spoken in support of the wrestlers

Business side of sports very fragmented: JSW Sports' Manisha Malhotra

No consolidation has been made to create an industry of sports, she says

4 million apply for tickets for Paris Olympics in lottery: Report

Four million applications were received for an online lottery where winners get to buy tickets for next year's Paris Olympics, the local organizing committee said Friday. They hope to sell 1.3 million tickets for the 2024 Games as a result of the latest draw. Applications ended Thursday evening and winners will know early next month if they have been successful. They can start buying from May 11 and have a 48-hour timeslot to do so. They'll be told 48 hours beforehand when their slot is. Figures on which countries the 4 million lottery applications came from, and whether more men or women applied, were not available. The five countries who bought the most tickets, and other statistics, will be made known after the sale has finished in June. By then, organizers expect that about half of the 10 million tickets for the Paris Games will have been sold. A total of 3.2 million tickets were sold from the first phase of sales, featuring packages, with the top buyers coming from Britain an

Initiative aimed at strengthening India's road to Olympics launched

A multi-year, systematic and synchronised programme for grassroots sports development and strengthening India's road to the Olympics has been launched. The Delhi-based Society for Transformation, Inclusion, and Recognition through Sports (STAIRS) launched its latest initiative 'One India One Goal' on Saturday with Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik unveiling the logo and merchandise of the initiative. The programme seeks to create a participatory sports development model directly aimed at increasing the number of stakeholders, from participants to policymakers. "The 'One India One Goal' program is based on three pillars - 'Play to Play', 'Play to Win', and 'Play to Earn' - covering the complete lifecycle of a player. It will be executed in the flagship STAIRS Funnel Model of grassroots sports development," a statement from STAIRS said. As a part of the programme, STAIRS also plans to open youth clubs and promote training academies where child

Confident of entering 90 m club this season: Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra

Javelin thrower and the reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will begin his Diamond League title defence in the Doha meeting on May 5

UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians athletes at Olympics

Russian athletes who have actively served in the military invasion of Ukraine should be allowed to return to international sports if they did not take part in war crimes, according to a United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee. The U.N. special rapporteur for cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, said late Sunday only Russian military members implicated in "allegations of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war" should be denied neutral status to compete in international sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Xanthaki angered Ukrainian athletes who took part in an IOC-hosted call to consult them ahead of an Olympic announcement due Tuesday to update guidance for sports bodies 16 months before the opening of the Paris Games. Ukrainian government and sports officials want the IOC to ban all Russians from the 2024 Games and claim most of the country's recent Olympic medalists were affiliated with the military. Xanthaki wrote on he

I'm not willing to retire yet, am a victim of age limit: Mary Kom

Boxing legend says fitness and performance should be 'determining factor' for athletes

Tokyo Olympic bribery trial opens; accused Shinichi Uneo accepts guilt

A trial looking into widespread bribery at the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee began Friday with a former head of a major ad company admitting to the charges. Shinichi Uneo, who formerly headed ADK Holdings, quietly told the Tokyo District Court the allegations were accurate. In Japan, a trial continues even if a suspect admits guilt. Three prosecutors took turns reading their opening statement during a two-hour session. Ueno is accused of paying nearly 15 million yen ($110,000) to Haruyuki Takahashi, a former executive at ad giant Dentsu, who wielded powerful influence in selecting sponsors for the 2020 Games. Ueno is among 15 people arrested in the bribery scandal. Takahashi has long been a prominent person in sports marketing with Dentsu, the official marketing partner of the Tokyo Olympics. Dentsu has also been implicated in a scandal to bribe International Olympic Committee members who picked Tokyo back in 2013. The sprawling scandals around the Tokyo Olympics have badly ..

Australian govts agree on 50-50 funding split for 2032 Brisbane Olympics

The federal and the Queensland state government have agreed on an almost 50-50 funding split to build or remodel venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Queensland state capital Friday to make the formal announcement about a deal worth an estimated 7 billion Australian dollars ($4.8 billion). The federal government will create a new 17,-000 indoor arena at Roma Street, the city's main public transport hub, and contribute to other stadium and venue refurbishments. The state government will be responsible for demolishing and rebuilding the Gabba, which will be the main stadium for the Olympics. The Gabba is the long-time home of cricket in Queensland state. This will leave a really lasting legacy for Queensland, Albanese told local radio station 4BC. "It's an investment that will produce a return with increased economic activity, increased visitors ... Queensland is such a fantastic tourist destination and this will really showcase

