By his own charismatic admission, Usain Bolt is a living legend. But if the Jamaican sprint king pulls off only part of his stated goals in Rio de Janeiro, a whole new vocabulary of superlatives will be required. Arguably the greatest sprinter in history, Bolt already owns the world records for the 100 meters and 200m. In London four years ago, he completed an unprecedented "Double Triple" by retaining the 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns won four years earlier in Beijing.
Always the crown jewel in the Olympic athletics programme, the Rio 100 metres final is shaping up to be extraordinary for many reasons.
Ensuring a level playing field for athletes during their Olympic preparations may not be possible due to the coronavirus pandemic but it is a challenge World Athletics will strive to overcome, its president Sebastian Coe said. Europe has become the new epicentre of the flu-like virus that originated in China late last year and restrictions on movement in several nations have hit the training plans of athletes ahead of the July 24 to August 9 Tokyo Games.
Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce rallied to claim an unprecedented third world championship 100 metres title in 10.76 seconds at the Bird's Nest stadium on Monday.
Boxing will no longer be part of the World Combat Games and the international federation is also leaving the SportAccord umbrella organisation.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will not soften its stance on new regulations for female classification and is ready to defend it in the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS), president Sebastian Coe has said.
The Olympic champion in women's 800m, feels sorry for Dutee Chand since the Indian, just like her, is facing a gender test row.
Usain Bolt, Ashton Eaton and Christian Taylor are the finalists for the 2015 World Athlete of the Year award, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on Wednesday.
Olympic champions the United States reclaimed their women's 4x400m relay world title as Jamaica suffered more injury heartbreak in the World Championships final on Sunday.*
Dutee Chand qualified for Rio Olympics in the women's 100m event after meeting the qualification mark at XXVI International Meeting G.Kosanov Memorial in Almaty.
Record-busting shoes loom large in marathon debate
Part of Sebastian Coe's new job as head of world athletics will be to shift the conversation about his "ostensibly clean" sport from doping to spectacular performances, he said on Sunday.
Usain Bolt returns to the site of his first global triumph this week for a world championships showdown with a convicted dope cheat that has ramifications for athletics beyond just establishing who is the fastest man in the world.
The IAAF ruling body of athletics is proactive in tackling doping and not protective of drug cheats, according to president Sebastian Coe.
On his first official visit to a member country after assuming office in August, world athletics chief Sebastian Coe urged India to promote track and field at the school level if it wants to excel on the international stage.
Ten days of athletics competition at the Rio Olympics begin on Friday. Check out the 10 events not to miss at the Olympic Stadium.
Rashmi Rocket suffers from overcrowding. Through its runtime of nearly two hours, it hints at too many issues without sinking its teeth into any, observes Deepti Patwardhan.
The year-long suffering she faced following the controversial "gender test" in 2014 has hurt promising sprinter Dutee Chand so much so that she still feels that she may get trapped and her resurrected career may be in ruins again. Two years ago, Chand's dreams of representing her country at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games came crashing when an indefinite ban was imposed on her, barring her from taking part in women's competitions due to her higher levels of testosterone (hormones primarily produced by male). Dutee fought the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Switzerland which upheld her appeal, citing no clear cut link with higher levels of these hormones with enhancement in performance. She returned to competitions last year and broke the national record in 100m dash recently. "I'm not able to trust anyone. I am scared that I might get trapped again. I hardly have any friends," Dutee told reporters on the sidelines of the GAIL Indian Speedstar event. "I prefer to train alone at SAI camp in Hyderabad. I don't train at national camp at NIS Patiala. Some of the 4x400 relay members don't like me," she added.
IOC President Thomas Bach asked members of the Olympic body at its session in Buenos Aires to support the creation of a refugee team, along the lines of the one that competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. The members responded with applause.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) faces a challenge to tackle cheating in sport while it has an annual budget of less than the income of many top athletes, its president Craig Reedie said. Lack of money could equally prove a handicap for a proposed independent testing authority, said Reedie, who also expressed support for global athletics chief Sebastian Coe and said WADA was in a state of "peace not war" with Coe's troubled sport. "I could do with a lot more money," Reedie said in an interview with Newsweek published on Saturday. The Scot said governments decided their own contributions to WADA's budget, which were then matched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "The total is not nearly enough," he said. "WADA's total annual budget of $30 million a year is exceeded by many athletes around the world who make more than that themselves in one year."
He reached the halfway mark in 59.35 seconds, 11 seconds inside the target, and ran remarkably consistently with his one-kilometre times fluctuating between 2.48 and 2.52 seconds.
'It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far. But I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge'
IAAF President Sebastian Coe gave a ringing endorsement to the Olympic athletics programme on Saturday, acclaiming a "remarkable week" that showed athletics is "alive and incredibly strong".
'What can I do if god made me the way I am?' 'All I want to do is win medals for India and make my country proud.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Former international athletics federation (IAAF) president Lamine Diack has told French police that he asked a Russian athletics boss for 1.5 million euros to finance political opposition in his native Senegal in 2011, the French daily Le Monde reported on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
An overview of India's underwhelming performance in athletics
Triple Olympic gold medal winner Kenenisa Bekele said he was bitterly disappointed to be left out of Ethiopia's team for the Rio Olympics and blamed members of the country's athletics federation he said knew nothing of the sport.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
A summary of sports events and persons in the news over the weekend.
Russia's new athletics head said his priority was to ensure Russian sportsmen and women compete at the 2016 Olympics as the sport tries to tackle rampant doping. "This is not an easy time for Russia, it is not an easy time for athletics," said Dmitry Shlyakhtin, who was elected as the new president of the Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA) on Saturday. "Going to the Olympic Games is task number one."
A round-up of results from the Athletics World Championships in London on Saturday
Justin Gatlin blasted out a warning that he is ready to challenge Usain Bolt's 100 metres hegemony when he stormed to a lifetime best 9.74 seconds to win the event in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season on Friday.
The 32-year-old Queenslander, who won Olympic 100 metres hurdles gold at the 2012 London Games and the world title in 2011 and 2017, said she had been forced into the decision by a string of injuries.
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