Former US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> believes if someone is "too woke", one tends to lose. His belief came into public light after the US soccer team missed winning gold at <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/tokyo-olympics">Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games</a>.

"If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn't woke, they would have won the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze. Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has,"&nbsp;the infamous former president said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-indian-wrestler-ravi-kumar-dahiya-secures-silver-medal-despite-losing-the-final-403137">Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya wins Olympics silver after losing in finals</a>

Trump was upset about the miss of the gold medal of the US women's soccer team. He motivated his supports to boo the US women team as he believes their miss of the medal was simply because the players were bust being too "woke".

He also falsely suggested that the women team refused to stand for the national anthem played during the tournament.

After the game, the double goalscorer Megan Rapinoe was appreciated for her contribution to the game, and this was being celebrated as a win for the LGBTQ community. However, Trump refused to acknowledge the good performance and instead claimed that Rapinoe had played badly.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/exclusive-we-were-questioned-and-laughed-at-in-past-this-is-our-answer-says-sreejesh-after-india-win-olympic-hockey-bronze-watch-403109">Olympics hockey bronze is answer to those who laughed at us, says Sreejesh</a>

"The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!," Trump said.

"They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again," he added aggressively.

His comment on Rapinoe has come after the sports star had openly criticised the former president while he was in office. She had also refused to visit the White House till he was the main occupant there — something that Trump had largely criticised.

Former US President Donald Trump believes if someone is "too woke", one tends to lose. His belief came into public light after the US soccer team missed winning gold at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Former US President Donald Trump believes if someone is "too woke", one tends to lose. His belief came into public light after the US soccer team missed winning gold at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. "If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn't woke, they would have won the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze. Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has," the infamous former president said. Also read | Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya wins Olympics silver after losing in finals Trump was upset about the miss of the gold medal of the US women's soccer team. He motivated his supports to boo the US women team as he believes their miss of the medal was simply because the players were bust being too "woke". He also falsely suggested that the women team refused to stand for the national anthem played during the tournament. After the game, the double goalscorer Megan Rapinoe was appreciated for her contribution to the game, and this was being celebrated as a win for the LGBTQ community. However, Trump refused to acknowledge the good performance and instead claimed that Rapinoe had played badly. Also read | Olympics hockey bronze is answer to those who laughed at us, says Sreejesh "The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!," Trump said. "They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again," he added aggressively. His comment on Rapinoe has come after the sports star had openly criticised the former president while he was in office. She had also refused to visit the White House till he was the main occupant there — something that Trump had largely criticised.

'Everything that is too woke goes bad': Trump lashes out at US women's soccer Olympic team

At the medal ceremony for the badminton men’s doubles Saturday, the winning players watched a flag being raised, but it was not their own. They sang as a song reverberated in the mostly empty venue, but it was not their anthem.

For decades, politics has been getting in the way of Olympic glory for Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that China claims as its territory. Rather than using its formal name, the Republic of China, or even Taiwan, the island competes in international sporting events as Chinese Taipei, under a resolution passed by the International Olympic Committee. The terms prohibit the use of any symbols suggesting that Taiwan is a sovereign nation.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-another-medal-for-india-pv-sindhu-batters-chinas-he-to-win-bronze-402223">Olympics: Another medal for India, PV Sindhu batters China's He to win bronze</a>

On Saturday, Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin prevailed over Liu Yuchen and Li Junhui of China, winning Taiwan’s first gold medal in the sport. In accordance with regulations, their victory was marked by the raising of the flag it uses at the Olympics, a white banner featuring a plum blossom motif and Olympic rings, and the playing of a song known as its flag anthem, commonly used at international sporting events it attends. ​​

Tensions between the two sides had been raised even before the final, with both Lee and Wang emphasising their Taiwanese identity on social media. In a Facebook post afterward, Lee said his gold medal was "dedicated to my country, Taiwan."

Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president, also congratulated the players for "winning our country’s first gold medal in badminton."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/sports/olympics-as-pv-sindhu-wins-bronze-for-india-a-look-at-her-outstanding-journey-at-tokyo-2020-bronze-medal-402245">IN PICS: A look at PV Sindhu's outstanding journey at Tokyo 2020</a>

Badminton is one of the Olympic sports traditionally dominated by China, where the state-run sports system is designed to maximise the number of gold medals in part by focusing on less-prominent sports.

Taiwan’s badminton victory has drawn some anger on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China, as well as comments from users congratulating China on a victory that, like Taiwan itself, they see as belonging to Beijing. Others accused the badminton players of advocating Taiwanese independence and criticized them as ungrateful.

“You can participate in The Games because there’s ‘Chinese Taipei’ on your shirts,” wrote one Weibo user who said the Taiwanese players’ allusions to national sovereignty left him speechless.

Similar nationalist attacks have focused on athletes from Hong Kong, a Chinese territory that fields its own Olympic team.

Social media users in Taiwan have responded with memes depicting a badminton court as the island’s new national flag.

The results were reversed in the women’s singles final Sunday night when Chen Yufei of China defeated the top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan. Before the match, many Weibo users in China had already accused Tai of being pro-independence, citing past remarks lamenting her inability to hold Taiwan’s flag at international competitions.

“We can lose to anyone but Taiwanese and Hong Kongese independentists,” one user wrote.

At the medal ceremony for the badminton men’s doubles Saturday, the winning players watched a flag being raised, but it was not their own. They sang as a song reverberated in the mostly empty venue, but it was not their anthem.

