'Cricket has always united us, and now, it's part of the Olympic movement! On this #OlympicDay, let's celebrate the power of sport to inspire, connect, and uplift'
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he supported Russians competing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics but that the country should ponder whether it should compete.
Russians are facing the likelihood of having to compete under a neutral flag in Paris because of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The IOC has taken no final decision but said athletes should not be punished for the acts of their governments.
'This is a milestone in our development and sends a clear signal. We want to put special focus on solidarity.'
Coubertin created the interlocking rings, which are coloured blue, yellow, black, green and red on a white field, in 1913.
Top seed Maria Sharapova eased into the third round of the Paris Open with a 6-3, 6-1 dismissal of South African Chenelle Scheepers on Wednesday.
Saina Nehwal staged a splendid recovery to enter the third round of the World Badminton Championships at the Pierre de Coubertin stadium in Paris on Wednesday. The world No 2 Indian ace, seeded second, got the better of Hsiao Huan Chen of Chinese Taipei 20-22, 21-15, 21-8.
Cricket and the Olympics made for strange bedfellows when the sport featured in its roster for the first and only time in the 1900 edition of the games in Paris.
Safina took advantage of Mauresmo's weak serve to clinch her third WTA title in two hours and 19 minutes.
Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to shrug off the disappointment of last week's second round exit at Denmark Open and eye her maiden Super Series women's singles title when she competes at the French Open this week. The sixth seeded Indian, who had lost to Japan's Sayaka Sato in second round at Odense, will open her campaign against Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin at Stade Pierre de Coubertin.
Commonwealth Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won a bronze medal at the World Championships in August, will play Chinese Taipei's Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han, who got the better of England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-15, 21-14 in the other semi-final.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up a straight-game win over Japan's Kazumasa Sakai but his compatriots Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt failed to cross the first hurdle in the French Super Series.
In the end of the 43-minute match, Rajiv advanced to the quarter-finals with a 21-11, 13-21, 4-2 win over the Indian at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.
Saina Nehwal fought her way back from a game down to win her opening round match while compatriot P V Sindhu crushed her opponent to storm into the second round of the French Super Series in Paris, on Wednesday.
During his speech, he recalled the role of sport and the Olympic Games to build bridges, bring people together and shape the peace.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy stunned reigning Olympic champion Lin Dan of China while Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap also crossed the opening hurdle to enter the second round of the USD 275,000 French Open Super Series.
Cricket, a sport dominated by Britain and former British colonies such as Australia and India, has only once featured in a Games - in Paris in 1900.
A torchbearer died of a heart attack after carrying the Olympic flame as part of Russia's torch relay leading up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in February, an official said on Monday. Vadim Gorbenko, 73, a sports school director and Greco-Roman wrestling coach, felt ill after walking 150 metres (500 feet) with the torch in his home city of Kurgan in western Siberia, said Roman Osin, spokesman for the Sochi 2014 torch relay.
'The Olympic Spirit has been thrown to the wind in Xi Jinping's China.' 'The International Olympic Committee is ready to kowtow to totalitarian China,' notes Claude Arpi.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap stunned world No. 4 Kenichi Tago of Japan by posting a straight-game victory in the first round of the men's singles event while Saina Nehwal registered an easy victory at the French Open Super Series in Paris.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances