Earlier this week nine-time Olympic champion swimmer Mark Spitz said India needs to bid for the Summer Games to inspire its people to take up sport and become a sporting nation.
Doping: India records highest number of adverse findings among countries with 2000 or more tests
'I believe we have already missed the opportunity to cancel ... We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not.'
The cyber attack affected the internet-connected televisions at the media centres and also shut down the official Winter Olympics website for around 20 minutes.
Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe says athletes should not put their Olympic dreams before their health in deciding whether to compete at the Tokyo Games as global health authorities battle to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. A number of international sports events have been hit by the coronavirus, with some competitions being postponed and others cancelled outright, and there are concerns that the outbreak might scupper the Tokyo Olympics.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
Athletes from one sport should not be punished for the sins of those from another, the IOC president said on Wednesday, cooling speculation that Russia could be banned from the Olympics altogether for systematic doping.
'Olympics is once in four years, and athletes have only one shot at glory, and it's important to have a holistic approach, use science, use medicine, use technology and engineering in training and that will make a difference'
The novel coronavirus outbreak has affected their Olympic preparations but India's top athletes like P V Sindhu and Bajrang Punia say they are optimistic about the quadrennial event going ahead as scheduled despite the current health crisis. Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu says she can understand the apprehensions of fellow shuttlers, including compatriot Sania Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for the Games due to the cancellation of tournaments in the wake of the outbreak. The Olympic Games are scheduled to start in Tokyo, from July 24.
Bowling, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing and wushu were also included among the final eight, whittled down by a committee from the original 26 sports which applied for inclusion earlier this month.
Novak Djokovic launched his bid to stay on course for a Golden Slam with a clinical 6-2, 6-2 win over 139th-ranked Hugo Dellien of Bolivia on Saturday, as sweltering conditions in Tokyo took a toll on the players on the opening day of tennis at the Games.
"Athletes' health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.
No question of going back on IOA CEO's appointment, says PT Usha
New infections have spiked ahead of the Olympics, which are set to start in July
The marchers -- many wrapped in the red, yellow and blue flag of Tibet and dressed in traditional robes -- chanted and played drums, holding a minute of silence for their "martrys" before starting a "peace march" along Lake Geneva.
"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."
IOC stunned many Games organisers last month by announcing that the marathon, one of the most prestigious events at any Olympics, would be moved to the northern Japanese city of Sapporo to avoid the worst of Tokyo's summer heat.
Commonwealth Games: CGF seeking to avoid fixture clashes with Birmingham 2022
World Athletics announced the rescheduling after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese officials said new dates for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be July 23-August 8, 2021.
Olympic organisers say they will not reveal the final torchbearer's identity until the torch arrives in the stadium on live television, watched by billions of spectators.
Head of WHO's emergency programme, Dr. Mike Ryan said the decision regarding future of the Tokyo Games will be made 'very soon'.
Some 340 Japanese children will be unable to participate in the Olympic torch ceremonies for the handover in Greece and arrival in Japan due to precautions being taken against the spread of the coronavirus, Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori said on Friday.
Promising gymnast Dipa Karmakar, the women's hockey team and shooter Heena Sidhu on Sunday checked into the Olympic Village to further boost the Indian contingent at the Rio Games beginning on August 5.
A jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of Tokyo
Marathoners are spending the precious few moments of downtime before Saturday's competition focused on strategy and rest, and do not fear Olympic cancellation
India have been the FIH's top market in the last decade or so in terms of sponsorships and monetary benefits, and the world body official stressed that the country will continue to hold its significance despite the sport spreading its wings to other parts of the world.
'The Mumbai-Pune Olympics will be help shift the country's gaze to a region that denotes a new formula for sports, enterprise, and nation building,' argues Shashank Mani Tripathi.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it had listened to feedback from athletes and was encouraged by a clearer path towards postponement. Major sporting nations Australia and Canada withdrew on Monday as organisers came under mounting pressure to postpone the event for the first time in its 124-year modern history.
The International Olympic Committee has written to the Indian Olympic Association, seeking a report on sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi's 'current and exact situation before the courts of justice'.
Dutch speed skater Lara van Ruijven died after battling with an autoimmune disorder.
Hard work is the best way to success. This was proved by danseuse Sonali Acharya of Hailakandi, Assam who danced 25 hours and 25 minutes non-stop to enter the Guinness book of world records recently on occasion of her paying tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore as part of the countrywide celebrations for his 150th birth anniversary.
Wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flag bearer at closing ceremony at Tokyo Games on August 8.
London politicians called on Olympic officials to rethink their sponsorship contract with Dow Chemical on Wednesday, saying the company's links to the 1984 Bhopal disaster damaged the reputation of this month's Games.
Paris is, and will continue to be, dogged by the usual gripes about staging the greatest show on earth.
The IOA appointed ad-hoc committee has decided to conduct the Asian Games wrestling trials behind closed doors after parents of some of the wrestlers got into a heated argument with panel members at the IG Stadium on Friday.
With the Rio Olympics less than three weeks away, the IOC on Monday promised "the toughest sanctions available" after a report found Moscow had concealed hundreds of positive doping tests in many sports ahead of the Sochi winter Games.
A total of 23 athletes from five sports tested positive for banned drugs in re-checks of 265 samples from the London 2012 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.
Last month, the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed to July 2021 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
President of the Paralympic Committee of India, Deepa Malik said the apex body of para-sports in India, 'will abide by the international committee as well as in accordance with our government directives on the situation of COVID-19 in our country'.
The Russians had appealed their exclusion from the Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the doping scandal from the 2014 Sochi Games.