At the medal ceremony for the badminton men’s doubles Saturday, the winning players watched a flag being raised, but it was not their own. They sang as a song reverberated in the mostly empty venue, but it was not their anthem. For decades, politics has been getting in the way of Olympic glory for Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that China claims as its territory. Rather than using its formal name, the Republic of China, or even Taiwan, the island competes in international sporting events as Chinese Taipei, under a resolution passed by the International Olympic Committee. The terms prohibit the use of any symbols suggesting that Taiwan is a sovereign nation. Also read | Olympics: Another medal for India, PV Sindhu batters China's He to win bronze On Saturday, Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin prevailed over Liu Yuchen and Li Junhui of China, winning Taiwan’s first gold medal in the sport. In accordance with regulations, their victory was marked by the raising of the flag it uses at the Olympics, a white banner featuring a plum blossom motif and Olympic rings, and the playing of a song known as its flag anthem, commonly used at international sporting events it attends. Tensions between the two sides had been raised even before the final, with both Lee and Wang emphasising their Taiwanese identity on social media. In a Facebook post afterward, Lee said his gold medal was "dedicated to my country, Taiwan." Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president, also congratulated the players for "winning our country’s first gold medal in badminton." IN PICS: A look at PV Sindhu's outstanding journey at Tokyo 2020 Badminton is one of the Olympic sports traditionally dominated by China, where the state-run sports system is designed to maximise the number of gold medals in part by focusing on less-prominent sports. Taiwan’s badminton victory has drawn some anger on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China, as well as comments from users congratulating China on a victory that, like Taiwan itself, they see as belonging to Beijing. Others accused the badminton players of advocating Taiwanese independence and criticized them as ungrateful. “You can participate in The Games because there’s ‘Chinese Taipei’ on your shirts,” wrote one Weibo user who said the Taiwanese players’ allusions to national sovereignty left him speechless. Similar nationalist attacks have focused on athletes from Hong Kong, a Chinese territory that fields its own Olympic team. Social media users in Taiwan have responded with memes depicting a badminton court as the island’s new national flag. The results were reversed in the women’s singles final Sunday night when Chen Yufei of China defeated the top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan. Before the match, many Weibo users in China had already accused Tai of being pro-independence, citing past remarks lamenting her inability to hold Taiwan’s flag at international competitions. “We can lose to anyone but Taiwanese and Hong Kongese independentists,” one user wrote.

Taiwan’s gold medal win over China in badminton raises tensions

In a first, men’s Olympic triathlon event in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/tokyo-olympics">Tokyo 2020</a> had a bumpy start as a boat blocked the path of nearly half of the participating athletes on the start line.

The race had 56 participants and the countdown for starting the event began, nearly half of the participants saw their way being blocked by a boat. When the start gun went on, half of the athletes dived in but the rest had to wait for the boat to get out of the way.

This boat, which ruined the race, was carrying a camera. It rushed to reverse and get out of the athletes’ way when the boat driver realised the mistake, but it was too late.

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Yeah that boat is in the way <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/triathlon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#triathlon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/NAOajScX3E">pic.twitter.com/NAOajScX3E</a>
— Ben Damon (@ben_damon) <a href="https://twitter.com/ben_damon/status/1419420653262819334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
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As soon as the authorities realised the chaos, a horn was blown to signal the already-dived-in athletes to return, but many failed to hear it in the water. So, a bunch of smaller boats and jet skis were deployed to stop the athletes midway and bring them back to the start point.

While the race was restarted and everything was sorted, many believe this was highly dangerous for the participating athletes.

When the starting gun was fired, the boat quickly tried to reverse and could have hit the athletes. Many sighed relief that no athlete was hurt while the boat aimlessly reversed at a high speed.

"I saw the boat on the left side and found it quite strange that the starting bell came," said Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt. "I felt that the boat was still in front of the left side of the pontoon, so when I jumped in, I thought that this would most likely be pulled back and go for another start. I felt that the boat was still in front of the left side of the pontoon, so when I jumped in, I thought that this would most likely be pulled back and go for another start."

In a first, men’s Olympic triathlon event in Tokyo 2020 had a bumpy start as a boat blocked the path of nearly half of the participating athletes on the start line.

In a first, men’s Olympic triathlon event in Tokyo 2020 had a bumpy start as a boat blocked the path of nearly half of the participating athletes on the start line. The race had 56 participants and the countdown for starting the event began, nearly half of the participants saw their way being blocked by a boat. When the start gun went on, half of the athletes dived in but the rest had to wait for the boat to get out of the way. This boat, which ruined the race, was carrying a camera. It rushed to reverse and get out of the athletes’ way when the boat driver realised the mistake, but it was too late. Yeah that boat is in the way #triathlon #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/NAOajScX3E — Ben Damon (@ben_damon) July 25, 2021 × As soon as the authorities realised the chaos, a horn was blown to signal the already-dived-in athletes to return, but many failed to hear it in the water. So, a bunch of smaller boats and jet skis were deployed to stop the athletes midway and bring them back to the start point. While the race was restarted and everything was sorted, many believe this was highly dangerous for the participating athletes. When the starting gun was fired, the boat quickly tried to reverse and could have hit the athletes. Many sighed relief that no athlete was hurt while the boat aimlessly reversed at a high speed. "I saw the boat on the left side and found it quite strange that the starting bell came," said Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt. "I felt that the boat was still in front of the left side of the pontoon, so when I jumped in, I thought that this would most likely be pulled back and go for another start. I felt that the boat was still in front of the left side of the pontoon, so when I jumped in, I thought that this would most likely be pulled back and go for another start."

Watch: Boat halts way while swimmers start men’s Olympic triathlon race in Tokyo 2020

A South Korean broadcaster has apologised for using offensive images and captions to represent participant countries in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/tokyo-olympics">Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games</a>.

The incident took place during the opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020 which was scheduled for July 03 evening. This year, for the first time, the opening ceremony had very limited guests due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-organisers-thank-medics-at-opening-ceremony-overshadowed-by-pandemic-400168" hreflang="en">Tokyo Olympics: Organisers thank medics at opening ceremony overshadowed by pandemic</a>

Coronavirus restrictions led to people tuning in to local broadcasters to watch the magnificent opening ceremony. However, a South Korean broadcaster’s coverage of the event sparked anger all over the world.

