Pyeongchang, South Korea | AFP | You had one job! Norwegian chefs hoping to buy 1,500 eggs to feed hungry Olympic athletes have had their dinner plans scrambled after a mix-up with a grocery order. Norway’s army of nutritional experts were left shell-shocked in Pyeongchang when a lorry delivered 15,000 …
Read More »S. Korea dog meat restaurants refuse to stop serving for Olympics
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Almost all the dog meat restaurants in South Korea’s Pyeongchang county, where the Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be held on Friday, have defied a government request to stop serving the food, an official admitted Thursday. South Koreans are believed to consume about one million …
Read More »Pope praises Korean Olympic rapprochement
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Wednesday praised as a gesture for a “better world” plans for a joint parade Friday by delegations from South and North Korea to open the Winter Olympics. “The traditional Olympic truce this year takes on special importance,” the pontiff said …
Read More »Africa could host Olympics as soon as 2032 – IOC boss
Pyeongchang, South Korea | AFP | International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday that Africa could host the Olympics for the first time as early as 2032. It came after the IOC approved plans to target Africa to host the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in …
Read More »Sex abuse trauma centres set up for Olympic athletes
Pyeongchang, South Korea | AFP | As American sport reels from a horrifying sexual abuse scandal, athletes competing in this month’s Pyeongchang Olympics will have access to trauma units for the first time in Games history. The Winter Olympics open in South Korea on Friday after long-time USA Gymnastics team doctor …
Read More »IOC steps up drug tests ahead of Winter Games
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | More than 14,000 anti-doping tests on more than 6,000 athletes have been conducted in the lead up to the Winter Games in Pyeongchang next month, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday. The tests, conducted between April and December 2017, represent a 70 percent increase on …
Read More »S. Korea’s Moon willing to hold summit with Kim Jong-Un
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Moon Jae-In said Wednesday he would be willing to sit down with the nuclear-armed North’s leader Kim Jong-Un, as the international community welcomed an agreement for Pyongyang to send its athletes to the Winter Olympics in the South. The Games in Pyeongchang …
Read More »Russia faces decision on Winter Olympics ban for doping
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | The International Olympic Committee meets from Tuesday to decide whether to bar Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping violations, in one of the weightiest decisions ever faced by the Olympic movement. The build-up to the high-stakes summit in Lausanne just 66 days before the …
Read More »Marathon champ Paul Tergat to head Kenya NOC
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Former marathon world record holder Paul Tergat was named president of Kenya’s strife-hit Olympic committee on Friday, hoping to end months of controversy and infighting. “Since Paul Tergat is unopposed, he is now the new president of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya,” said Omweri …
Read More »Rio probe puts IOC back under Olympics corruption spotlight
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | The Rio 2016 cash-for-votes inquiry in Brazil has placed the International Olympic Committee under a fresh cloud of corruption less than a week before it is due to award the 2024 Games to Paris. Almost two decades after its image took a battering with the …
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