The traditional shroud of secrecy around Olympic opening ceremonies has some gaping holes in this age of digital downloads and social networking.
Russian Yulia Efimova, who won two Olympic silver medals this month after being cleared to compete in Rio following a doping ban, has compared swimming in the Games to being at war. Initially excluded from the event because of her doping record, the 24-year-old won a last-minute legal challenge to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and finished second in the 100 and 200 metres breaststroke in Brazil. "I felt under pressure from the sportsmen, the fans, the press. This was awful and it was not like being at an Olympics, which usually unites people. This was not a competition, but a war - a old war," Efimova told a news conference on Wednesday.
The Kremlin said on Monday it welcomed the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which allowed clean Russian sportspeople to compete in next month's Rio Olympics.
Peng's presence during the Games had been a matter of speculation since the IOC said it planned to meet with her in Beijing.
Kyodo said the government had concluded that welcoming fans from abroad would not be possible given public concern about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries, Kyodo cited the officials as saying.
New infections have spiked ahead of the Olympics, which are set to start in July
The negativity has melted away as sporting action has grabbed the headlines at Sochi and Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be everywhere at the Sochi Olympics these days.
Tennis star Martina Navratilova and US basketball player Jason Collins said on Tuesday the International Olympic Committee has not done enough to defend the rights of gay athletes ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Munich will not bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics after failing to win the support of the local population in a referendum on whether to bid for the Games.
Australian swimmers have swept the podium, broken world records, set milestones and won a mountain of medals at the Commonwealth Games pool but all anyone wants to talk about is a supposed 'love triangle' with golden girl Emma McKeon at the centre.
Violin star Vanessa-Mae will put on her slalom skis next month to become only the third person to represent tropical Thailand at the Winter Olympics.
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.
North Korean shooters snub South Koreans on podium
The opening of the Winter Olympics was supposed to be a triumph for Vladimir Putin that ended months of criticism of the Russian president over gay rights and talk of corruption surrounding the Games.
It has taken Das and her twin sister 32 years to visit India. The two sisters were just eight months old when they were adopted by a Dutch couple who raised them "like any proud parent would".
Russia, which has tried to showcase itself as a global sports power, has been embroiled in doping scandals since a 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.
The decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), imposed a four-year ban on Russia participating in a range of top-flight sporting tournaments, a period covering the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup.
Alina Kabaeva was first linked to Putin more than a decade ago, while she was a medal-winning gymnast.
White needed a big performance to overhaul Japan's Ayumu Hirano and duly delivered with a spectacular display to earn a score of 97.75. His victory means the United States have won all four snowboarding golds awarded at the Games.
Dozens of Russian athletes who competed at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, including at least 15 medal winners, were part of a state-run doping program.
Russia's exclusion from next month's Paralympic Games in Rio is a different situation from the IOC's decision to allow some Russian competitors to take part at the Olympics, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Monday.
Trudeau, along with his wife Sophie Gregoire, presented Canada's ice hockey jerseys to the budding Indian girls team during the event at the Canadian High Commission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the Sochi Winter Games officially open on Friday at a high-octane opening ceremony before 40,000 spectators at the gleaming new Fisht Stadium.
Allegations by a former head of Russia's drug testing laboratory that dozens of Russian athletes used doping when they competed at the 2014 Sochi Olympics are "slander by a turncoat" and are absolutely groundless, the Kremlin said on Friday.
The list pays tribute to the most stylish athletes in sport, including stars at the top of their games in tennis, basketball, football, golf and more.
Brazil's national Olympic committee (COB) and its head Carlos Nuzman were provisionally suspended by the International Olympic Committee on Friday, a day after the 75-year-old was arrested in Rio de Janeiro in connection with a corruption investigation.
Akshay Kumar talks about the Vancouver Winter Olympic torch experience on December 17.
Left in lurch after denial of government funding, Indian luge competitor Shiva Keshavan has found support from the IOC, which has granted him the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship to compete in the qualifiers for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
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.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen earned his 13th Olympic medal on Wednesday to become the most decorated Winter Games athlete when Norway won gold in the biathlon mixed relay.
Sunday's closing ceremony at Russia's first Winter Olympics will aim to paint the host nation in softer colours than the muscular spectacle that kicked off the Games, organisers said.
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.
Russia's flamboyant figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko pulled out of the Winter Olympics through injury on Thursday in a shock twist that immediately deflated home fans pumped up by an opening victory for their beloved men's ice hockey team.
The WADA decision is likely to determine whether Russian athletes, who can prove they are clean, will compete as neutrals or whether some will be invited by the IOC to compete in Tokyo.
Five-time Olympian and poster boy of winter sports in India, Shiva Keshavan pulled out of the Luge World Championships in Germany and Luge World Cup circuit due to 'lack of funds'.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who began skating together as children, brought home Canada's first Olympic gold in ice dancing to lift a host nation struggling to cope with a demoralising ice hockey defeat and diminishing medal hopes. Their American training partners Meryl Davis and Charlie White took silver and relegated the Russian favourites Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin to bronze. It was the first time in 34 years that Europeans did not win the ice dance gold medal.
Darya Dolidovich and her family are now in Poland, where she hopes to continue training
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.
Lindsey Vonn has revealed how she and Tiger Woods make their romance work despite constant media attention.
The row over uniforms in India's Winter Olympics contingent has intensified with luger Shiva Keshavan seeking chef-de-mission R K Gupta's resignation and threatening to open a 'can of worms' on his return.
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