Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt will be able to compete in the curling mixed double tournament at the Winter Games in Beijing after the Medical Expert Panel (MEP) ruled that Gill could compete despite a positive Covid-19 test. Gill was placed in isolation in the Chinese capital after several …
Read More »Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to meet athlete & armed forces sergeant after she hugged Russian rival who beat her to Olympic gold
Bronze medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh was involved in emotional scenes after beating beaten by champion Mariya Lasitskene at the Olympic Games, with both athletes grinning, hugging each other and draping themselves in their national colors in the arena. That provoked an angry response from some viewers, including accusations that the junior sergeant of …
Read More »Disaffected Belarusian Olympic athlete Timanovskaya granted urgent visa by Poland after refusing to fly home under duress
The confirmation that she was given a visa was published on Twitter by Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcin Przydacz. On Sunday, the coaching staff of the Belarusian Olympic team allegedly took Timanovskaya to Haneda airport in Tokyo, with the intent of placing her on a flight home. At …
Read More »Belarusian athlete Timanovskaya ‘safe & secure’ in Tokyo after refusing to fly home as Polish & Czech officials offer help
Timanovskaya, 24, had sought police protection at Haneda airport on Sunday after being booked onto a flight by Belarusian team officials. The sprinter was due to take part in the 200m on Monday but was withdrawn after posting a video criticizing Belarusian Olympic officials on social media. Timanovskaya had been critical …
Read More »‘I am worried about my safety’: Athlete fears she will go to jail if she returns to Belarus, could seek asylum in Germany, Austria
Runner Timanovskaya was preparing to run in the 200m at the Games on Monday when she was abruptly told she would be escorted to the airport, put on a flight to her homeland and play no further part in the competition in the wake of her public criticism over an …
Read More »Wayne Dupree: I used to patriotically support every American athlete at the Olympics, now I actively hope they lose
When I was a kid watching the Olympics, if one of our athletes or teams lost to the Soviet Union or any other country, it annoyed me, patriotically. There was a strong sense of being represented by these American athletes. Now, I feel completely detached. I never thought that I …
Read More »Non-binary women’s footballer who is first openly trans athlete at Olympic Games says they feel ‘proud’ but ‘aware of realities’
Hugely experienced international Quinn came out as transgender in a move they described as “hard and kind of bullsh*t” last September, going on to become the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Games as Canada drew 1-1 with hosts Japan and beat Chile 2-1. The 25-year-old, who is …
Read More »Algerian judo athlete withdraws from Olympics to avoid possible match with Israeli, says he won’t ‘get his hands dirty’
Fethi Nourine, the gold medal winner in this year’s African Judo Championships, withdrew from the Olympics after seeing that the draw set him up to face Israel’s Tohar Butbul in the second round if he won his first match. Butbul has a bye in the first round of the 73-kilogram …
Read More »A new book explains why the first transgender athlete to compete against women at the Olympics has wired-in, unfair advantages
The Tokyo Olympics get underway this week but the women’s weightlifting competition is already mired in controversy. Laurel Hubbard will represent New Zealand in the 87kg+ class and become the first male-born transgender athlete to compete against women at the Olympic Games. The 43-year-old’s eligibility followed a 2015 ruling by …
Read More »‘World’s sexiest athlete’ Alica Schmidt says ‘Tokyo is calling’ as German track stunner reveals joy at Olympics selection (PHOTOS)
“TOKYO IS CALLING – I‘m going to the Olympics!” wrote the overjoyed 400m specialist to her 1.7 million Instagram followers on Saturday. “Still feels unreal! I’m so grateful and at the same time thrilled to experience something I have been dreaming of since I started all of this! Bring it …
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