Sweden emerges as sudden front-runner in troubled search 2030 Olympics

Sweden emerging as the front-runner in a troubled search for a 2030 Olympics host is as much a surprise in Stockholm as elsewhere. The year started with Sweden not on the radar of a Winter Games race where longtime favourite Sapporo faded during a criminal investigation of alleged bribery linked to the recent Tokyo Olympics. Salt Lake City is targeting 2034. In Sweden, memories are also fresh of a bruising loss for Stockholm-Are against Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo in the 2026 Olympics vote the Nordic country's eighth beaten candidate for the Winter Games. The picture changed when Swedish officials met last month in Switzerland with International Olympic Committee leaders who faced uncertainty and time running out to find a 2030 host. We had a meeting in Lausanne in mid-January after the holidays, Swedish Olympic official Hans von Uthmann told The Associated Press on Thursday. On our journey back we realised, Hey, there really is an opening.' Urging caution just one week after the S

Akshdeep, Priyanka win men's and women's 20km race championship gold

Unheralded Akshdeep Singh clinched the men's 20km event gold with a stunning national record time to qualify for this year's World Championships as well as 2024 Paris Olympics on the opening day of the National Open Race Walking Championships here on Tuesday. The 22-year-old from Punjab clocked 1 hour 19 minutes and 55 seconds to obliterate the earlier national record of 1:20:16 which was in the name of veteran Sandeep Kumar who finished a lowly seventh with 1:23.28. The men's 20km race walk qualifying time for both the World Championships to be held in Budapest in August and 2024 Olympics is 1:20:10. Before Tuesday's surprise result, Akshdeep's personal best was 1:26:10 which he had clocked at the Inter-University Championships at Moodbidri in Karnataka early last year. Women's 20km event national record holder Priyanka Goswami expectedly won gold with a time of 1:28:50 to also qualify for both the World Championships and 2024 Olympics. Her national record stands at 1:28:45 which

Doping suspension lifted after samples didn't match, says Peter Bol

Olympic 800-meter finalist Peter Bol on Tuesday said his provisional doping suspension has been lifted after the A and B samples didn't match. Usually testing of the B sample confirms the original adverse finding in doping cases. I was just informed that my B sample did not match my A sample, Bol posted on Twitter. My provisional suspension has been lifted by Sport Integrity Australia. Sport Integrity Australia later confirmed testing of the B sample by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory showed an atypical finding, but that in itself is not the same as a negative test result. The investigation into the matter remains ongoing. Sport Integrity Australia will, as part of its investigation, proceed to consider whether any anti-doping rule violations have been committed, the government-backed agency said in a statement. It is not possible to provide a timeframe at this point. Bol repeated Tuesday that he's never taken banned performance-enhancing substances and he descr

Russia issue looms for 2024 Summer Paris Olympics, Zelenskyy rebukes IOC

The question of if and how Russia competes at the Olympics hangs over the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Just as it has now for five straight Olympics during Thomas Bach's leadership of the IOC, whose support this week for some Russians to compete in Paris was publicly challenged Friday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia and its athletes have been at risk of being banned though ultimately competed at each Olympics since the steroid-tainted 2014 Sochi Winter Games that was Bach's first as president of the International Olympic Committee. This time it is Russia waging war on Ukraine. Previously it was Russian state-backed doping and then Russian authorities trying to cover up evidence of that scandal. Zelenskyy wants Russia excluded from taking part in Paris while its military is occupying and attacking his country. He stressed that this week in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. Ukraine's sports minister first warned on Thursday of boycotting the Olympics. Tha

IOC seeks to let Russians compete at Paris Olympics as neutral athletes

The IOC made clear Wednesday it wants Russians to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as neutral athletes, in defiance of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call to exclude them entirely. Citing a unifying mission during a time of war, the International Olympic Committee said no athlete should face discrimination based only on the passport they held. A pathway for athletes' participation in competition under strict conditions should therefore be further explored, the IOC said in a statement published after an executive board meeting. IOC president Thomas Bach did not hold his usual news conference after the meeting. Russia was not directly condemned in the statement though athletes who have been actively supporting the war in Ukraine face being excluded from the Paris Olympics that open in 18 months' time, the IOC said. The IOC cited the example of Yugoslavians competing at the 1992 Barcelona Games as independent athletes while the nation was under United Nations sanctions du

India will bid for 2036 Olympics, Ahmedabad likely to host: Anurag Thakur

He said a roadmap for India's bid will be presented to International Olympic Committee during the IOC session in Mumbai in September 2023