After 2,160 years of history, give or take a decade, the greatest athlete of ancient Greece is no longer alone on his pedestal.
India's 16-member squad for Rio Olympics was announced on Tuesday in New Delhi. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh will lead the side with SV Sunil as the vice captain.
From the early pioneers to today's global superstars, the Olympics have captured hearts and minds, shaping cultures and inspiring generations.
Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova blamed politics for the decision to ban her country's track and field athletes from the Rio Olympics and said it was unfair to group them all together as doping cheats.
Russia's participation in the Rio Olympics remains in the balance on Tuesday after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would 'explore legal options' for banning the country from the Games.
Here is the current state of play among the 28 Olympic sports.
Thousands of athletes and staff roamed the Olympic village freely, mingling at cafes and swapping souvenir pins.
Forget past and think about future: coach Harendra Singh's advice to women's hockey team
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 organisers have become savvier about marketing the game.
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, who are touted as India's best bet for a tennis medal in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, have been seeded fourth and will be up against the Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and John Peers in their opening mixed doubles match at the Games.
Officers who form part of the security force for the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are complaining about delayed salaries and unfurnished accommodations, where many are forced to sleep on the floor. "Morale is rock bottom," said one member of the National Force, which is formed by police and fire services from states across Brazil to provide security for major events and emergencies. National Force officers already in Rio - part of an overall security deployment of 85,000 police, soldiers and other personnel - form a relatively small part of the overall effort, with about 5,000 members.
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland faces Irina-Camella Begu of Romania in the opening round of the women's draw with second-seeded American Coco Gauff taking on Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
In the first allegation of corruption linked to next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Epoca magazine reported that construction company Carioca Engenharia allegedly bribed the speaker of the lower house of Congress in order to secure funds for a massive port area regeneration project.
India have sent an 84-strong contingent of para-athletes, the largest ever in the country's history -- a heady mix of youth and experience, for the Paralympic Games, starting in Paris on Wednesday.
Neymar shed tears of joy after delivering Brazil's first men's soccer gold medal with the winning penalty in a 5-4 shootout triumph over Germany after a thrilling final ended in a draw following extra-time on Saturday.
Olympic gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra on Thursday requested all those who are part of the sports ecosystem to treat athletes like human beings and not medal-winning robots.
Indian archers would look to make amends for the flop-show in London when they take aim in the 31st Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Friday -- archery and football kick-start before the official opening ceremony of the Games.
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.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a late equaliser to salvage a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Argentina.
Britain's Mo Farah recovered from an early fall to sprint clear of the field in the home straight and retain his Olympic 10,000 metres title with a brilliant tactical display on Saturday.
National Anti-Doping Agency Director General Navin Agarwal says all the Rio Olympics-bound sportspersons have undergone testing for banned substances and are dope-free. He, however, conceded that there were issues regarding testing of a few Rio-bound sportspersons as they were not available at the 'whereabouts' provided by them as mandated under the Anti-Doping Administration Management System (ADAMS) of the World Anti-Doping Agency, but NADA was able to get their testing done later on.
The gold medallists on Day 16 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday.
Brazil arrested 10 people on Thursday suspected of belonging to a poorly organised group supporting Islamic State (IS) and discussing terrorist acts during the next month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
'We need more support from states to back budding talents from not-so-affluent families.'
From battling opposition from the villagers who considered wrestling to be a man's sport, losing her father at the age of just nine, to taking on powerful federation officials, Vinesh has faced innumerable hardships on her way to realising her dreams.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will face Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, the player who denied him a medal in London, in the opening round of the Rio Olympics after the draw was made on Thursday.
German Olympic sailors, one of whom was infected last year by a flesh-eating bacteria after a test run in Rio de Janeiro's sewage-tainted Guanabara Bay, said this week they are less worried about health risks than racing effectively in shifty winds and wild currents while avoiding floating debris.
Doping could cast a shadow over Kenya at the 2016 Rio Olympics unless the East African nation implements credible systems to root out drugs cheats, said veteran Kenya-based coach Brother Colm O'Connell.
China shrugged off badminton's biggest Olympic scandal to sweep all five titles at London four years ago but the Asian super-power is trying to keep a lid on expectations of another bumper gold medal haul at the Rio de Janeiro Games. The peerless team that set up the 'Great Haul of China' in London will line up almost unchanged at Rio, anchored by men's singles great Lin Dan and women's champion Li Xuerui. So strong were the Chinese in 2012 that they swept the titles without the reigning world champion women's doubles pairing of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, who were expelled from the tournament in disgrace.
The Sports Ministry inquiry committee, which was probing long-distance runner O P Jaisha's complaint of not being provided water during the Rio Olympics marathon event, has blamed her coach Nikolai Snesarev for the fiasco. In the two-page report, which the Ministry has accepted, it has been concluded that Snesarev refused personalized drinks for Jaisha ahead of the marathon even though Indian officials had asked him about the athlete's requirements.
Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva will not compete next year but is fixing her sights on the Rio Olympics in 2016, the Russian said on Thursday.
With the Delhi high court on Tuesday directing Wrestling Federation of India to hold a meeting with Sushil Kumar, the decorated grappler's hopes of competing at the Olympics seems almost over as the Federation is not keen on conducting a trial in the contentious men's 74kg category.
Pranati Nayak is only the third Indian woman to win a medal at the GymWorld Cup after Aruna Budda Reddy (2018) and Dipa (2018).
World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg), on Thursday, became the first Indian boxer to make the cut for this year's Olympics by entering the Asian Qualifying Tournament's final but the celebrated M C Mary Kom (51kg) failed to book her Rio Games ticket after losing in the last-four stage, in Qian'an, China.
Kidambi Srikanth's opening round match ended in agony as he retired due to a knee injury after lagging 14-21, 3-11 against Japan's fifth seed Kodai Naraoka.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not impose a blanket ban on Russia for next month's Rio Olympics over the nation's doping record but will leave decisions on individual athletes' participation with their sports federations, it said on Sunday.
Chinese Olympic women's swimmer Chen Xinyi tested positive for a banned substance at the Rio Olympics on August 7, state media said on Friday citing the country's swimming association, the latest doping scandal to mar competition at the Games.
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.
Germany might be the twice Olympic champions defending their title in men's field hockey but top-ranked Australia will be the team to beat at next month's Rio Games.
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