MBC, one of the largest national television networks, ended up using offensive images to introduce participating countries. The broadcaster used images from the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 to introduce Ukraine, a riot-related image for Haiti, and a promotional bitcoin poster for El&nbsp;Salvador.

Also watch |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-pakistan-and-two-other-countries-make-awkward-entry-in-opening-ceremony-watch-400139" hreflang="en">Tokyo Olympics: Pakistan and two other countries make awkward entry in opening ceremony</a>

Not just the images, the captions included were also highly offensive. The Marshall Islands were described as "a former nuclear test site for the United States" and Haiti was introduced as a nation with an "unstable political situation due to the assassination of its president".

For other countries, the broadcaster decided to use food pictures. For example, Italy was represented by pizza, sushi images were used for Japan, and salmon for Norway.

"Inappropriate images and captions were used to introduce some countries," the broadcaster later issued an apology. "We apologise to those countries including Ukraine and our viewers."

A South Korean broadcaster has apologised for using offensive images and captions to represent participant countries in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The incident took place during the opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020 which was scheduled for July 03 evening.

A South Korean broadcaster has apologised for using offensive images and captions to represent participant countries in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The incident took place during the opening ceremony of Tokyo 2020 which was scheduled for July 03 evening. This year, for the first time, the opening ceremony had very limited guests due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Also read | Tokyo Olympics: Organisers thank medics at opening ceremony overshadowed by pandemic Coronavirus restrictions led to people tuning in to local broadcasters to watch the magnificent opening ceremony. However, a South Korean broadcaster’s coverage of the event sparked anger all over the world. MBC, one of the largest national television networks, ended up using offensive images to introduce participating countries. The broadcaster used images from the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 to introduce Ukraine, a riot-related image for Haiti, and a promotional bitcoin poster for El Salvador. Also watch | Tokyo Olympics: Pakistan and two other countries make awkward entry in opening ceremony Not just the images, the captions included were also highly offensive. The Marshall Islands were described as "a former nuclear test site for the United States" and Haiti was introduced as a nation with an "unstable political situation due to the assassination of its president". For other countries, the broadcaster decided to use food pictures. For example, Italy was represented by pizza, sushi images were used for Japan, and salmon for Norway. "Inappropriate images and captions were used to introduce some countries," the broadcaster later issued an apology. "We apologise to those countries including Ukraine and our viewers."

Tokyo 2020: South Korean broadcaster shows offensive images to introduce countries

The Tokyo Organising Committee stated Thursday that Kentaro Kobayashi, the director of the Olympics opening ceremony, has been removed from his position following news reports concerning his past statements about the Holocaust.

According to Japanese media sites, in a screenplay for his comedy performance in 1998, Kobayashi made light of the Nazis' mass murder of 6 million Jews, stating, "Let's play Holocaust."&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-2020-two-olympic-athletes-test-positive-for-covid-19-say-organisers-399588">Also read | Tokyo Olympics 2020: Two Olympic athletes test positive for COVID-19, say organisers</a> 
 
Kobayashi's remarks drew immediate condemnation, especially from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which criticised what it called anti-Semitic humour by the comedian.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/kick-it-right-back-at-them-japan-pm-denies-being-pressurised-to-hold-tokyo-2020-399483">Also read | 'Kick it right back at them': Japan PM denies being pressurised to hold Tokyo 2020</a>

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto told a briefing that Kentaro Kobayashi had been dismissed because of past comments that made fun of a tragedy.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, COVID-19 infections in Tokyo reached a six-month high, with 1,832 new cases reported just two days before the Games began.

Tokyo is currently in its fourth state of emergency, which will remain until August 22 and will span the entirety of the Olympics, which begin on Friday and end on August 8.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

The Tokyo Organising Committee stated Thursday that Kentaro Kobayashi, the director of the Olympics opening ceremony, has been removed from his position following news reports concerning his past statements about the Holocaust.

The Tokyo Organising Committee stated Thursday that Kentaro Kobayashi, the director of the Olympics opening ceremony, has been removed from his position following news reports concerning his past statements about the Holocaust. According to Japanese media sites, in a screenplay for his comedy performance in 1998, Kobayashi made light of the Nazis' mass murder of 6 million Jews, stating, "Let's play Holocaust." Also read | Tokyo Olympics 2020: Two Olympic athletes test positive for COVID-19, say organisers Kobayashi's remarks drew immediate condemnation, especially from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which criticised what it called anti-Semitic humour by the comedian. Also read | 'Kick it right back at them': Japan PM denies being pressurised to hold Tokyo 2020 Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto told a briefing that Kentaro Kobayashi had been dismissed because of past comments that made fun of a tragedy. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, COVID-19 infections in Tokyo reached a six-month high, with 1,832 new cases reported just two days before the Games began. Tokyo is currently in its fourth state of emergency, which will remain until August 22 and will span the entirety of the Olympics, which begin on Friday and end on August 8. (With inputs from agencies)

Director of Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony ousted over past comments on Holocaust

Two athletes living in the Olympic village tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, according to Tokyo 2020 organisers.

The organisers revealed a total of 12 new positive cases, including the two athletes, increasing the total number of positive cases to 87.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, COVID-19 infections in Tokyo reached a six-month high, with 1,832 new cases reported just two days before the Games began. 
 
Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/opinion-will-india-improve-its-medal-tally-at-olympics-399462" hreflang="en">Will India improve its medal tally at Olympics?</a>

Tokyo is currently in its fourth state of emergency, which will remain until August 22 and will span the entirety of the Olympics, which begin on Friday and end on August 8.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/meet-the-oldest-athletes-in-tokyo-olympics-2020-399452">WATCH |</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/meet-the-oldest-athletes-in-tokyo-olympics-2020-399452/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Cases among younger, unvaccinated persons are significantly increasing, according to experts, as Japan's vaccination campaign loses steam owing to supply concerns. 
 
