34 h. ago US Olympic committee sidesteps transgender athlete policy amid LA28 buildup

USOPC won’t set transgender eligibility rules for LA28LA28 passes $1bn in sponsorship, confirms key venuesUSA Football certified ahead of flag football’s debutThe United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has said it will not set any policy on transgender athlete eligibility ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, despite growing political pressure from the Trump administration and increasing scrutiny over access and inclusion in women’s sport.Speaking Thursday after the committee’s first board meeting of 2025, chief executive Sarah Hirshland said the USOPC had no plans to define eligibility criteria, even as US president Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14201 – titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports – threatens to upend international participation protocols. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Olympic women’s soccer tournament to expand larger than men’s for LA 2028

Women’s tournament will feature 16 teams, up from 12Men’s tournament to contract from 16 to 12 teamsScore it a big win for women’s soccer at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.The Olympic women’s soccer tournament will be bigger than the men’s edition for the first time in 2028, the International Olympic Committee decided Wednesday, with 16 teams for women and now just 12 for men. Continue reading...

Sport

2 w. ago US Olympic and Paralympic officials fire coach and director after AP report on sexual abuse

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has fired a coach and a director after The Associated Press reported that the coach was accused of sexually abusing a young biathlete

Events

2 w. ago The US dominated figure skating's world championships. It may face the Russians at the Olympics

The Americans had arguably the best world championships in their long and distinguished figure skating history, and now they are pointing toward next season and the Olympics

Sport

3 w. ago Olympic venue plans are in place for Brisbane 2032 and now the wait for construction begins

It’ll be another year or two before construction begins on the main Olympic stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics

Politics

3 w. ago A new main stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics is unveiled amid a major overhaul of plans

A new stadium for the Brisbane Olympics has been unveiled as part of a major overhaul of planning for the 2032 Summer Games

Politics

3 w. ago Bridging the political divide: US and Canadian skaters hope sports can unify during worlds in Boston

One of the best rivalries in figure skating in recent years has been between Canada and the U.S. in ice dancing

Politics

3 w. ago Newly elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry celebrated on return home to Zimbabwe

Newly elected International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry has arrived in her home country of Zimbabwe to a hero’s welcome as her victory is celebrated as a national milestone

Politics

3 w. ago ‘It’s a privilege’: Boris van der Vorst, the man who saved Olympic boxing

By forming a new governing body, World Boxing, the Dutchman prevented the sport being banished by the IOC“It feels like such a sweet week and of course I’m very happy and proud,” Boris van der Vorst says as, in his role as the founder and president of World Boxing, he takes a rare break to reflect on a mighty achievement. Just over two years ago, boxing had been struck off the initial programme for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 and it was about to be banished entirely from the Olympic movement. It was then that Van der Vorst set about establishing a new regulatory body to replace the discredited International Boxing Association.His work, despite intense pressure, was vindicated when Thomas Bach, the outgoing International Olympic Committee president, announced on Monday that his executive board had recommended boxing’s inclusion in the LA Olympics. The key stipulation was in place, because the IOC recognised World Boxing as the sport’s new regulatory body, and on Thursday Bach’s rec...

Sport

3 w. ago Armed robbers ransack new Olympic president Kirsty Coventry's parents' home and steal £46,000 of jewellery, cash and her gold

Armed robbers broke into the Zimbabwe home of Kirsty Coventry's parents before making off with sporting mementos belonging to the new International Olympic Committee president.

Events

4 w. ago View from Africa: how Kirsty Coventry will handle sport’s biggest job at the IOC

Incoming president owes her position to political support but is promising a collective and sustainable approachThe International Olympic Committee’s president-elect, Kirsty Coventry, did not initially have designs on a role in sports administration until she was thrust into it, essentially by politics.On 7 September 2018, Coventry found out, along with the rest of Zimbabwe, that she had been appointed as the country’s minister for sports, art and recreation. She was the only white person on the 23-member cabinet, a unifier, albeit briefly, of a nation divided by racial schisms and labelled the “golden girl” by the then-deposed president Robert Mugabe. As an athlete who was also seen as a patriot, in a country where non-compliance has had serious ramifications, she could not refuse the position. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Sent to Coventry: how Bach’s power helped Zimbabwean’s shock IOC win

