There was also the exciting Rugby Union match that added that much more excitement to the past week. Rediff.com has that and more snapped right here. We bring you a glance of all the action from the week gone by

Former Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yuna will play the role of honorary ambassador for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea's Pyeongchang.

The exact words of a senior officer to his higher ups prior to the arrest of skating instructor Mustafa in connection with the rape of a six-year-old in a Bangalore school were, "Don't arrest him, we have no evidence against him. We will cut a very sorry figure."

Life's moments captured at the most appropriate time. Here are ten such pictures. Share yours too!

From Serena Williams's record triumph at the Miami Masters to gravity-defying moves of figure skaters, Rediff.com has it all snapped right here...

Japanese figure skater Mao Asada, who rebounded from a disastrous short programme at the Sochi Olympics to gain the best score of her career in the free skate, is now wavering on whether to retire from competition.

The outcry over the judging in the women's Olympic figure skating competition took a new turn on Friday when South Korea's skating union requested an investigation into whether it was run fairly.

South Koreans blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and biased judging at the Sochi Games after their top skater Kim Yuna was denied back-to-back Olympic golds by Russia's Adelina Sotnikova.

Russian Skicross racer Maria Komissarova has been seriously hurt in training with doctors making an immediate decision to operate, the Russian Freestyle Federation said.

That start, the two bodies flung across the ice in the dramatic finale and the captivating storytelling that went on in between for four minutes and 28 seconds at the Sarajevo Olympics left a worldwide audience awestruck.

Russia's flamboyant figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko pulled out of the Winter Olympics through injury on Thursday in a shock twist that immediately deflated home fans pumped up by an opening victory for their beloved men's ice hockey team.

Western criticism of Russia's Winter Olympics was reminiscent of Cold War ambitions to hold the Soviet Union back, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, despite signs that the world was warming to the most expensive Games ever held.

The home fans roared Russia to its first gold of the Winter Olympics on Sunday when figure skating favourite Yevgeny Plushenko sealed the Olympic team title, while Austria's Matthias Mayer conquered the perilous Rosa Khutor run to claim the men's downhill.

Julia Lipnitskaya has announced her arrival as the new darling of women's figure skating by helping Russia win gold in the inaugural team event.

Austrian Matthias Mayer conquered the treacherous Rosa Khutor run at Russia's Winter Olympics on Sunday to win the men's downhill, while the host nation was eyeing its first gold medal of the Games in the inaugural figure skating team event.

A rousing performance by world pairs champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov put hosts Russia in pole position to win the first ever figure skating team event gold medal at the Winter Olympics on Thursday.

The Olympics are a breeding ground for superstars. Rediff.com picks out some of the star names to watch at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

All round the year the sportspersons have enthralled their fans with their sheer determination to excel, their athleticism and other gravity-defying moves. Rediff.com presents the best photographs of year from the world of sports.

The United States has named former tennis star Billie Jean King, one of the first prominent athletes to publicly acknowledge her homosexuality, to be in the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where Russia's anti-gay policies have stirred controversy.

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yuna will make her return to competition at the Golden Spin event in Zagreb next month after her preparations for the Sochi Games were interrupted by a foot injury.

It's the time when athletes prepare for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

From Germany's Sebastian Vettel roaring into the record books as Formula One's youngest four-time world champion to Barcelona wining the El Clasico, Rediff.com has all that and more snapped right here...

The flame that will burn at next year's Sochi Winter Olympics was handed over to Russia on Saturday in the marble stadium that hosted the first modern Games in 1896.

Awarding the 2022 football World Cup to Qatar's desert state was a "blatant mistake" FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger said on Wednesday, adding that staging the tournament in winter would be just as big a problem.

President Vladimir Putin told Olympic chiefs on Wednesday that Russia would have its facilities ready in time to host the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, despite rising costs and concerns about corruption and humans rights abuses.

India's differently-abled athletes returned with the largest haul of medals in the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games at Pyeong Chang, South Korea.

Indian athletes have won 20 medals, including six gold, in the ongoing 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games at Pyeong Chang, South Korea.

Of all Wes Anderson films, Moonrise Kingdom is one of the best and much dreamier stuff, writes Raja Sen.

French Open champion Maria Sharapova held her perch atop the list of the world's highest paid women in professional sports for an eighth consecutive year, according to an annual survey released by Forbes on Monday.

Robin Szolkowy proved his 32-year-old legs were still capable of out-performing his younger rivals as he and Aliona Savchenko captured their fourth world championship pairs title by the narrowest of margins on Friday.

Here are some of the most breathtaking images from across the globe in the last 24 hours

A quick calculation by Congress managers soon after the unprecedented walkout by Congress's friends and foes alike has thrown up the figure of 275 in the ruling alliance's kitty. This is just 3 more than the majority mark of 272, "and a matter of grave concern", said a senior Congress leader.

A composed Joannie Rochette betrayed little of her emotional turmoil as she gracefully glided to the Olympic figure skating bronze on Thursday and then wondered what her late mother would have made of her effort. Competing four days after the death of the woman she described as "my biggest fan, my best friend", the Canadian blew a kiss skywards at the end of her routine and was all smiles as she took her bow.

A wide-eyed Mark Ladwig realised his dream of competing in a Winter Games after his leap from volunteer to competitor status.

American ice-skating pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White wanted to add a touch of originality to their choreography and now move to the tunes of Kajra Re.

The recent bailout of Romania by the International Monetary Fund puts the spotlight back on the East European block of countries and what it means for the Western European banking sector. If evidence is anything to go by, things are turning for the worse. In fact, if a block of countries could be termed 'sub-prime', Eastern Europe seems to qualify as the countries seem to have been battered and bruised big time by the ongoing global financial turmoil.

It was one of the most tantalising days in Indian Parliament. Parties debated for and against the nuclear deal. MPs crossed swords, armed with allegations and statistics. As the nation kept glued to the happenings, rediff.com's Prem Panicker gave its readers a blow-by-blow account of what happened. Here is the transcript:

Akshay Rajagopal, a 11-year-old sixth-grader from Lincoln, Nebraska, took top honours at the 2008 National Geographic Bee held in Washington, DC on May 21, collecting a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society for his winning efforts.

About 450 athletes from 18 teams including from ten states would contest for the honours at the five-day event.

Gulmarg, which is emerging as a global winter tourism destination will play host to National Winter Games next month to bolster its reckoning at the international level.