Many of the serious cases are involving people in their fifties.&nbsp;

Japan's vaccination campaign started late and slowly but ramped up considerably in May for several weeks as the supply of imported vaccines stabilised and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's cabinet tried to speed up the campaign before the Olympics.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Two athletes living in the Olympic village tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, according to Tokyo 2020 organisers. The organisers revealed a total of 12 new positive cases, including the two athletes, increasing the total number of positive cases to 87.

Two athletes living in the Olympic village tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, according to Tokyo 2020 organisers. The organisers revealed a total of 12 new positive cases, including the two athletes, increasing the total number of positive cases to 87. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, COVID-19 infections in Tokyo reached a six-month high, with 1,832 new cases reported just two days before the Games began. Also read | Will India improve its medal tally at Olympics? Tokyo is currently in its fourth state of emergency, which will remain until August 22 and will span the entirety of the Olympics, which begin on Friday and end on August 8. WATCH | Cases among younger, unvaccinated persons are significantly increasing, according to experts, as Japan's vaccination campaign loses steam owing to supply concerns. Many of the serious cases are involving people in their fifties. Japan's vaccination campaign started late and slowly but ramped up considerably in May for several weeks as the supply of imported vaccines stabilised and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's cabinet tried to speed up the campaign before the Olympics. (With inputs from agencies)

Tokyo Olympics 2020: Two athletes test positive for COVID-19, say organisers

After a decision of member nations of the International Olympic Committee in Tokyo, Brisbane was formally awarded hosting rights for the 2032 Olympic Games.&nbsp;

The Olympic Games will land on Australia’s shores for a third time,&nbsp;before this Melbourne held the Games in 1956 and Sydney hosted them in 2000.

“The International Olympic Committee has the honour of announcing that the Games of the XXXV Olympiad in 2032 are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” said IOC President Thomas Bach after the meeting, with the words marked by a massive fireworks display over the Brisbane River.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-sports-start-with-a-softball-game-japan-routs-australia-8-1-399363" hreflang="en">Tokyo Olympics sports start with a softball game, Japan routs Australia 8-1</a>

According to Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates, the region already possesses roughly 80% of the requisite infrastructure to hold a competition, thanks in part to the Gold Coast's hosting of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.&nbsp;

The winning bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 11 years comes after it was granted preferred bidder status, meaning no other cities were competing.&nbsp;

Brisbane appeared to be a genuine possibility after the IOC's 15-strong executive board unanimously proposed it as the sole candidate for 2032 in June.

The IOC has now confirmed hosts for the next three Summer Olympics, with Paris hosting the event in 2024 and Los Angeles hosting the tournament in 2028.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

After a decision of member nations of the International Olympic Committee in Tokyo, Brisbane was formally awarded hosting rights for the 2032 Olympic Games. The Olympic Games will land on Australia’s shores for a third time, before this Melbourne held the Games in 1956 and Sydney hosted them in 2000.

After a decision of member nations of the International Olympic Committee in Tokyo, Brisbane was formally awarded hosting rights for the 2032 Olympic Games. The Olympic Games will land on Australia’s shores for a third time, before this Melbourne held the Games in 1956 and Sydney hosted them in 2000. “The International Olympic Committee has the honour of announcing that the Games of the XXXV Olympiad in 2032 are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” said IOC President Thomas Bach after the meeting, with the words marked by a massive fireworks display over the Brisbane River. ALSO READ: Tokyo Olympics sports start with a softball game, Japan routs Australia 8-1 According to Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates, the region already possesses roughly 80% of the requisite infrastructure to hold a competition, thanks in part to the Gold Coast's hosting of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The winning bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 11 years comes after it was granted preferred bidder status, meaning no other cities were competing. Brisbane appeared to be a genuine possibility after the IOC's 15-strong executive board unanimously proposed it as the sole candidate for 2032 in June. The IOC has now confirmed hosts for the next three Summer Olympics, with Paris hosting the event in 2024 and Los Angeles hosting the tournament in 2028. (With inputs from agencies)

Australia clinches third Olympics after Brisbane declared host of 2032 Games

Putting all rumours to rest, Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has denied being pressurised by the International Olympic Committee for holding the event in Tokyo this year.

"We raised our hands and we sought the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/tokyo-olympics">Olympics</a> because we wanted to do it," Suga said. "If they tried to force something on me, I'd kick it right back at them."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/opinion-will-india-improve-its-medal-tally-at-olympics-399462" hreflang="en">Will India improve its medal tally at Olympics?</a>

It was rumoured that the newly-elected PM was pressurised into organising the Tokyo 2020 Games, despite an increase of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus">coronavirus cases</a> in the city.

The Japanese capital city has seen almost 1,000 new daily infections in the past few days. Authorities have reported more than 70 cases, even in the Olympic Village. This has raised concerns about Tokyo 2020 becoming a breeding ground for Covid infections.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/meet-the-oldest-athletes-in-tokyo-olympics-2020-399452">WATCH |</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/meet-the-oldest-athletes-in-tokyo-olympics-2020-399452/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Concerned by the increasing infections, the chief of the organising committee for the&nbsp;Tokyo Olympics&nbsp;Toshiro Muto said, "We can't predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases."

However, IOC chief, Thomas Bach has claimed that Tokyo 2020 are by far the safest and most restrictive game of the world. Suga, too, has assured locals that Tokyo is "in the right place, and we're ready to go".

Addressing the issue of cancelling the games, Suga denied any such plans and said, "the simplest thing and the easiest thing is to quit."&nbsp;However, he also added that "the government's job is to tackle challenges".

Putting all rumours to rest, Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has denied being pressurised by the International Olympic Committee for holding the event in Tokyo this year.

