Olympic

Russian and Belarusian athletes barred from participating in opening ceremonies of Paris Olympics

The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday barred athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in opening ceremonies in Paris as organizers target countries that were “responsible for the war” in Ukraine.

Athletes from those nations, though no teams, would be allowed to compete in individual events as “Individual Neutral Athletes,” or “AINs.”

“AINs will not participate in the parade of delegations (teams) during the Opening Ceremony, since they are individual athletes,” according to an IOC statement.

But any Russian or Belarusian athlete associated with “military and national security agencies will not be eligible to enter or to compete,” the IOC

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Olympic

Matildas drawn with United States and Germany in 2024 Paris Olympics group stage

The Matildas’ hopes of winning a historic Olympic gold medal will face an early test after they were drawn alongside heavyweights United States and Germany in the group stage at the Paris Games.

The US has won Olympic gold four times since women’s football was first contested at the 1996 Atlanta Games and is fourth on the FIFA

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Olympic

Australian Olympic stalwart Andrew Plympton dies aged 74 after long illness

Australian Olympic Committee stalwart Andrew ‘The Admiral’ Plympton has died aged 74 following a long battle with lung cancer.

A sailing world champion in 1988, he continued sailing until only a few weeks before his death.

Plympton was a long-time president of Australian Sailing and also served on the executive of the AOC, while he is credited with helping revive Australian sailing on the biggest stage.

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“(Plympton) was instrumental in the development of the Gold Medal Plan after the Athens Olympics when sailing failed to win a single medal,”

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Olympic

Nevin Harrison qualifies to defend Olympic canoe title

Nevin Harrison, who in Tokyo became the first US woman to win Olympic canoe or kayak gold, qualified to defend her title in Paris.

Harrison, a 21-year-old Seattle native, won the US Olympic Trials C-1 200m sprint in Sacramento, California, on Friday.

She became the first American to qualify for the Paris Games in any canoe or kayak event. More can join her later this spring.

Harrison won a second world title in 2022 and placed fourth at worlds last August, two months after suffering a back injury that kept him in bed for a week and out of the

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Olympic

JudoInside – News – Barbara Matic already on Olympic form

The final for women U70kg at the Grand Slam in Tbilisi Sanne van Dijke and Barbara Matic looked to be fairly even at the beginning but the Croatian double world champion had a look of total commitment and enjoyment on her face and she rolled underneath the Dutch number 1 with a seoi-otoshi for ippon to take the gold. She almost made it look easy, almost.

Through the first couple of rounds the top 4 of the category, Van Dijke (NED), Matic (CRO), Teltsidou (GRE) and Butkereit (GER) forged their way forward towards the final block. Van Dijke and Matic

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Olympic

‘Gold Zone’ Whip-Around Show Makes Peacock Debut During NBCUniversal’s Coverage of Olympic Games Paris 2024

Scott Hanson, Andrew Siciliano, Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila will serve as hosts of the Gold Zonewhip-around show, which will stream for the first time live on Peacock during NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Gold Zone will stream live on Peacock from 7 am – 5 pm ET each day from July 27-Aug. 10. The announcement was made by Molly SolomonExecutive Producer and President, NBC Olympics Production.

With up to 40 events happening simultaneously during the Paris Olympic Games, Gold Zone will present viewers with the best and most compelling moments happening at

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Olympic

Sharath Kamal to be India’s flag-bearer

A Chef de Mission is the head of a sports delegation at an international event.

Meanwhile, Gagan Narang, who won a bronze medal in air rifle at London 2012, has been tasked with overseeing India’s operations at the shooting range, which will be far from the main venues.

Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, who has operated upon several Indian Olympians including Neeraj Chopra, has been named Chief Medical Officer. He will be responsible for the health and well-being of Indian athletes at the Games.

India has already secured 19 quotas in shooting for the Paris 2024 Olympics and more are possible. Paris

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Olympic

Olympic figure skater Kaitlin Hawayek serving as in-arena DJ at World Figure Skating Championships

Hawayek and Baker ‘exploring passions’ away from ice

Hawayek/Baker haven’t competed since the first half of the 2022-23 season, when they finished the Grand Prix Series with a fifth-place effort at the elite GP Final. Ahead of the US Championships that year they withdrew citing their mental health, doing so several weeks later, opting out of the 2023 World Championships.

It was the summer before the Olympic season, in July of 2021, that Hawayek suffered a horrible concussion herself, needing stiches after an accident in practice.

It was so bad for months after that Hawayek says: “I wasn’t able to

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