(Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee has announced a series of measures including a stronger presence in Rio de Janeiro to monitor progress and speed up lagging preparations for the 2016 Olympics, president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday. Preparation... More »
(Reuters) – The IOC’s Coordination Commission has praised Tokyo’s early preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympics, highlighting the financial planning and diversity of local organizers after a three-day visit to the Japanese capital. Commission chairman John C... More »
(Reuters) – The South Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) will file an official complaint to the International Skating Union about the figure skating judging panel used at the Sochi Games which deemed Kim Yuna’s routine only worthy of a silver medal. Kim had arrive... More »
ALMATY (Reuters) – An American astronaut and two Russians who carried a Sochi Olympic torch into open space landed safely and on time on Tuesday in Kazakhstan, defying bad weather and ending their 166-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). “... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – An American astronaut and two Russians who carried a Sochi Olympic torch into open space will have to stay in orbit one day longer than planned because of bad weather on the steppes of Kazakhstan, officials said on Monday. Cosmonauts Oleg Ko... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – An emotional closing ceremony at Russia’s first Winter Olympics painted the hosts in soft colors, in contrast to the muscular, assertive spectacle that kicked off the Games, and there was even room for a joke at the home nation’s expe... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Canadians are satisfied with having cemented their place among the world’s top winter sports nations even though they fell short of the coveted top spot in the Olympics medals table. The Canadians have nine golds so far and can add to... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – The power of men’s ice hockey and grace of women’s figure skating were the big draws at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday, but athletes from Ukraine, which neighbors host nation Russia, found it hard to focus following bloody protests ... More »
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) – American-born Vic Wild won the men’s parallel giant slalom gold medal for Russia on Wednesday just minutes after his wife Alena Zavarzina had won bronze in the women’s event at the Sochi Olympics. Switzerland’s Patrizia Kummer b... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – The global broadcast output for the Sochi Winter Olympics is almost double that of Vancouver four years ago in terms of hours and channels, International Olympic Committee officials said on Wednesday. More than 102,000 hours were broa... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – The women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics has a special place in the hearts of viewers and the television executives who spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying the rights to the Games. Underlining the importa... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Hosts Russia, Canada and the United States rumble into action in what promises to be a spectacular men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament in Sochi, where six gold medals are up for grabs in other sports on Thursday. Canada open the defen... More »
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) – The only thing more surprising than American Kaitlyn Farrington winning halfpipe gold at the Sochi Olympics on Wednesday is the story of how her early career was funded – by selling the family’s livestock. Snowboarders like Shau... More »
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) – American cowgirl Kaitlyn Farrington stunned three former champions to win gold in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe by the narrowest of margins at the Sochi Olympics on Wednesday. The 24-year-old nailed her second run under the ... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – In a finish even a Hollywood scriptwriter would struggle to match, the women’s downhill at Russia’s Winter Olympics produced a tie for gold for the first time on Wednesday, on a thrilling fifth full day of competition. The host nation... More »
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned athletes from wearing stickers in memory of freestyle skiing pioneer Sarah Burke but she was not far from their thoughts on Tuesday as slopestyle made its Winter Games debut. ... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Attention at the Winter Olympics turned on Tuesday to the eagerly awaited men’s ice hockey competition even before a puck had been shot in anger, as host team Russia and heavyweights Canada and the United States paraded before the wor... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – The Russian men’s ice hockey team came together in a show of unity on Tuesday, ready to reclaim the country’s status as global superpower in the sport by winning the gold medal at the Sochi Olympics. If there was any doubt about ice h... More »
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) – Canadian teenager Dara Howell nailed her opening run as her rivals fell like ninepins on the Rosa Khutor snow to win the first Olympic gold medal in women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle at the Sochi Games on Tuesday. The 19-year-... More »
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa is to bid for the 2024 Olympics and also wants to host the Commonwealth Games two years before that, the country’s sports minister Fikile Mbabula said. “The biggest fish to catch is the 2024 Olympics,” the Business Day new... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Women’s ice hockey will debut a new format at the Sochi Games on Saturday aimed at avoiding the embarrassing routs that have put the sport’s Olympic future in doubt, but the tournament should still come down a battle of Davids and Gol... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping said Russia’s Winter Olympics would be splendid, state media reported, a show of support during a meeting with his Russian counterpart before Friday’s official opening of the Games in Sochi. Xi met with Presiden... More »
(Reuters) – The Swedish men’s ice hockey team were dealt a major blow to their medal chances at the Sochi Games when Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin withdrew from the Winter Olympics on Thursday due to a rib injury. Center Sedin, who with his twin Danie... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Intelligence agencies believe attacks by militants during the Sochi Winter Olympics are highly likely, but will probably be aimed at “softer” targets elsewhere in Russia, such as public transportation or other civilian venues, U.S. and E... More »
(Reuters) – When Olympic athletes line up to compete this week in Sochi, NBC executives will be going for the gold in another sport: turning a profit on the $775 million they paid for TV rights – a prize that has been stubbornly elusive in recent years. Networ... More »
ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) – Austrian skiing officials have shrugged off the pain of Olympic failure since the last Winter Games and they are hoping Sochi will also help the media forget the nightmare of Vancouver. “For us it’s forgotten. For some press peo... More »
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin countered accusations on Tuesday that construction had polluted the 2014 Winter Olympic host city of Sochi, saying that preparations for the Games had boosted environmental quality in the area many tim... More »
ST MORITZ, Switzerland (Reuters) – Bode Miller failed to complete his last race before the Winter Olympics, a giant slalom in St Moritz at the weekend, but the American made it clear his ambitions remained high for this month’s Sochi Games. “I’m ready. My skii... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bomb attacks of the kind that tore through mass transit sites in Russia ahead of the upcoming Sochi Olympics are a top concern of security officials preparing for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the head of the New Jersey State Police said on Wednesd... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Olympic Committee said on Monday it is sending the all-time largest athlete delegation of any nation in Winter Games history to next month’s Sochi Olympics with a 230-member team spread across all 15 disciplines. The U.S. team at the Febru... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two men said by Islamist militants to have carried out suicide attacks in south Russia appeared in a video donning explosive belts and warning Vladimir Putin to expect a “present” at the Sochi Winter Olympics from fighters following after th... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday no athlete would face discrimination at next month’s Winter Olympics, hoping to ease international concern over a Russian law banning gay “propaganda”. Aware that the success or failure of the Sochi ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – As an openly gay American athlete who is a self-confessed Russophile, Johnny Weir feels he has been caught up “in a crossfire” for not backing a boycott of the Sochi Olympics in the wake of the country’s anti-gay policies. Yet the flamboyant... More »
(Reuters) – Ashley Wagner was gifted a spot on the U.S. Olympic figure skating squad for the Sochi Winter Games on Sunday after finishing fourth at the national championships. Wagner, a two-time national champion, bungled her free skate at the U.S. championshi... More »
(Reuters) – Reigning 1,000 meter Olympic speed skating champion Shani Davis has dismissed reports he is set to retire after next month’s Sochi Games and hinted at competing in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018. The 31-year-old American, the first black athlete ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The $50-billion price tag for the Sochi Olympics is a “bad example” for future candidate cities but Russia’s first Winter Games will be secure despite mounting safety concerns, international skiing chief Gian-Franco Kasper said on Friday. Th... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian forces went on combat alert in Sochi and tightened restrictions on access to the Black Sea resort on Tuesday as part of measures by President Vladimir Putin to ensure security at next month’s Winter Olympics. Aware that the success o... More »
BORMIO, Italy (Reuters) – Felix Neureuther expressed his concerns about human rights issues at the Sochi Olympics after beating arch-rival Marcel Hirscher in a World Cup slalom on Monday. Second behind the Austrian after the first leg, the German handled the t... More »
ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Reuters) – Ryan Miller, the most valuable player at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, and Stanley Cup MVP Patrick Kane will head to Sochi looking for gold after being named to the U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team on Wednesday. The U.S. ro... More »
ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Reuters) – The National Hockey kicked of 2014 with the biggest hockey bash ever on Wednesday, firing the opening salvo in a ‘shock-and-awe’ campaign designed to turn casual fans into avid ones. An announced record hockey crowd of 105,491 b... More »
ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Reuters) – Veteran forward Julie Chu headlined the roster for the United States women’s ice hockey team for the Sochi Olympics announced on Wednesday. Chu, named to her fourth Winter Games squad, will be one of 11 returning Olympians as th... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian meteorologists have no concerns about a shortage of snow for the Winter Olympics in February but believe avalanches and poor visibility could disrupt the Sochi Games. The slopes where ski races and other mountain events will be held,... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has named former tennis star Billie Jean King, one of the first prominent athletes to publicly acknowledge her homosexuality, to be in the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where Russia’s anti-gay policie... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A torchbearer died of a heart attack after carrying the Olympic flame as part of Russia’s torch relay leading up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in February, an official said on Monday. Vadim Gorbenko, 73, a sports school director and Greco-R... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Unseasonably heavy snow has fallen near the mountain venues of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and meteorologists are optimistic there will be no shortage of snow for the Games in February, Russia’s chief weather forecaster said on Friday. We... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Anti-doping measures for the 2014 Sochi Olympics will be the toughest of any Winter Games, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said on Thursday. Bach, speaking to reporters in Seoul on a visit to check preparations for... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Progress on the troubled golf course hosting the sport’s return to the Olympics at the 2016 Rio Games is “reasonably good”, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said on Wednesday. Construction at the Venue Reserva de Marapendi course, being ... More »
NEAR ZHEZKAZGAN, Kazakhstan (Reuters) – A Russian spacecraft brought three astronauts and the Olympic torch back to Earth on Monday after the torch was taken on its first spacewalk in the run-up to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Russia’s Fyodor Yurchikhin bea... More »
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) – A pair of Russian cosmonauts took an Olympic torch into open space for the first time on Saturday as part of the torch relay of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games. Gripping the unlit silver-and-red torch in the gloved fist of his spac... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Olympics swimming champion Sun Yang will spend seven days in detention, state media said on Monday, after a car he was driving without a license collided with a bus in the latest incident to taint the reputation of the world record ... More »
