U.S. Olympic, Paralympic officials bar transgender women from competing in Olympic women’s sports
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The change, announced Monday with a...
Berlin presents bid to rehost Olympics with 100th anniversary of 1936 Games looming
BERLIN — Berlin has formally presented its bid to rehost the Olympics in the same stadium where Jesse Owens starred during the 1936 Games under the Nazis. Berlin sports minister Iris Spranger on Tuesday said the city wants to put on a sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040...
Kirsty Coventry elected IOC president and is first woman, first African to lead global Olympic body
COSTA NAVARINO, Greece — Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. “It is a signal that we are truly global,” the Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming...
NBC, IOC sign $3B Olympic media rights deal through 2036 including Salt Lake City Winter Games
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — NBC will now be the champion of Olympic broadcasting in the United States through at least 2036. The IOC said Thursday it signed its long-time United States broadcast partner to a $3 billion renewed deal for the 2034 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2036 Summer Games....
Swiss Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger dies in avalanche
Sophie Hediger, a member of Switzerland’s snowboard cross team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has died following an avalanche at a mountain resort, the country’s skiing federation said on Tuesday. The incident occurred on Monday at the Arosa resort in Switzerland. Hediger, 26, competed at the Beijing Games in...
U.S. runner Shannon Rowbury on course for 2012 Olympic medal after Russian disqualified
The results of the London Olympics are still changing more than 12 years later. Shannon Rowbury of the United States took another step toward a long-delayed bronze medal on Tuesday when Russian runner Tatyana Tomashova was officially disqualified from the women’s 1,500 meters final at the London Games. The Athletics...
Ugandan Olympic athlete dies after being severely burned by her partner
NAIROBI, Kenya — Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after 80% of her body was burned in an attack by her partner. She was 33. Kenya’s sports minister said authorities must do more to combat gender-based violence. A spokesperson at...
This transgender sprinter will compete for Italy at the Paralympics
BOLOGNA, Italy — Valentina Petrillo fell in love with athletics as a 7-year-old while watching Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea win gold in the 200 meters at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. “I said I wanted to be like him,” said Petrillo, a transgender woman who was raised as a boy. “I...
Paralympic triathlon events are postponed because of poor water quality in the Seine River
PARIS — Paralympic triathlon competitions in Paris scheduled for Sunday have been postponed because of concerns about water quality in the Seine River after heavy rainfall, organizers said. The 11 para triathlon events are now scheduled for Monday, if upcoming water testing allows, the Paris 2024 organizing committee and World...
Here’s what to expect as 4,400 athletes compete in Paris at the Paralympic Games
PARIS — Let the games begin again. The Paralympic Games are set to open Wednesday as some 4,400 athletes with disabilities, permanent injuries or impairments prepare to compete for 549 medals across 22 sports over 11 days in Paris. The French capital, which just hosted the Olympics, again provides the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Olympic flag football will be drowned in endless glory for NFL, Team USA
False and misguided patriotism duly noted, the U.S. men’s basketball team winning gold at the Olympics (as pre-ordained by a string of double-digit point spreads) was farcical to the objective eye, best exemplified by LeBron James dunking over some swizzle stick from South Sudan, then going through his flexing and...
Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu presented Olympic bronze medal after controversy
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu received her Olympic bronze medal during a ceremony in the capital Bucharest on Friday that marked the conclusion of a swirl of controversy after the medal was first awarded to U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles but later revoked. “I did not expect the medal...
Irwin’s Calahan Young driven to climb goalball medal stand at Paralympics in Paris
With the Olympics concluded and competitors having returned home, it is time for a new set of athletes to represent their countries in Paris. The Paralympic games give a chance for athletes around the globe to represent their local communities and countries on the world’s biggest stage, conveying that a...
Jordan Chiles: Call to return Olympic bronze is ‘unjust’ and ‘significant blow’
American gymnast Jordan Chiles called an arbitration panel’s decision that dropped her out of the bronze medal position in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics “unjust” and a “significant blow” in a message posted on social media Thursday. The International Olympic Committee, in light of the decision by the...