Putting all rumours to rest, Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has denied being pressurised by the International Olympic Committee for holding the event in Tokyo this year. "We raised our hands and we sought the Olympics because we wanted to do it," Suga said. "If they tried to force something on me, I'd kick it right back at them." Also read | Will India improve its medal tally at Olympics? It was rumoured that the newly-elected PM was pressurised into organising the Tokyo 2020 Games, despite an increase of coronavirus cases in the city. The Japanese capital city has seen almost 1,000 new daily infections in the past few days. Authorities have reported more than 70 cases, even in the Olympic Village. This has raised concerns about Tokyo 2020 becoming a breeding ground for Covid infections. WATCH | Concerned by the increasing infections, the chief of the organising committee for the Tokyo Olympics Toshiro Muto said, "We can't predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases." However, IOC chief, Thomas Bach has claimed that Tokyo 2020 are by far the safest and most restrictive game of the world. Suga, too, has assured locals that Tokyo is "in the right place, and we're ready to go". Addressing the issue of cancelling the games, Suga denied any such plans and said, "the simplest thing and the easiest thing is to quit." However, he also added that "the government's job is to tackle challenges".

'Kick it right back at them': Japan PM denies being pressurised to hold Tokyo 2020

Olympic virus rules mean spectators are banned, but one furry fan still tried to sneak into the Fukushima softball venue hosting the first sports event of the Tokyo Games: a bear.

The animals are common across Japan and regularly spark frantic hunts when they venture into towns, where they have been known to attack and even kill local residents.

A Fukushima police spokesman confirmed the ursine intruder was spotted last night and then again this morning, just hours before the opening pitch in a match pitting hosts Japan against Australia.

"A guard found a bear inside Azuma Sports Park early in the morning yesterday. We also received similar information this morning," the spokesman told AFP.

"We couldn't find or capture the bear, and while there won't be any spectators at the stadium, we are on alert and searching for the bear around the site."

Local media identified the animal as an Asian black bear, with the Sports Hochi daily saying the entire contingent of Olympic guards assigned to the venue spent the night searching for the creature.

They even blasted music and let off firecrackers in an effort to flush out the bear, the newspaper said.

But the softball match, which comes just two days before the opening ceremony, went off without a hitch despite the intruder with Japan recording an easy 8-1 victory.

Last month, a brown bear sparked a massive search involving police and local hunters after it rampaged through the northern city of Sapporo, which will host the Olympic marathon.

The bear mauled a soldier and a pedestrian who were hospitalized after the attack.

It was eventually shot dead after a dramatic chase, during which it bounded along a residential street, crossed a busy road, and clawed at the gate of a military barracks.

Asian black bears are native to large parts of Japan, including the country's main island, while brown bears roam Hokkaido further north.

Olympic virus rules mean spectators are banned, but one furry fan still tried to sneak into the Fukushima softball venue hosting the first sports event of the Tokyo Games: a bear.

Olympic virus rules mean spectators are banned, but one furry fan still tried to sneak into the Fukushima softball venue hosting the first sports event of the Tokyo Games: a bear. The animals are common across Japan and regularly spark frantic hunts when they venture into towns, where they have been known to attack and even kill local residents. A Fukushima police spokesman confirmed the ursine intruder was spotted last night and then again this morning, just hours before the opening pitch in a match pitting hosts Japan against Australia. "A guard found a bear inside Azuma Sports Park early in the morning yesterday. We also received similar information this morning," the spokesman told AFP. "We couldn't find or capture the bear, and while there won't be any spectators at the stadium, we are on alert and searching for the bear around the site." Local media identified the animal as an Asian black bear, with the Sports Hochi daily saying the entire contingent of Olympic guards assigned to the venue spent the night searching for the creature. They even blasted music and let off firecrackers in an effort to flush out the bear, the newspaper said. But the softball match, which comes just two days before the opening ceremony, went off without a hitch despite the intruder with Japan recording an easy 8-1 victory. Last month, a brown bear sparked a massive search involving police and local hunters after it rampaged through the northern city of Sapporo, which will host the Olympic marathon. The bear mauled a soldier and a pedestrian who were hospitalized after the attack. It was eventually shot dead after a dramatic chase, during which it bounded along a residential street, crossed a busy road, and clawed at the gate of a military barracks. Asian black bears are native to large parts of Japan, including the country's main island, while brown bears roam Hokkaido further north.

Bear alert hits softball at Olympic Games opener

Ahead of the<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/olympics-softbank-ceo-slams-games-as-japan-races-to-catch-up-on-vaccinations-387042"> Olympics</a>, Japans's second-largest city Osaka is battling the fourth wave of coronavirus with hospitals unable to cope with the pressure as cases have surged over the past week.

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="http://13.235.153.162/videos/japan-medics-warn-against-hosting-tokyo-olympics-as-covid-overwhelms-osaka-hospitals-386990/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The number of coronavirus cases has overwhelmed the health infrastructure in Osaka which currently accounts for over 25 per cent of the total death toll cases in Japan.

With the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/over-80-per-cent-in-japan-oppose-olympics-this-year-poll-385608">Tokyo Olympic</a>&nbsp;games slated to begin in just nine&nbsp;weeks, the health infrastructure has almost collapsed, reports say.&nbsp;

At least 96 per cent of hospital beds are occupied and the patients getting admitted this time have been exhibiting more serious symptoms than before, reports said.

With a population of over 9 million, Japan's western region has borne the brunt of infections in the deadly surge that has occurred this month.

The coronavirus strain first found in Britain is believed to be behind this sudden rise in the number of infections, according to reports.

Nearly 14 per cent of those who have tested positive in the latest wave in Osaka have required hospitalisation, however, besides hospital beds, there is also a shortage of medicines even as the hospital staff have complained that there are too few doctors and nurses managing too many patients.

However, despite the latest surge in COVID-19 cases the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ioc-chiefs-delayed-pre-olympics-japan-trip-to-happen-by-mid-july-386335">International Olympic Committee(IOC)</a><a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ioc-chiefs-delayed-pre-olympics-japan-trip-to-happen-by-mid-july-386335">&nbsp;</a>has said the Olympics will go ahead with more than 80 per cent of the residents in the Olympic village to be vaccinated.

