Olympics

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Rio's Olympic Flame Begins Its 15-Week Odyssey

Officials promise 2016 Games will be a success

(Newser) - The Olympic flame has been kindled at the birthplace of the ancient games in Greece, heralding the start of a 15-week journey leading to the Aug. 5 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, reports the AP . IOC and Rio organizing committee leaders attended Thursday's flame-lighting at Ancient Olympia, where...

'Shocking Downfall' for the Country That Gave Us Nadia

Romanian women's team fails to qualify for Rio

(Newser) - The Romanian women's gymnastics team has scored a medal in every Olympics since 1976, making it the longest Olympic medal streak in the sport—and one that has now been broken, reports NPR . The team failed to nab a spot at the Rio Olympics during a qualifying "test...

Spanish Olympian Says She Got Zika Training in Brazil

'It wasn't that bad'

(Newser) - Spanish Olympic gold medalist Marina Alabau says she got Zika while training in Brazil in December, suffering painful symptoms in an experience that the wind surfer says won't stop her from competing in the Games in August. The AP reports Alabau describes symptoms that her doctor said were in...

ASU to Get a High-Profile Coach: Michael Phelps

Tempe apparently agrees with him

(Newser) - With 22 medals and 39 world records under his belt, swimmer Michael Phelps is set to retire (again) after Rio 2016 this summer, the Washington Post reports. So, what's next for the most decorated Olympian of all time? Phelps has signed on to be a Arizona State University volunteer...

Grisly Details of 1972 Munich Olympics Attack Emerge

 Grisly Details of 1972 
 Munich Olympics 
 Attack Emerge 
in case you missed it
Dec 6, 2015 10:36 AM CST

Grisly Details of 1972 Munich Olympics Attack Emerge

'They came to hurt people. They came to kill'

(Newser) - The New York Times has a horrifying look into the treatment—including castration—of the 11 Israeli athletes who were taken hostage and killed at the hands of Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Two of the athletes' widows—Ilana Romano and Ankie Spitzer—were told by the...

Budget Woes, Polluted Waterways Plague Rio Olympics

If athletes want air conditioning, they'll have to pay for it themselves

(Newser) - As Brazil suffers through its worst recession in 25 years, organizers of the 2016 Olympics set to take place in Rio de Janeiro in August are cutting hundreds of millions of dollars out of their budget, Bloomberg Business reports. “It will be painful from now on,” Rio 2016...

IOC: We Want Refugee Athletes at 2016 Olympics

It's the first time refugees will be allowed to compete without a home country

(Newser) - Refugees have never been allowed to go for Olympic gold because they can't represent the countries they've fled from. Now they're going to get their shot, thanks to a decision by the International Olympic Committee to allow "highly qualified" refugees to take part in the Summer...

Ex-Olympic Coach Found Dead in Jail Cell

Marvin Sharp was facing several felony charges

(Newser) - An award-winning gymnastic coach charged with crimes against underage children was found dead yesterday in his jail cell, WRTV Indianapolis reports. Authorities say Marvin Sharp, 49, took his own life but gave no further details. Arrested just last month, Sharp was accused of molesting a preteen gymnast and storing thousands...

US Olympians Get Sick, Blame Rio's Gross Waters

Doc, coach think team members' illness caused by pollution at 2016 Games site

(Newser) - Concerns about contaminated waters in Rio de Janeiro, site of next summer's Olympics, took a new turn yesterday as 13 rowers and four staff members from the US rowing team contracted stomach illness after competing in a competition held in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a future Olympic site,...

Beijing Olympics Song Sounds Oddly Familiar

Critics accuse officials of copying 'Let It Go' from Disney's Frozen

(Newser) - Olympic anthems aren't usually chart-toppers, but one of 10 official theme songs for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, awarded to China on Friday , sure sounds like one. Unfortunately for Beijing, it sounds like one already made popular around the world: "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. The Olympic...

Rio's Olympic Waters Contaminated With Human Feces

AP investigation: Brazil's waters haven't been cleaned up, are beyond toxic

(Newser) - Athletes competing in next year's Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games, an AP investigation has found. An AP analysis of water quality revealed dangerously...

Boston Bid Ends for 2024 Olympics

Ties were "severed" after teleconference call, the AP says

(Newser) - Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympics is over. A person familiar with the decision told the AP that the city and the US Olympic Committee severed ties after a board teleconference today. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been made public....

80 Years Later, Jewish Games to Be Played in Nazi Venue

Berlin is hosting the European Maccabi Games at Olympic Park

(Newser) - Berlin is kicking off the all-Jewish European Maccabi Games tomorrow—a 10-day event where 2,300 athletes from nearly 40 countries will compete in 19 disciplines, from soccer and basketball to chess and bridge, reports the Local . If Berlin seems like an odd venue, well, "these are the games...

US Relay Team Stripped of Medals

Silver medals lost over Tyson Gay's doping case

(Newser) - The entire US men's sprint relay team was stripped of its silver medals from the 2012 London Olympics on Wednesday as a result of Tyson Gay's doping case . The International Olympic Committee notified the US Olympic Committee by letter that the 4x100 relay team has been disqualified and...

Lindsey Vonn Matches All-Time Wins Record

Skier records 62nd World Cup victory

(Newser) - Lindsey Vonn never thought she would make it this far. Perhaps that's why, after matching the World Cup's all-time record for wins today, she rated it "right below" her Olympic gold medal on her lengthy list of career achievements. "It's hard to really compare the...

US Skaters Get Olympic Bronze 50 Years Late

IOC finally adds Josephs to record books

(Newser) - There's no Olympics this winter, but the US still managed to claim two bronze medals in figure skating yesterday—from the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics. Siblings Vivian and Ronald Joseph came in fourth place in pairs figure skating but were given bronze medals a couple of years later after the...

Female Sprinter Fights Ban—Over Her Testosterone

Sprinter Dutee Chand doesn't want to change her natural body to compete

(Newser) - Indian sprinter Dutee Chand was born with what may be a blessing and a curse: hyperandrogenism. The medical condition results in unusually high levels of testosterone—high enough, in fact, that it crosses the threshold for what determines whether one can compete against women. She is fighting the International Association...

Host 2022 Olympics? Cities Say No Thanks

Costs make gig increasingly unappealing

(Newser) - The race is on for the 2022 Winter Olympics—the race to get out of hosting, that is. Four cities that were considering hosting, including two finalists for the job, have dropped out of the running. Four finalists remain, but only two of those bids look robust. Cities just don'...

In Rio's Olympic Waters: Corpses, Sewage

Rio has a long way to go in clean up of Guanabara Bay

(Newser) - With the clock ticking on Rio's 2016 Olympics and tongues wagging about its lack of preparedness , the New York Times today turns to a rather disgusting item on the Games' checklist that Brazil seems to have missed: Guanabara Bay, the site of the sailing and windsurfing events. Despite Brazil'...

Rio's Olympic Planning 'Worst' I've Ever Seen: IOC Official

But 'there is no plan B': vice president

(Newser) - Brazil's efforts ahead of the 2016 Olympics are "the worst" International Olympic Committee VP John Coates has "ever experienced," he says. Construction of some venues hasn't even started, Coates notes, and IOC officials have been forced to join local organizers to plan the Games. The...

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