Tokyo Olympics

Ishikawa, who is president of an IT company, has attended every Summer Olympics since then, becoming famous as an unofficial 'International Olympic Cheerleader'. She relishes joining in with fans from everywhere to cheer for their athletes. Tokyo: Kyoko Ishikawa was a back-packing Japanese student in Barcelona in 1992 when she says a “miracle happened.” She managed to buy a ticket to the opening ceremony of Spain's historic Olympics. She said she had only “pocket money” with her — maybe $50 — when some

After thinking hard about hanging on another year to compete at the COVID-19 delayed Tokyo Olympics, four-time gold medallist gymnast Simone Biles said on Wednesday she just might stick around for another three years for the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Winner of the coveted all-around crown along with team, floor and vault gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles had given every indication that the Tokyo Games would be her competitive swan song. But the 24-year-old American hinted during her appearance at the

North Korea has announced it will not take part in the Tokyo Olympics this year, saying the decision is to protect its athletes from Covid-19. The decision puts an end to South Korea's hopes of using the Games to engage with the North amid stalled cross-border talks. In 2018, both sides entered a joint team at the Winter Olympics which led to a series of historic summits. Pyongyang says it has no cases of the virus but experts say this is unlikely. The

TOKYO: A Japanese karate champion who will compete at the Tokyo Olympics testified before an ethics commission on Wednesday (Mar 31), alleging that a federation official hit her in the face with a bamboo sword. Ayumi Uekusa, who will compete in the women's over 61kg kumite category as karate makes its Olympic debut this summer, said she was the victim of a bullying campaign by Masao Kagawa, the technical director of the Japan Karatedo Federation. It is the latest "power harassment" scandal to

FUKUSHIMA: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch relay set off from Fukushima on Thursday (Mar 25), beginning a four-month countdown to the Summer Games, delayed from 2020 and the first ever organised during a global pandemic. Organisers hope that the relay will sweep away persistent doubts about the event. The nationwide relay, like the Olympics themselves, will be vastly different from previous editions, with spectators banned from cheering and kept away from the launch ceremony and first leg over COVID-19 concerns. Fans will be

Just about everybody, especially the organizers in Japan and Switzerland, want the Tokyo Olympics to open on July 23 — as scheduled. And yet, 2021 is starting on a similar path that led to the decision last March to postpone the games for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Japanese authorities and the International Olympic Committee moved quickly Friday to dismiss a report by The Times of London that quoted an anonymous government official claiming it has been concluded the games will

Up to 10 Russian track and field athletes will be able to compete as neutrals at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, World Athletics has confirmed. Athletics' world governing body has reinstated a scheme allowing Russian athletes who meet anti-doping criteria to compete under a neutral flag. The Authorised Neutral Athlete scheme was announced in March 2020, but was then suspended over further violations. Russia has been banned from competing as a nation in athletics since 2015. In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) banned the nation from all major

TOKYO: The creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics announced his resignation on Thursday (Mar 18) for proposing a plus-size female comedian appear as a pig. Hiroshi Sasaki resigned after a report on Wednesday revealed his suggestion about Naomi Watanabe, a hugely popular celebrity, for the opening ceremony. It is the latest headache for organisers of the Games, who are struggling to gain public support and were left reeling by former chief Yoshiri Mori's resignation after an uproar

Roger Federer is targeting a third Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games this year after missing out in 2016 due to injury as he looks to gain momentum when he returns to the court this week after 13 months on the sidelines with a knee problem. Federer, 39, is making his long-awaited comeback at the Qatar Open - where he plays Britain's Dan Evans in the second round on Wednesday (March 10) - after two knee surgeries ended his season last year. The

The early exits of Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen did them no favours as they fight to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. It is not so much the prize money available at relatively lower level tournaments like the just-concluded Swiss Open Super 300 (which offered a pot of $140,000) that is of importance to most of the top-25 international Badminton players as the points that are up for grabs, and which could determine qualification for the quadrennial Olympic Games. Players poised tantalisingly