On Monday, Japan opened its mass vaccination drive in two military-run centres in Tokyo and Osaka. The country has vaccinated just two per cent of its population so far in a country of 125 million.

Reports said the Tokyo centre aims to deliver up to 10,000 jabs a day, while the Osaka centre will give up to 5,000 two-shot Moderna vaccine along with the AstraZeneca vaccine, however, the Oxford vaccine will not be immediately used due to reports of rare blood clots occurring in some patients.

The country has also been using the Pfizer vaccine. Apart from Osaka, there are at least eight other regions under virus state of emergency.

Ahead of the Olympics, Japans's second-largest city Osaka is battling the fourth wave of coronavirus with hospitals unable to cope with the pressure as cases have surged over the past week.

Ahead of the Olympics, Japans's second-largest city Osaka is battling the fourth wave of coronavirus with hospitals unable to cope with the pressure as cases have surged over the past week. Watch: The number of coronavirus cases has overwhelmed the health infrastructure in Osaka which currently accounts for over 25 per cent of the total death toll cases in Japan. With the Tokyo Olympic games slated to begin in just nine weeks, the health infrastructure has almost collapsed, reports say. At least 96 per cent of hospital beds are occupied and the patients getting admitted this time have been exhibiting more serious symptoms than before, reports said. With a population of over 9 million, Japan's western region has borne the brunt of infections in the deadly surge that has occurred this month. The coronavirus strain first found in Britain is believed to be behind this sudden rise in the number of infections, according to reports. Nearly 14 per cent of those who have tested positive in the latest wave in Osaka have required hospitalisation, however, besides hospital beds, there is also a shortage of medicines even as the hospital staff have complained that there are too few doctors and nurses managing too many patients. However, despite the latest surge in COVID-19 cases the International Olympic Committee(IOC) has said the Olympics will go ahead with more than 80 per cent of the residents in the Olympic village to be vaccinated. On Monday, Japan opened its mass vaccination drive in two military-run centres in Tokyo and Osaka. The country has vaccinated just two per cent of its population so far in a country of 125 million. Reports said the Tokyo centre aims to deliver up to 10,000 jabs a day, while the Osaka centre will give up to 5,000 two-shot Moderna vaccine along with the AstraZeneca vaccine, however, the Oxford vaccine will not be immediately used due to reports of rare blood clots occurring in some patients. The country has also been using the Pfizer vaccine. Apart from Osaka, there are at least eight other regions under virus state of emergency.

Ahead of Olympics, Japan's Osaka buckles under coronavirus fourth wave

The ruling could not have been more clear.

One of soccer’s six regional bodies had engaged in discriminatory behavior against a female official by hindering her chances of getting a seat on its board and a leadership position with the sport’s global governing body, FIFA.

The official, Mariyam Mohamed, also convinced judges at sports’ top court that an influential Kuwaiti sheikh had actively interfered in elections held by the Asian Football Confederation in 2019 to achieve his desired outcome.

The full ruling, which has not been published, was obtained by The New York Times. In it, a panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland concluded that the inaction by Asian soccer officials over several months amounted to a “denial of justice” for Mohamed. Yet two months since the decision was announced, the effect of what appears to be a powerful denunciation of ethics breaches and a disregard for women’s rights has had all the effect of a snowball hitting a tank.

Nothing has happened.

The tainted elections will not be rerun. The men who offered Mohamed inducements to drop out have not been punished. And soccer’s leaders have taken no action.

FIFA said in an email it had no comment, even though it previously insisted it would follow up on the court’s findings with soccer officials in Asia. Asian soccer’s governing body also declined to comment, saying its leaders had nothing to add to a January statement in which they had pledged the organization would review the findings.

For Mohamed, the silence has been maddening.

“It’s just a game for them, justice denial, the same process that I was in,” she said in a phone interview. “They’re waiting for time to pass by, and hoping I get fed up. Now the verdict has come, and it’s just very sad. I don’t know where else to go now.”

Mohamed, who filed her complaints to the Asian federation’s disciplinary department in May 2019, says she initially celebrated the ruling, but came to realize it may amount to a Pyrrhic victory.

She has not been contacted by officials from the AFC, she said. Nor has she heard from ethics investigators from FIFA, even though the organization’s rules state that gender discrimination is “strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.”

The case and its aftermath have highlighted how power works in global sports. It shows how a tainted Gulf royal linked to other cases of corruption has been able to exert significant control over one of soccer’s largest governing bodies even though he has no official role in its affairs. And it shows how a strategy of delay can be its own kind of injustice.

Mohamed’s case had roots in FIFA’s response to its own problems with discrimination: To address a lack of women on its governing board, the organization since 2013 set aside specific seats for women, starting with one voting member in 2013 and now a minimum of one from each of FIFA’s six regional confederations.

Mohamed, a former soccer player and coach from the Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, had hoped to win the AFC’s spot in a vote in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in April 2019. It did not take her long to realize that the power brokers of Asian soccer had already decided the election’s outcome.

She filed her first complaints about the election to the Asian confederation’s disciplinary department a month later. Emails show the organization responded to her inquiries by insisting it had begun an investigation, although it appears little was done. The AFC, citing confidentiality, refused to supply any evidence of its investigation to the court.

At a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last July, the AFC hardly put up a defense. Its lawyers offered no witnesses to challenge Mohamed’s testimony that a top confederation official and the head of the soccer federation of Qatar had been present in a luxury hotel suite when the Kuwaiti sheikh, Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, told Mohamed he had decided that his preferred candidate, Mahfuza Akhter Kiron of Bangladesh, would be elected as the AFC’s female representative to the FIFA Council.