Poll result defied candidates’ calculations and illustrated outgoing president’s influence but change may yet comeIt might sound beyond ridiculous, given the scale of Kirsty Coventry’s seismic victory in the International Olympic Committee presidential election. But as the various royals, sporting dignitaries, politicians and billionaires left the Costa Navarino resort on Friday, some really believed the result could have turned out very differently.Yes, the 41-year-old Zimbabwean ex-swimmer had won in the first round with 49 votes to become the first woman to lead the IOC. And yes, Juan Antonio Samaranch and Sebastian Coe, the other members of the “Big Three”, had come away with just 28 and eight votes respectively. But in the postmortem there were several stories about how the IOC machine had powered Thomas Bach’s chosen successor over the line. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago An ancient bronze griffin head is returned to Greece from New York in a major repatriation move

An ancient bronze griffin head, stolen nearly a century ago, has been returned to the Archaeological Museum of Olympia

Politics

4 w. ago 2 men arrested in Zimbabwe for armed robbery and stealing new IOC President Coventry's memorabilia

Two brothers have been arrested and appeared in a Zimbabwe court accused of an armed robbery at the home of new International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry’s parents

Events

4 w. ago So it’s victory for Kirsty Coventry in the IOC elections. Who says cards with a rigged deck isn’t an Olympic sport? | Marina Hyde

The Zimbabwean has global sport’s top job but Britain’s Sebastian Coe was snubbed, and with good reason: he might have changed thingsCongratulations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the surprise election of its new president, Kirsty Coventry, confirming its status as one of the few electorates on Earth never to have had a change election. Another one is Fifa, with those two organisations’ eternal contest to be the worst-run governing body remaining easily the hardest-fought rivalry in world sport.Yes, the IOC has been in its 144th special session to elect a new leader. Don’t worry – it hasn’t been all hard beds, spartan canteens and bad lighting, as is inflicted on the poor old cardinals in Conclave. The three-day event inevitably took place at a five-star luxury Greek resort.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication...

Politics

4 w. ago British Olympic hero Sharron Davies blasts IOC after Lord Coe lost election race and throws gauntlet down to new president to protect women's sport after boxing gender row at Paris Games

New International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry is facing immediate calls to protect the women's category after securing a landslide election win.

Sport

4 w. ago So who is Kirsty Coventry, who now has global sport’s most powerful job? | Sean Ingle

IOC’s first female president faces significant challenges including handling Donald Trump’s power and protecting women’s sportsBarely an hour after Kirsty Coventry had become the most powerful figure in global sport at the relatively tender age of 41, she faced a series of verbal grenades about how she might handle Donald Trump in her new role.What would the new president of the International Olympic Committee respond, the first interrogator asked, if the American president tried to cause trouble during the Los Angeles Olympics by banning athletes from certain countries? Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago British Olympic hero Sharron Davies blasts IOC after Lord Coe lost election race and throws gauntlet down to new president to protect women's sport after boxing gender row at Paris Games

New International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry is facing immediate calls to protect the women's category after securing a landslide election win.

Sport

4 w. ago Kirsty Coventry elected first female president of IOC as Coe denied in vote

Zimbabwean former swimmer won majority in first roundSebastian Coe and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr lose outThe former Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry has become the first woman to lead the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year history, after winning a shock first round win over a seven-strong field that included Britain’s Sebastian Coe.The 41-year-old Coventry won 49 of the 97 votes of the IOC membership, giving her an immediate majority and also making her the first African to become IOC president and the most powerful woman in global sport. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Kirsty Coventry elected first female president of IOC as Coe routed in vote

Zimbabwean former swimmer won majority in first roundSebastian Coe is third; Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr secondThe former Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry has become the first woman to lead the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year history, after a shock first-round win over a seven-strong field that included Britain’s Sebastian Coe.The 41-year-old Coventry won 49 of the 97 votes of the IOC membership, giving her an immediate majority and also making her the first African to become IOC president and the most powerful woman in global sport. Continue reading...

Politics