Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazilian officials said that the country’s Olympics chief was the “lynchpin” in a plot to bribe the International Olympic Committee into awarding Rio de Janeiro last year’s Games. Brazilian police said in a statement they were probing “an international corruption scheme” aimed at …
Read More »Keino to step down as Kenyan Olympic chief
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan Olympic chief Kipchoge Keino said Wednesday he will not stand for re-election during the General Assembly in Nairobi on September 29. The 77-year-old double Olympic gold medallist has been at the helm of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) since 1999 when he …
Read More »Olympics: LA agrees to host 2028 Games, Paris set for 2024
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Los Angeles formally announced its intent to host the 2028 Summer Olympics on Monday after agreeing a deal with Games officials that paves the way for Paris to host in 2024. “The Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic bid committee in cooperation with the …
Read More »S. Korea president invites N. Korea to Pyeongchang Olympics
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday invited North Korea to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, saying sports could serve as a peace maker. The South and nuclear-armed North Korea are separated by one of the world’s most heavily armed borders and remain technically …
Read More »World Cup, Olympic stadiums in Brazil corruption scandal
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazil was proud of its football World Cup and Olympics stadiums, but the shame of the country’s corruption saga has engulfed even these monuments to fair play. A bribery scandal linked to construction firm Odebrecht that has swept up scores of politicians has …
Read More »Rio Olympic marathon champion fails drugs test – reports
Paris, France | AFP | Jemima Sumgong, the first Kenyan woman to win Olympic marathon gold when she triumphed at Rio in 2016, has failed an out-of-competition dope test, reports claimed Friday. The 32-year-old, who is also the reigning London Marathon champion, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO …
Read More »IOC freezes grants to Kenyan Olympic body
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The International Olympic Committee on Thursday imposed a freeze on grants to the Kenyan Olympic committee in a move which would affect the running of national sports activities in the country. The IOC said in a statement that it was unhappy that the Kenyan National …
Read More »Bolt loses gold as IOC strip Jamaica of 2008 relay win
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | Usain Bolt lost one of his nine Olympic gold medals Wednesday when the International Olympic Committee stripped Jamaica of their 4x100m relay win at the 2008 Beijing Games after a teammate was caught doping. The decision which follows the re-testing of hundreds of samples from …
Read More »YEAR 2016: Bolt, Phelps cap era of excellence
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps towered over the 2016 Rio Games, capping an era of sustained excellence that promises to reverberate through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and beyond. From Beijing in 2008 through London 2012 and, finally, in Rio, Bolt and Phelps captivated …
Read More »Russia ‘hijacked’ sport with mass doping, says McLaren
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Russia hijacked international sport by using more than 1,000 athletes in an “institutional conspiracy” to win medals at the Sochi and London Olympics and other global events, a top investigator said Friday. Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, who has previously accused Russia of “state-sponsored” cheating, …
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