Mohamed was told she should drop her candidacy, and do so within 24 hours. She later claimed, in testimony that went unchallenged by the AFC, that Sheikh Ahmad attempted to mollify her by saying he had so much sway in international soccer circles that he could obtain for her “any other position of her choosing at the AFC or FIFA” in exchange for her withdrawal.

By this point, Sheikh Ahmad had no official role in soccer, having resigned his position on the FIFA Council in 2017 after allegations emerged in a U.S. federal court that he had bribed Asian officials. But Mohamed’s decision to take her case to court provided a rare public glimpse into his continuing stature as a power broker in global sports through his role as the president of the Olympic Council of Asia, an organization created by his father in 1982.

At a 2013 International Olympic Committee meeting, for example, Sheikh Ahmad’s support helped Thomas Bach secure the IOC presidency and also deliver the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo. Since he was indicted in a forgery case unrelated to sports in 2018, he has “self-suspended” from two prominent Olympic roles. But his opinion still carries weight.

Before the AFC’s 2019 elections, his legal troubles did not seem to be an issue. A list of his favored candidates was distributed to AFC voters on the eve of the elections and, aware of the talks with Mohamed and of Sheikh Ahmad’s preference for a different candidate, the leaders of several federations pressured Mohamed to drop out, she said. She declined to withdraw, and lost the vote, 31-15. Every candidate on Sheikh Ahmad’s list, however, was elected to seats on the AFC’s executive board or, as in Kiron’s case, as a confederation representative to FIFA.

After reviewing the evidence presented by Mohamed and her lawyers, the CAS panel made clear in the summary of its decision that it agreed with her version of the events. The panel confirmed that the 2019 elections had breached FIFA and AFC rules on gender discrimination. It concluded that Sheikh Ahmad had tried to influence the outcome, and that the AFC had denied Mohamed justice by not making a ruling on her complaint. It did, however, also say that by not bowing out of the elections, Mohamed ensured the sheikh’s efforts to influence the election in her case were not effective.

But the court said it was powerless to order that the flawed elections be annulled, or to punish any of the individuals accused of interfering with them. Any decision on further action was for FIFA, and the AFC, to decide, the court said.

Because of the rules governing the court, the panel’s full findings have been cloaked in secrecy since the verdict was announced on Jan. 25.

“If nothing happens it is a disgrace for FIFA, the AFC, and undermines the authority of CAS indirectly,” said Miguel Maduro, the former FIFA governance head who gave evidence in Mohamed’s case. “This award and what follows tells us at once that CAS has exposed corruption at the highest level of elections in football and at the same time tells us they cannot do anything about it.”

Maduro added that at the very least, FIFA should have initiated an ethics inquiry after the ruling. To date, it has not.

Such a move, though, would be extremely sensitive for soccer’s global leadership. The FIFA official responsible for overseeing the 2019 election, Eduardo Ache, told the CAS panel that soccer’s guidelines to improve female representation were mere recommendations. The panel said Ache’s evidence suggested he was “prepared to accept any discrimination provided at least one woman was elected to FIFA.”

But pressing for discipline in the case also could be uncomfortable for FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, who relies on the support of national and regional soccer leaders to push his agenda. He recently spent two weeks touring Africa, for example, to ensure that his favored candidate, a South African billionaire with no high-level experience in soccer administration, was elected president of the continent’s regional confederation. And he is unlikely to press for discipline against the leader of Qatar’s soccer federation — reportedly present when Mohamed was offered inducements to step aside — or any other Asian leader a year before Qatar hosts the 2022 World Cup.

The longer the full ruling in Mohamed’s case goes unpublished, though, the more it will give the appearance soccer’s leaders are trying to brush a problematic situation under the carpet, said Johan Lindholm, a professor of law at Umea University in Sweden who has published a book on CAS.

“Whether it’s because of bad PR or there are other things going on, then you would probably want to keep it as secret as possible,” Lindholm said.

The ruling could not have been more clear. One of soccer’s six regional bodies had engaged in discriminatory behavior against a female official by hindering her chances of getting a seat on its board and a leadership position with the sport’s global governing body, FIFA.