Katie Ledecky won the 800m freestyle in Texas on Saturday night for her fourth title in her first national competition in a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Her winning time of 8 minutes, 13.64 seconds at the TYR Pro Swim Series was a whopping 12.3 seconds ahead of Leah Smith, who touched in 8:25.67. Haley Anderson, who already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in open water, was third. Ledecky also won the 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyles over the four-day meet. She

TOKYO: Japan's government is planning to stop overseas spectators coming to the Summer Olympics due to worries they will spread the coronavirus, a report said on Wednesday, as many Japanese remain opposed to holding the Games during the pandemic. The final decision would be made this month after talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other parties, the Mainichi newspaper reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. The government would continue to consider whether to accept spectators from within Japan, including the number allowed

TOKYO: The Tokyo Olympics should take place before a live audience, Japan's new Olympics chief has said, despite concerns about hosting the Games during a global pandemic. Seiko Hashimoto, who became the Tokyo 2020 president last week, told Japanese media the Games should have spectators just like other major sports hosting events before fans, although in limited numbers. Any final decision will depend on the coronavirus pandemic, she said in an interview conducted on Friday (Feb 26) and published on Saturday. "When we

MELBOURNE: Athletes are being encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics but it will not be compulsory, IOC Vice President John Coates said on Thursday (Feb 25). "Not compulsory, we can't do that," Coates, head of the IOC's Coordination Commission for the Tokyo Games, told reporters in Brisbane. "But it is certainly being encouraged and the IOC has an agreement with COVAX where it's helping to facilitate the distribution of vaccines." COVAX is the World Health Organization's global vaccine-sharing

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Saturday (Feb 20) the Group of Seven leaders gave unanimous support for his bid to hold the Tokyo Olympics this summer, as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus and to inoculate its citizens swiftly. "I told the meeting that I want to realise a safe and secure Olympics as testimony that human beings will have won the battle with the coronavirus," Suga told reporters following a virtual G7 summit meeting held on Friday. The

3 Indian race walkers qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics during the National Open Race Walking Championships, with Sandeep Kumar and Priyanka Goswami shattering national records in the men's and women's 20km events respectively. Three Indian race walkers qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics during the National Open Race Walking Championships on Saturday, with Sandeep Kumar and Priyanka Goswami shattering national records in the men's and women's 20km events respectively. The National Open Race Walking Championships are the first major athletics event after

The head of the Tokyo Olympics has announced his resignation over sexist comments. Yoshiro Mori had said women talk too much during an online meeting of the committee's board of trustees earlier this month, where he also said women are driven by a "strong sense of rivalry". The former Japanese prime minister, 83, had previously refused to step down and later when asked whether he truly believed women talked too much, he replied: "I don't listen to women that much lately, so I

Japan PM Yoshihide Suga's latest insistence that the postponed Tokyo Games are on track comes after The Times cited an unnamed government source saying Japan has already shifted its focus to hosting in 2032. Japan dismissed a report claiming officials see cancelling the Tokyo Olympics as inevitable on Friday, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he was "determined" to hold the Games. Deputy government spokesman Manabu Sakai there was "no truth" to the report in The Times, which quoted an unnamed ruling coalition

The 2020 Summer Olympics also officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and commonly called as Tokyo 2020 was an upcoming international multi-sport event to be held in Tokyo, Japan.  Originally scheduled to take place between 24 July and 9 August 2020, the Games are now rescheduled for 23 July to 8 August 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being held in 2021, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad will keep the name Tokyo 2020. This is the

Australia became the second country to pull out from Tokyo Olympics 2020 after Canada, citing reasons of concern over coronavirus. The development was confirmed by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Monday. Meanwhile, there are also reports of the tournament being postponed to 2021. AOC Chief Executive Matt Carroll said that the board has taken the decision without even waiting for a confirmation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Carroll's comments came up Canada withdrew their consent of participating in the Tokyo Olympics