Brazil unfurled a vast canvas celebrating its rainforest and the creative energy of its wildly diverse population in welcoming the world on Friday to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, all to the pounding beat of samba, bossa nova and funk.
Usain Bolt is promising to let American sprinter Justin Gatlin "feel his full wrath" as he zones in on an unprecedented treble-treble of gold medals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt would seek to grab an Olympic quota place in his first opportunity when he spearheads a 17-member Indian campaign at the Asian Olympic Qualification wrestling championship, starting in Astana, Kazakhstan from Friday. It will be a tough three-day competition from March 18-20, considering that only the top two finishers in each weight category here will secure an Olympic berth for a country. This is the second qualifying event for the Rio Games. The first was held last year at the World Championship in Las Vegas, where just one Indian in Narsingh Yadav bagged a quota place for the country in Men's 74kg freestyle. With India's entry at Rio de Janeiro ensured in 74kg category, no one will be competing in this category. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar also fights in the same weight division as Narsingh. Thus, the squad consists of five grapplers in men's freestyle, six in Greco-Roman and six in female wrestling. London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar, who pulled out of the 2015 World Championship due to an injury, has the best chance of grabbing an Olympic berth for India as well as a medal.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Serena Williams, the top-ranked player in women's tennis, said on Tuesday she was shocked to hear her friend and fellow tennis star Maria Sharapova had failed a drug test, but she commended Sharapova for showing courage in taking responsibility.
A special forum to promote inter-regional trade between India and Mercosur countries will be held on June 9 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The IOC seems reluctant to ban the entire Russian team from next month's Olympic Games, despite mounting concern over doping violations, the co-author of the report that led to Russia's ban from track and field events said on Wednesday.
A team of refugees that will compete at this year's Rio de Janeiro Olympics could number as many as 10 athletes, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Wednesday.
The World No. 2 had pulled out of Badminton Asia Team Championships because of injury earlier this month, and also exempted herself from participating in the Lucknow Open and South Asian Championships to work on her fitness.
If the Puja as a brand can be marketed more effectively outside Bengal, even overseas, it might do wonders for the economy, says Atanu Biswas.
Having achieved the goal of a podium finish at the recently-concluded Champions Trophy in London, the Indian men's hockey team chief coach Roelant Oltmans has now set his eyes on his next big target -- the Rio Olympics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, met the Indian athletes who will represent the country at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and wished them luck.
Former Brazil coach Dunga has been sacked by Internacional after a fourth successive defeat in the Brazilian Championship, the club from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul said on Friday.
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.
Brazil scored an unconvincing 2-1 victory over Colombia to enter the semi-finals of the World Cup on Friday night. They will meet Germany.
Cape Town-born Van Niekerk is the reigning 400m world champion and he broke Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record to win Olympic Gold in Rio de Janeiro last year.
A round-up of all the results from the 17th World Athletic Championships in London
New York, Madrid, Havana, Leipzig and London are already in the race.
The Paris 2024 organising committee in February proposed surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing as well as breakdancing for inclusion in the Games.
Uruguay, with 3.3 million people, are into a quarter-final with Argentina's conquerors France after four straight wins including a stunning 2-1 knockout victory over Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
BAI has confirmed the services of Tan Kim, who will be joining the Indian team by the end of September to work with the top doubles players.
World number two Rory McIlroy has said he still resents the Olympic Games for forcing him to choose between Britain and Ireland and revealed that Tiger Woods sends him texts in the early hours.
The drone photography community Dronestagram released a collection of their favourite drone photography of the year.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday his country's doping scandal was payback from those unhappy Russia had won the rights to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Russia underlined their total dominance in the synchronised swimming programme at the world championships on Saturday by completing a sweep of all seven gold medals with victory in the free combination team event.
Real Madrid will welcome back the added firepower of talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and striker Karim Benzema when they entertain promoted Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday.
India kept their Olympic qualification dreams alive by beating lower-ranked Italy in the shoot-out in a classification match of the women's Hockey World League semi-finals at the KHC Dragons Stadium in Antwerp.
'You can never break performance into black and white, there will always be grey and that's the nature of sport' 'My interest just lies in seeing how we can do better'
The flame will be flown in special safety lanterns to Switzerland for a ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva on Thursday
Neymar made his return to the pitch after a three-month injury lay-off as Paris St Germain celebrated their eighth Ligue 1 title with a 3-1 win against Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
Sony Corp does not plan to renew its sponsorship contract with FIFA, the governing body for world football, as the Japanese electronics maker needs to prioritise its restructuring efforts, people familiar with the matter said.
Inbee Park has two words for doubters who thought she should sit out the Olympics and give her spot to another South Korean: gold medal.
'Our Lockdown Life has a sort of schizophrenic, Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde personality about it,' says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
Jubilant teenager Sara Ahmed became the first Egyptian woman to stand on an Olympic podium when she finished third in the women's 69kg at Riocentro on Wednesday.
The disappointment of missing out on an individual Olympic double has not left Allyson Felix, but the world 400 metres champion could still win three gold medals at the Rio Games.
Veteran American Kristin Armstrong claimed a third consecutive road time trial gold to deny former Russian doper Olga Zabelinskaya what would have been a controversial triumph on a rain-soaked course at the Rio Games on Wednesday.
Brazil's first gold medallist of the Rio Olympics basked in her new-found fame on Tuesday, with Judoka Rafaela Silva taking aim at the racism that first threatened to defeat her and then became the affront that spurred her to greatness.
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