Australian breaker Rachael Gunn says ridicule of her Olympic performance has been ‘devastating’
SYDNEY — Australian breaker Rachael Gunn said the backlash to her much-ridiculed Olympic performance has been “devastating,” adding Thursday that she took the competition seriously and gave her best effort. The 36-year-old b-girl known as Raygun said in a video posted to social media that she wasn’t prepared for the...
Analysis: Olympics with a short field delivers stars on the podium and compelling golf
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Take a small field and eliminate about half of them for not having a realistic chance of winning, and it sounds like it could be a LIV Golf event. But this is the Olympics, with 60 players from more than 30 countries, some of whom rarely experience...
From Paris to Los Angeles: How the city is preparing for the 2028 Olympics
LOS ANGELES — It’s Los Angeles’ turn for the torch. Mayor Karen Bass accepted the Olympic flag at the Paris closing ceremony Sunday, before handing it off to a key representative of LA’s local business — Tom Cruise — who in a pre-recorded trek via motorcycle, plane and parachute kicked...
Jordan Chiles medal inquiry: USA Gymnastics says arbitration panel won’t reconsider decision
USA Gymnastics officials say an arbitration panel won’t reconsider a decision asking gymnast Jordan Chiles to return the bronze medal she was awarded in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics. USA Gymnastics says it will continue efforts to let Chiles keep the medal. “USA Gymnastics was notified by the...
Mark Madden: U.S. basketball’s gold standard lacks spark despite dominance
The United States won Olympic gold in men’s and women’s basketball. Ho-hum. The men have won every gold since 2008, the women since 1996. U.S. basketball is like the Soviet hockey dynasty that won seven Olympic golds from 1956-88: It’s only interesting when they get beat. When the juggernaut loses,...
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif filed a legal complaint for online harassment against her
PARIS — Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has filed a legal complaint in France for online harassment after a rain of criticism and false claims about her sex during the Paris Olympics, her lawyer said Sunday. Khelif, who was Algeria’s flag bearer in the closing ceremony, won gold Friday in...
Italy beats defending champ U.S. for gold in women’s volleyball
PARIS — Monica De Gennaro of Italy made three previous trips to the Olympics only to leave empty-handed each time. Finally, at 37, she’s going home with the gold. Italy beat the defending champion U.S. team Sunday to win gold in women’s volleyball at the Paris Olympics. “It feels special,”...
Paris closing 2024 Olympics with a final star-studded show, passes torch to Los Angeles
SAINT-DENIS, France — Paris closed out two and a half extraordinary weeks of Olympic sports and emotion with a boisterous, star-studded show in France’s national stadium on Sunday, handing over hosting duties for the Summer Games to the next city in line: Los Angeles in 2028. In a display of...
U.S. ties China in Paris Olympics gold medal count after Americans’ nail-biting women’s hoops win
PARIS — The U.S. women’s basketball team held off France on Sunday to win gold in the final event of the Paris Olympics, and that hardware was needed for the Americans to tie China for the most with 40. The U.S. easily won the total medal count with 126. Aside...
Police arrest a man climbing the Eiffel Tower, prompting an evacuation hours before closing ceremony
PARIS — French police evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower after a man was seen climbing the Paris landmark hours before the Olympics closing ceremony Sunday. The shirtless man was seen scaling the 330-meter (1,083-foot) tall tower in the afternoon. It’s unclear where he began his ascent, but he...
A’ja Wilson, U.S. women hold off France to win 8th straight Olympic basketball gold medal
PARIS — The U.S. women’s basketball team had to overcome its greatest challenge in 32 years before extending the Americans’ unprecedented run to eight straight Olympic gold medals. Led by A’ja Wilson, Sunday they came away with another victory at the Paris Games. It was the closest — and maybe...
