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.
The Winter Olympics opening ceremony kicked off on Friday at Sochi's shining new Fisht Stadium on the shores of the Black Sea, and organisers promised viewers around the world a journey through Russian history.
They are not only skilful but also dead gorgeous. With these beauties strutting their stuff, the Sochi Games could well be the most photogenic event in sporting history. Here are the hottest athletes to look out for when the action gets underway from February 7.
Luger Shiva Keshavan, who will participate in his fifth Winter Olympics at Sochi next month, tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian why he is motivated to perform for India despite not getting enough support from the government.
Details of the 19-race F1 calendar, which has the same number of races as last year. Start times are 1200 GMT (1730 IST).
Ester Ledecka became the first person in Winter Olympics history to capture gold medals in unrelated events after the Czech won the snowboard parallel giant slalom on Saturday to go with her stunning Alpine skiing super-G gold.
Despite being down 4-5 with just three more games to go, Viswanathan Anand has said he was fine with an easy draw in the ninth game and insisted that he still has a chance of posting a win in the World Chess Championship match.
The 2014 Winter Games got off to a shaky start on Friday when one of the five Olympic rings failed to open at the start of the opening ceremony, meaning the symbol could not be illuminated with fireworks as planned.
Here are some reactions from the world of sport on of widespread state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
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.
The decision not to impose a blanket ban was not uniformly welcomed with Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, describing it as "yet another devastating blow to clean athletes."
Achilles the cat, who has correctly predicted the score of all three World Cup matches played so far in St Petersburg, tipped Nigeria to beat Argentina as the teams battle on Tuesday for a place in the soccer last 16.
Brazil might have made a slow start to their World Cup campaign but things are looking up, with feline fortune-teller Achilles predicting a win against Costa Rica hours before kick off in St Petersburg on Friday.
India's only Olympic Alpine skier Himanshu Thakur finished last in the men's giant slalom on Wednesday and cannot wait for the Sochi Games to end.
'A minor setback is not a bad thing to bring the team closer together'
India's Shiva Keshavan brought up the rear after two rounds of men's singles luge competition, finishing 37th out of 39 athletes at the Sochi Winter Games, on Saturday.
Max Verstappen celebrated his 21st birthday in style on Sunday with the Red Bull driver carving from the back of the Russian Grand Prix grid to first in the space of 19 laps.
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.
A last-minute decision by the banned Indian Olympic Association to comply with IOC orders is a good first step for the country's gradual return to the Olympic fold, IOC president Thomas Bach said on Tuesday.
Trailing by a full point with just two games remaining, Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand would desperately need a victory to stay afloat against Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship match in Sochi on Sunday.
Track and field star Lolo Jones is the most high-profile crossover athlete to try her hand at winter sports since former NFL running back Herschel Walker took off his shoulder pads and climbed into a bobsled.
The ruling by the CAS, sport's highest tribunal, will be taken into consideration by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as it ponders whether to impose a blanket ban on Russia from all sports.
Thomas Bach's response to a report that found Russia concealed hundreds of positive doping tests ahead of the Sochi Winter Games will determine his legacy as International Olympic Committee president, athletes leaders said on Monday.
Las Vegas will host the 2015 World wrestling Championship in the first qualifier for what could be wrestling's final appearance as an Olympic sport in the 2016 Rio Games.
President Vladimir Putin dismissed a senior Russian Olympic Committee official on Thursday because of delays in construction work for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Swedish high jumper Emma Green-Tregaro, who painted her fingernails in the colours of the rainbow flag in support of Russia's gay community, has been told not to repeat the gesture in Saturday's world championship final.
Ferrari are still waiting to take the fight to Formula One champions Mercedes after a Russian Grand Prix that left even their dominant rivals surprised by the gap in performance.
Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher took his last win with Ferrari in China in 2006. He has not appeared in public since he suffered severe head injuries in a 2013 skiing accident.
Aruna Anand, Viswanathan Anand's wife and manager, speaks about his preparation ahead of the World Chess Championship against Magnus Carlsen, which begins in Sochi on Friday.
The South Americans face Senegal in a decisive Group H clash in Samara on Thursday.
The Indian Olympic Association returned to the Olympic fold after a 14-month suspension following the election of N Ramachandran as Indian Olympic Association president after the new elections that were held on Sunday.
The Briton's latest victory, in a Tuscan Grand Prix that was twice red-flagged and re-started, left him one shy of the Ferrari great -- a record once held up as a milestone to withstand the test of time.
The tournament debutants held their own against a highly rated Belgian side in the first half in Sochi before a stunning volley from Dries Mertens and a Romelu Lukaku brace after the break helped the Europeans climb to the top of Group G.
Thailand expects to host a floodlit Formula One Grand Prix in Bangkok in 2015 after plans were pushed back a year, the governor of the national sports authority said on Friday.
In 2015 Carolina Kostner was handed a 16-month ban for allegedly assisting her former boyfriend
The 24-year-old, who finished 72nd in the giant slalom at the Sochi Winter Olympics four years ago, needs a score of 140 points or below in five races to qualify for the Winter Games in Pyeongchang from February 9 to 29.
The Russian Grand Prix could become a night race as early as 2017, according to Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and organisers.
The first race at the Red Bull Ring would be on the July 3-5 weekend.
Athletes arriving in Tokyo for next year's Olympic Games, postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be exempt from the 14-day isolation period Japan has imposed on anyone arriving from overseas to help stop the virus spreading.
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