A bid from Australia to host the Summer Olympics for the third time would have a "great chance" of winning what he hoped would be a hotly-contested bidding process, Olympic chief Thomas Bach said on Wednesday.
Sachin Tendulkar will travel to the Rio Olympics after being invited by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach along with other eminent global personalities.
According to the organisers, based on the feedback from the NOCs and NPCs, it is expected that a significant proportion of Games participants will have been vaccinated before arriving in Japan. The new MoU adds to these efforts.
Organisers reported 10 new cases connected to the Olympics including media, contractors and other personnel, down from 15 on Saturday.
The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the event.
Boxing could be knocked out of the next Olympic Games if the International Olympic Committee is not satisfied problems with the sport's finances and governance are sorted out, IOC President Thomas Bach warned on Sunday.
'The Olympics postponement may not be a political body blow to Abe Shinzo, but it is no denying that the economic cost of the postponement of the Games will be heavy for Japan,' observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Spectacular IMAGES from the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea
Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee, on Wednesday. Batra was elected to the prestigious seat during the IOC Session in Lausanne as one of the 10 new members, after garnering 58 votes and four against.
Tennis great and founder of the WTA Billie Jean King was among those who applauded the announcement.
In 2014, Bindra was elected chairman of the International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) Athletes Committee, becoming the first Indian to receive the honour.
'We are not the ones who made the decision, we are only executing it,' Tsimanouskaya said the two officials told her. The two officials had told her the order to send her home came from "high up" in Belarus.
Mittal, in a letter to the FIH, has alleged that "a major cover up" was done to allow Batra to contest the election for the top sports job of the country. Batra offered a rebuttal in a communication to Bach.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia this week will be staged without spectators as organisers protect the event from the coronavirus, Greece's Olympic Committee said on Monday. The Olympic torch will be lit in Olympia at a scaled-down ceremony on March 12 before a seven-day relay that will culminate with a handover ceremony in Greece on March 19.
Organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics pushed on with the test event for sports climbing on Friday even as a raft of matches and tournaments were being cancelled or postponed worldwide due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. Tokyo 2020 organisers have insisted they are planning for the Games to begin as scheduled on July 24, while the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has said that cancellation is not even being discussed. Several other Tokyo 2020 test events, including rugby sevens and boccia, have been cancelled because of the virus but Friday's test for sports climbing went ahead, albeit with just a smattering of officials and media in attendance.
Olympic quick takes - Brazil lifter Reis suspended from Games after positive drug test.
France's Winter Olympics team will not travel to the 2018 Games in South Korea if its security cannot be guaranteed, France's sports minister said on Thursday, the first major doubts by a participating nation about growing North Korean tensions.
"We can only encourage FIFA to continue (with) the reforms which have been initiated, we cannot give detailed advice of what to do but we appreciate there is a readiness for reforms".
Plans that had been almost a decade in the making were shredded as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the IOC and Japanese government to take the unprecedented decision to postpone the Olympics for a year.
Tokyo 2020 medals unveiled a year before Games
China has smothered most outbreaks within its borders, keeping new case numbers low.
Olympics organisers must replan the Games without running up huge additional costs. IOC President Thomas Bach said his organisation faces several hundred million dollars in supplementary costs.
'Thanks to the excellent and trustful cooperation we are enjoying, like from the G20 Leaders' Summit, we are confident that these Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be a great success'
Rains failed to dampen the famous Rio carnival spirit as this Brazilian city bid an emotional farewell to the thousands of athletes of the world in a colourful closing ceremony to bring down curtains on the 31st Olympic Games.
"To facilitate these adaptations, and reflecting the postponement of the Games, we are making the necessary modifications to the qualification system principles to include, for example, the relaxation of the maximum two-year period and amendments to the qualification deadlines."
Twice Olympic champion swimmer Cate Campbell captured the mood of many of Australia's Tokyo hopefuls when she spoke of the virus 'shattering' dreams and visions of the future. Keesja Gofers, part of the Australian women's water polo team that had already qualified for Tokyo, said the decision was 'devastating' for all athletes competing around the world.
The IOC wants to attract more cities to bidding, and is eager to make the process easier, more flexible and more in line with the cities' own plans for the future.
Japan on Friday extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas by about three weeks to June 20 as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing less than two months before the Summer Olympics open.
Images from the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, at the National Stadium, on Friday.
The International Olympic Committee expects to bear costs of up to $800 million for its part in the organisation of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, now due to be staged next year, IOC president Thomas Bach said on Thursday. In March, the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government decided to delay the Games, which were due to start this July, for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed 300,000 people worldwide.
Marathoners are spending the precious few moments of downtime before Saturday's competition focused on strategy and rest, and do not fear Olympic cancellation
Japan is eager to quell fears the Games might be called off, postponed or moved to a different location due to the virus. And despite its optimism over the Olympics, Japan has cancelled numerous sporting events.
Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva, a fierce critic of a Russian track and field ban at the Rio Olympics, was elected an International Olympic Committee member on Sunday but a third of the votes were against her.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) athletes' commission on Thursday, despite being barred from the Rio Games over doping allegations.
There are now new questions that some athletes, whose bans prevented them from competing in the Tokyo Olympics, will have the opportunity to do so due to the change in dates.
The next challenge for Tokyo organisers is developing measures to help prevent a COVID-19 outbreak during the Games and how much the delay will cost Japanese taxpayers.
Athletes capable of adapting to uncertainty amid the coronavirus outbreak will be best placed to succeed at the Tokyo Olympics, India's sole individual Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra said. Known for his Zen-like poise and attention to minute details in preparation, Bindra, who won shooting gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing, said adaptability is key for athletes training to excel in Tokyo amid concerns about the virus.
While a billion hearts would pray for all the participants to do well, all eyes would be set on the duo of Deepika Kumari/Atanu Das, the four shooters and Mirabai Chanu to open India's medals count.
Scientists and medical experts are concerned about how things might look next summer, a year after the Tokyo Games were postponed.
In a rare honour for an Indian sportsperson, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been appointed a member of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Athletes' Commission.
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