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At his funeral in the western Ukrainian town of Letychiv, friends of the 22-year-old, who volunteered for the military and was hit by shrapnel in Bakhmut last week, were vehement that Russians should be excluded from the Olympics. Fellow decathlete Dmytro Korbenko, who described himself as Androshchuk's best friend, said of Russian athletes: "It's obvious they're not supposed to be in sports, nor at the 2024 Olympic Games." As mourners laid bouquets near Androshchuk's feet or kissed his forehead, Korbenko described his friend as a strong-willed athlete. In response, Ukraine has threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics if the year-long war is still raging and if Russians are allowed to compete. Russia, which denies committing atrocities in Ukraine, said attempts at banning it from international sports were "doomed to fail."

[1/2] A car rides on an empty road near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 29, 2023. In Paris after meeting Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said "there was no taboo" about supplying Kyiv with fighter planes. Russian forces on Tuesday made no headway in attempts to advance on Avdiivka, the second focal point of Russian attacks in Donetsk region, Kyiv's military general staff said. Russian forces also tried to advance near Lyman, a town further north in Donetsk region that was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in October, the military said. Russia was reaching further west in Donetsk by firing on the town of Vuhledar and a half dozen other towns and villages, the Ukraine military said.

☆ Ukraine on mission to ban Russia from Paris Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At least 220 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have died in the war, Huttsait said, with over 340 sports facilities damaged or ruined. However, there has been little public support yet from other nations for an outright ban on Russians at Paris. "Certainly, there is some attempt by the International Olympic Committee to allow our athletes to participate in international competitions," said Stanislav Pozdnyakov, head of Russia's Olympic Committee. 'LIVES MORE IMPORTANT THAN MEDALS'The IOC's previous recommendation to ban Russians and Belarusians has been applied by many sports federations. Should that happen, Ukraine's sporting authorities and athletes will face a "very difficult decision" whether to boycott Paris, Huttsait said.

☆ Ukraine on mission to ban Russia from Olympics, IOC says sanctions stand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Vadym Huttsait, 51, a former Olympic fencing champion, told Reuters the idea of allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals was unacceptable. Moscow said on Tuesday it would welcome any IOC moves to allow its athletes to compete in the Olympics. But hours later the IOC said it was standing by sanctions imposed against the countries over Russia's invasion. There has been little public support yet from other nations for an outright ban on Russians at Paris. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier'LIVES MORE IMPORTANT THAN MEDALS'The IOC's initial recommendation to ban Russians and Belarusians has been applied by many sports federations.

☆ IOC rejects 'defamatory' criticism from Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The IOC rejects in the strongest possible terms this and other defamatory statements," the IOC told Reuters in a statement. This is whom the ignorant IOC wants to put under white flag allowing to compete," Kuleba wrote on Twitter. The IOC added then, however, that each sport federation was the "sole authority for its international competitions". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine would launch an international campaign to prevent Russian athletes from being allowed to compete at the Games. The Russian foreign ministry has said any attempt to squeeze Moscow out of international sport because of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine is "doomed to fail".

☆ Ukraine calls for faster weapons supplies as Russia presses eastern offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

We have to speed up events, speed up supplies and open up new weapons options for Ukraine." Three people were killed and six injured on Sunday by Russian strikes on Kherson that damaged a hospital and a school, the regional administration said. Russian troops had occupied Kherson shortly after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and held the city until Ukrainian forces recaptured it in November. Russia on Saturday accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately striking a hospital in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine, killing 14 people. Russia says it launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine to fend off a hostile West and "denazify" the country.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy attacks effort to allow Russia back at Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that allowing Russia to compete at the 2024 Paris Games was tantamount to showing that "terror is somehow acceptable". "Attempts by the International Olympic Committee to bring Russian athletes back into the Olympic Games are attempts to tell the whole world that terror is somehow acceptable," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. He said Russia must not be allowed to "use (the Games) or any other sport event as propaganda for its aggression or its state chauvinism". Reporting by Ron Popeski and Nick Starkov, editing by Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zelenskiy adviser: IOC promotes 'Russian anti-human policy'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

That's why it insists Russian athletes should participate in contests as real 'ambassadors of death'," Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. "Sport doesn't exist outside politics – sport promotes it. Thus, the IOC promotes the Russian anti-human policy." President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine would launch an international campaign to prevent Russian athletes from being allowed to compete in the 2024 Games. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that any attempt to squeeze Moscow out of international sport was "doomed to fail".

☆ Ukraine could boycott Olympics if Russians allowed back-minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine would not rule out boycotting the Olympic Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the Paris 2024 Games, its sports minister said. "Our position is unchanged: as long as there is a war in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes should not be in international competitions," Guttsait wrote on his Facebook page. "Work is currently underway on further possible steps and first steps to continue sanctions and prevent Russians and Belarusians from international competitions," he said. "If we are not heard, I do not rule out the possibility that we will boycott and refuse participation in the Olympics." Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned in some sports while they are allowed to compete under a neutral flag in others.

