Russia has named a track and field team for the Rio Olympics which includes gold medallists Yelena Isinbayeva and Ivan Ukhov among 68 athletes who are hoping an IAAF ban on them competing will be lifted by sport's highest court later this month.
Former tennis world number one Maria Sharapova said on Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she has been taking the last 10 years for health issues.
'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'
Beslan Mudranov won Russia's first gold medal at the Rio Games in judo and fired a warning shot that his country had plenty more to prove.
With speculation rife that Rio Olympics silver medallist Venus Williams was allegedly allowed to use prohibited substance under Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) clause, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza on Friday rubbished reports suggesting that she has demanded the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to raise the matter with the appropriate authorities.
The corruption scandal that has rocked athletics is worse than the one that has plunged soccer body FIFA into crisis because it punished clean athletes, four-times Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson said on Tuesday. "With athletics, if you think about the victims, it is absolutely worse," the 400 metres world record holder told BBC radio. "The victims here are those (clean) athletes. They never had the opportunity to stand on the podium and they should have," added the American sprinter. An independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has stated in a damning report that "corruption was embedded" at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Refusing to budge from its stance, the Wrestling Federation of India floated a new theory on Tuesday, alleging that some junior officials of the Sports Authority of India and National Anti Doping Agency are responsible for Narsingh Yadav being handed a four-year ban for doping.
A lengthy ban for doping would be devastating for five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova but she would survive it, Nick Bollettieri, the man who discovered her, said on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Kenyan Brigid Kosgei broke Paula Radcliffe's 16-year-old women's marathon world record but former Alberto Salazar coached athletes, including Mo Farah, were never a factor in the Chicago Marathon.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's obsessive pursuit of excellence and a new-found sprint sensation in Hima Das gave Indian athletics audacious Olympic hopes but familiar dope shame kept things in perspective in an eventful 2018.
Touching home in a time of 3:42.44, Sun held off a storming swim from Olympic champion Horton, who had failed to even qualify for the event at the Australian trials but was added to the squad as a discretionary pick.
She should win her place thanks to good results, says Radwanska
At the medal ceremony, Scott shook hands with fellow bronze medallist Martin Malyutin of Russia, who finished with the same time as the Briton, but then completely cold shouldered Sun, refusing to make eye contact and not offering a handshake.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
National Sports Federations and State Olympic Associations have been asked to collect feedback from the stakeholders such as athletes, coaches, support staff, central and state government ministries, match officials and sports administrators on how and when training should resume. The lockdown has been extended till May 17.
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.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel has hinted that Narsingh Yadav's prospects of participating in the Rio Olympics is virtually over, but said the wrestler will be given a fair chance to defend himself.
'There are so many guys who are hungry, want to win, are competitive, really talented and great athletes. It doesn't necessarily have to be one guy.'
Maria Sharapova, the Russian five-time Grand Slam champion who became one of the highest paid sportswomen in the world, announced her retirement at the age of 32 on Wednesday. The former world number has played only two matches this year, losing in the first round of the Australian Open, with her ranking sliding to 373.
Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt said he hopes American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson can "refocus" and get back on the track after she completes a one-month ban following a positive test for cannabis.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A distraught Alysia Montano called her career 'a farce' and branded the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) "a corrupt institution" after crashing out of the US Olympic trials on Monday.
Russia said on Friday it is ready to do everything from a legal point of view to defend Russian athletes if they are banned from taking part in the Rio Olympics over doping allegations.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is unlikely to come under the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) ambit anytime soon despite the constant push from the International Cricket Council, said the Indian board's acting president, C K Khanna.
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.
Former World No 1 Greg Norman has said he feels sorry for Tiger Woods' position as a fallen idol.
American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, said on Tuesday he hopes this year's Rio Olympics can help heal a sports world hit by recent doping and corruption cases.
The coach of Brazil's national swimming team says China's Olympic champion Sun Yang tried to elbow and kick a female swimmer.
World athletics president Sebastian Coe said he reacted with "shock, anger and sadness" to this week's allegations of bribery, extortion and doping cover-ups and said the sport faces a "long road to redemption".
More sporting bodies sanctioned Russian and Belarusian athletes on Tuesday over Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Dope-tainted Narsingh Yadav admitted that his career would be over if the four-year ban imposed on him by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is not reviewed and said that the country should take up his case as India lost out on an Olympic medal in wrestling.
Dismisses sabotage angle, saying: "...all in all found the sabotage (s) theory possible, but not probable and certainly not grounded in any real evidence'
Bulgarian triple jumper Gabriela Petrova had her doping suspension lifted by the IAAF on Monday, less than a week after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced an amnesty for athletes who had tested positive for meldonium before March 1.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry has questioned COA member Diana Edulji benefitting from a one-time ex-gratia payment given to women international cricketers, implying conflict of interest in the allocation.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
One of Maria Sharapova's biggest sponsors, Nike Inc., said it was suspending ties while the case is being investigated.
What we must know about the substance the Russian tennis ace was taking before it was banned this year.
"I have been on teams where people have failed a drug test, accidentally and through no fault of their own. I would never call them cheats. It seems to be very hypocritical."
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