☆ Russian athletes could participate in Asian competitions - IOC
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian athletes could participate in Asian events with the International Olympic Committee looking at options for their return to international competitions. The IOC said on Wednesday the Olympic Council of Asia had offered Russian and Belarusian athletes the chance to compete in Asia. The IOC said in a statement it "welcomed and appreciated the offer from the Olympic Council of Asia to give these (Russian and Belarusian) athletes access to Asian competitions". That could potentially also include Olympic qualifying events, with Russian and Belarusian athletes unable to compete in Europe due to various restrictions and bans as well as opposition caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The IOC had recommended that events in Russia be cancelled or relocated and that Russian and Belarusian athletes not take part or compete under a neutral flag.

☆ Europe Is Torn Over the Idea of Reinstating Russian Athletes at the Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The International Olympic Committee’s about-face in seeking to allow Russian athletes’ participation at the 2024 Games in Paris has divided European countries, with some of the biggest Olympic committees of the continent remaining on the fence. IOC President Thomas Bach began openly pushing late last year for the reinstatement of Russian athletes, 10 months after the IOC had recommended Russian and Belarusian competitors be locked out of international sports over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia itself was already banned from international events because of its epic state-sponsored doping offenses at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but Russian athletes were allowed to compete in the last three Olympics under names like “Russian Olympic Committee.”

☆ Demonstrators protest NCAA's transgender athlete inclusion
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and about two dozen demonstrators outside the NCAA convention Thursday protested the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports and threatened the association with legal action if it doesn’t change its policies. The topic has divided the U.S. for the past several years, with critics saying transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women in competition. Eighteen states have passed laws banning transgender athletes from participating in female school sports; a federal judge earlier this month ruled West Virginia’s ban is constitutional and can remain in place. The NCAA has permitted transgender athletes to compete since 2010. Harris said the transgender athletes policy is no different from other eligibility requirements.

☆ RUSADA rules figure skater Valieva did not commit doping offence - WADA
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) investigation into figure skater Kamila Valieva's failed drug test has ruled that the teenager was not guilty of any doping infraction, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Friday. WADA said in a statement that RUSADA had determined that although Valieva had committed an anti-doping rule violation, she bore "no fault or negligence" for it. In her defence, Valieva said the positive test was the result of a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication. CAS had cleared Valieva to continue competing at the Beijing Games in the women's singles, upholding an earlier decision by RUSADA to lift a ban on the skater. CAS had cited the fact that Valieva was a "protected person" under WADA rules as one of the "exceptional circumstances" underpinning its decision.

☆ Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

ATHENS, Greece — Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, who won an Olympic gold medal before becoming entangled in his country’s volatile politics in the 1960s as king and spent decades in exile, has died. Prince Constantine on his sailboat at the Olympics in 1960. With minimal nostalgia for the monarchy in Greece, Constantine became a relatively uncontroversial figure. Crown Prince Constantine, left, arrives at the Raiding Forces' Headquarters on July 5, 1956. Prince Charles and King Constantine II of Greece attend Sunday service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in King's Lynn, England, on Dec. 9, 2007.

☆ Pelé, Brazilian soccer star and only player to win the World Cup three times, dies at age 82
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Michele Luhn | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Pelé, the Brazilian soccer icon who brought the World Cup trophy to his home country three times, becoming an international superstar and the highest-paid team athlete in the world at the time, has died. Pelé joined the Santos Football Club in Brazil in 1956 at age 15 as an inside forward. The club won the São Paulo league championships and, in 1962 and 1963, both the Libertadores Cup and the Intercontinental Club Cup. Brazil lost in the first round at the next World Cup, in 1966, after Pelé and others suffered injuries. Pelé closed out his World Cup career netting 12 goals in 14 games and remains the only soccer player to win the trophy three times.

SAO PAULO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Pele, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday at the age of 82. The death of the only man to win the World Cup three times as a player was confirmed on his Instagram account. [1/4] Legendary Brazilian soccer player Pele waves to the spectators before the start of the under-17 boys' final soccer match of the Subroto Cup tournament at Ambedkar stadium in New Delhi, India, October 16, 2015. Brazil's CBF soccer federation said Pele "gave us a new Brazil and we can only thank him for his legacy." Kylian Mbappé, the French star many view as the current best soccer player in the world, offered his condolences.

☆ India 'seriously' considering bid for 2036 Games - sports minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, Dec 28 (Reuters) - India is "seriously" considering a bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games, sports minister Anurag Thakur said. The world's second-most populous nation has previously hosted the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, and Thakur told the Times of India newspaper it was the "right time" to host the Olympics. "India is looking very seriously at bidding for the 2036 Olympics," Thakur added. Germany is considering whether to launch another Olympic bid despite strong domestic opposition. New Delhi hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982 and the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

☆ F1 drivers barred from political statements unless approved
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Formula One drivers will need prior written permission from the sport's governing body to make 'political statements' from next season following an update of the International Sporting Code. Drivers who make such statements will now be in breach of the rules unless the FIA has granted previous approval in writing. Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, and now-retired four-times champion Sebastian Vettel, have been among those making political statements at races in recent seasons. This year he wore a shirt proclaiming 'Stop Mining Tar Sands' and 'Canada's Climate Crime' at the Canadian Grand Prix. An FIA spokesman said the update was "in alignment with the political neutrality of sport" as enshrined in the International Olympic Committee code of ethics.

☆ Sapporo City, Japan Olympic Committee to pause promotion of Sapporo Winter Games bid - Kyodo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The city of Sapporo and the Japan Olympic Committee will be pausing active promotion of Sapporo's bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics for "a while", Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday. A widening scandal regarding corruption during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has prompted several arrests in connection with suspected bid-rigging, and Sapporo's mayor was quoted last week as saying it might be difficult to carry out promotional activities under current conditions. Earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to postpone its decision on the host city for 2030, citing concerns about climate change. Reporting by Elaine Lies, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Supports IOC Leader’s Aim to Include Russian Athletes in Paris 2024 Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Rachel Bachman | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Flag bearers Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov of Team ROC carry their flag during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympics. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee backs the idea to include Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, as long as they don’t compete under their nations’ flags or in their colors, said Susanne Lyons , chair of the USOPC board of directors. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said last week that he wants Russian and Belarusian athletes to be able to participate at the Paris Games, even if the Russian war in Ukraine continues.

☆ Olympics President Signals He Wants Russian Athletes at Paris 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IOC president Thomas Bach attends the opening of the Executive Board meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said he wants Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, his strongest remarks to date on the debate that has divided international sport. “Participation must happen on sporting merits,” Bach said in a Wednesday news conference.

☆ Now is not the time to lift Russia, Belarus sanctions-IOC
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nelson Acosta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has no immediate plans to lift sanctions on Russia and Belarus even though the qualifying process for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics goes into full swing next year, the Olympic body said on Monday. The IOC issued guidance to sports governing bodies in February to remove from competition athletes from Russia and Belarus, which Moscow used as a key staging area for the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine that Russia calls a 'special operation'. While events that count towards qualification in some sports for the Paris Olympics have already been held, most sports will stage their continental or global qualification events in the coming 18 months. I would not want to comment on the state of qualification of athletes for Paris." While the IOC's position could change in the future, some federations have been clear that the only way to reinstate Russia and Belarus in their sport would be the removal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

☆ 2022 World Cup should ban Iran in support of women and protesters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sardar Pashaei | Emily Schrader | Sardar Pashaei Is A Former World Wrestling Champion Iran Who Fled In Due To Political Persecution. He Is Now The Executive Manager Of | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

On Saturday, 32 national soccer teams are gathering in Qatar for the start of the FIFA World Cup. That same year, Mahshid Razaghi, who played for the Olympic soccer team, was executed for selling anti-government newspapers. In 1984, Habib Khabiri, a member of the men’s national soccer team, was executed by firing squad for membership in an anti-regime organization. Preventing Iran from participating in the World Cup would send a concrete message that regimes that persecute their own athletes have no place in world sporting organizations. While such a ban would mean Iranian athletes can’t participate in this World Cup, many in Iran believe the team isn’t representative of the people of Iran in the first place but only represents the Islamic regime.

☆ Greek court acquits activists over 2021 protest against Beijing Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ATHENS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A Greek court has acquitted three activists detained in October 2021 after unfurling banners at the Athens Acropolis opposing the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, their lawyer and activists said on Thursday. Those acquitted were 19-year-old Tibetan student Tsela Zoksang, 22-year-old Hong Kongese-American Joey Siu and a 35-year old Vietnamese-American activist. They had staged a brief protest at the Acropolis in the Greek capital, holding up a Tibetan flag and a banner reading "Free Hong Kong - Revolution" at a scaffolding surrounding part of the monument. The protest took place hours before a dress rehearsal of the torch-lighting ceremony for the Games in Greece's Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics. "Today's result is a huge victory for the right to peaceful protest and for the Tibetan and Hong Kongese people, said Michael Polak, director of the group."

☆ Nikki Hiltz: How this professional runner is making their sport more inclusive
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“I was open about my sexuality at that point, but not my gender identity,” Hiltz tells CNN Sport. After coming out as trans and non-binary, Hiltz continues to compete in the women’s division. “You know, I have no business putting on an in-person race,” Hiltz jokes. Spencer Cox’s veto of a bill that bans transgender women from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams. Since coming out as trans and non-binary last year, Hiltz has had conversations with race directors and announcers about making running more inclusive.

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