The ruling could not have been more clear. One of soccer’s six regional bodies had engaged in discriminatory behavior against a female official by hindering her chances of getting a seat on its board and a leadership position with the sport’s global governing body, FIFA. The official, Mariyam Mohamed, also convinced judges at sports’ top court that an influential Kuwaiti sheikh had actively interfered in elections held by the Asian Football Confederation in 2019 to achieve his desired outcome. The full ruling, which has not been published, was obtained by The New York Times. In it, a panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland concluded that the inaction by Asian soccer officials over several months amounted to a “denial of justice” for Mohamed. Yet two months since the decision was announced, the effect of what appears to be a powerful denunciation of ethics breaches and a disregard for women’s rights has had all the effect of a snowball hitting a tank. Nothing has happened. The tainted elections will not be rerun. The men who offered Mohamed inducements to drop out have not been punished. And soccer’s leaders have taken no action. FIFA said in an email it had no comment, even though it previously insisted it would follow up on the court’s findings with soccer officials in Asia. Asian soccer’s governing body also declined to comment, saying its leaders had nothing to add to a January statement in which they had pledged the organization would review the findings. For Mohamed, the silence has been maddening. “It’s just a game for them, justice denial, the same process that I was in,” she said in a phone interview. “They’re waiting for time to pass by, and hoping I get fed up. Now the verdict has come, and it’s just very sad. I don’t know where else to go now.” Mohamed, who filed her complaints to the Asian federation’s disciplinary department in May 2019, says she initially celebrated the ruling, but came to realize it may amount to a Pyrrhic victory. She has not been contacted by officials from the AFC, she said. Nor has she heard from ethics investigators from FIFA, even though the organization’s rules state that gender discrimination is “strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.” The case and its aftermath have highlighted how power works in global sports. It shows how a tainted Gulf royal linked to other cases of corruption has been able to exert significant control over one of soccer’s largest governing bodies even though he has no official role in its affairs. And it shows how a strategy of delay can be its own kind of injustice. Mohamed’s case had roots in FIFA’s response to its own problems with discrimination: To address a lack of women on its governing board, the organization since 2013 set aside specific seats for women, starting with one voting member in 2013 and now a minimum of one from each of FIFA’s six regional confederations. Mohamed, a former soccer player and coach from the Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, had hoped to win the AFC’s spot in a vote in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in April 2019. It did not take her long to realize that the power brokers of Asian soccer had already decided the election’s outcome. She filed her first complaints about the election to the Asian confederation’s disciplinary department a month later. Emails show the organization responded to her inquiries by insisting it had begun an investigation, although it appears little was done. The AFC, citing confidentiality, refused to supply any evidence of its investigation to the court. At a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last July, the AFC hardly put up a defense. Its lawyers offered no witnesses to challenge Mohamed’s testimony that a top confederation official and the head of the soccer federation of Qatar had been present in a luxury hotel suite when the Kuwaiti sheikh, Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, told Mohamed he had decided that his preferred candidate, Mahfuza Akhter Kiron of Bangladesh, would be elected as the AFC’s female representative to the FIFA Council. Mohamed was told she should drop her candidacy, and do so within 24 hours. She later claimed, in testimony that went unchallenged by the AFC, that Sheikh Ahmad attempted to mollify her by saying he had so much sway in international soccer circles that he could obtain for her “any other position of her choosing at the AFC or FIFA” in exchange for her withdrawal. By this point, Sheikh Ahmad had no official role in soccer, having resigned his position on the FIFA Council in 2017 after allegations emerged in a U.S. federal court that he had bribed Asian officials. But Mohamed’s decision to take her case to court provided a rare public glimpse into his continuing stature as a power broker in global sports through his role as the president of the Olympic Council of Asia, an organization created by his father in 1982. At a 2013 International Olympic Committee meeting, for example, Sheikh Ahmad’s support helped Thomas Bach secure the IOC presidency and also deliver the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo. Since he was indicted in a forgery case unrelated to sports in 2018, he has “self-suspended” from two prominent Olympic roles. But his opinion still carries weight. Before the AFC’s 2019 elections, his legal troubles did not seem to be an issue. A list of his favored candidates was distributed to AFC voters on the eve of the elections and, aware of the talks with Mohamed and of Sheikh Ahmad’s preference for a different candidate, the leaders of several federations pressured Mohamed to drop out, she said. She declined to withdraw, and lost the vote, 31-15. Every candidate on Sheikh Ahmad’s list, however, was elected to seats on the AFC’s executive board or, as in Kiron’s case, as a confederation representative to FIFA. After reviewing the evidence presented by Mohamed and her lawyers, the CAS panel made clear in the summary of its decision that it agreed with her version of the events. The panel confirmed that the 2019 elections had breached FIFA and AFC rules on gender discrimination. It concluded that Sheikh Ahmad had tried to influence the outcome, and that the AFC had denied Mohamed justice by not making a ruling on her complaint. It did, however, also say that by not bowing out of the elections, Mohamed ensured the sheikh’s efforts to influence the election in her case were not effective. But the court said it was powerless to order that the flawed elections be annulled, or to punish any of the individuals accused of interfering with them. Any decision on further action was for FIFA, and the AFC, to decide, the court said. Because of the rules governing the court, the panel’s full findings have been cloaked in secrecy since the verdict was announced on Jan. 25. “If nothing happens it is a disgrace for FIFA, the AFC, and undermines the authority of CAS indirectly,” said Miguel Maduro, the former FIFA governance head who gave evidence in Mohamed’s case. “This award and what follows tells us at once that CAS has exposed corruption at the highest level of elections in football and at the same time tells us they cannot do anything about it.” Maduro added that at the very least, FIFA should have initiated an ethics inquiry after the ruling. To date, it has not. Such a move, though, would be extremely sensitive for soccer’s global leadership. The FIFA official responsible for overseeing the 2019 election, Eduardo Ache, told the CAS panel that soccer’s guidelines to improve female representation were mere recommendations. The panel said Ache’s evidence suggested he was “prepared to accept any discrimination provided at least one woman was elected to FIFA.” But pressing for discipline in the case also could be uncomfortable for FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, who relies on the support of national and regional soccer leaders to push his agenda. He recently spent two weeks touring Africa, for example, to ensure that his favored candidate, a South African billionaire with no high-level experience in soccer administration, was elected president of the continent’s regional confederation. And he is unlikely to press for discipline against the leader of Qatar’s soccer federation — reportedly present when Mohamed was offered inducements to step aside — or any other Asian leader a year before Qatar hosts the 2022 World Cup. The longer the full ruling in Mohamed’s case goes unpublished, though, the more it will give the appearance soccer’s leaders are trying to brush a problematic situation under the carpet, said Johan Lindholm, a professor of law at Umea University in Sweden who has published a book on CAS. “Whether it’s because of bad PR or there are other things going on, then you would probably want to keep it as secret as possible,” Lindholm said.

A soccer official proved her discrimination case. No one was punished.

The IOC banned two other officials from the NOC, including Lukashenko’s son, Viktor, who is the first vice president of the national Olympic body.

IOC bans Belarus president Lukashenko from Olympic Games

After the announcement of rescheduling the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 doctors are assigned on the project to help COVID-19 infected athletes to get back on track.

Doctors helping athletes to get back on track for Tokyo Olympics 2021

Almost exactly 35 years ago, Super Mario Bros., the iconic video game from Nintendo, debuted — making a high-jumping plumber named Mario the Japanese video game company’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse.

Back in 1985, Super Mario Bros. was revelatory. The game, which popularized Nintendo’s first home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, played like a challenging, dreamlike cartoon that scrolled across a TV screen. Players controlled Mario, making him run, jump or sometimes swim through levels filled with giant mushrooms, menacing turtles and other strange obstacles. It was a tough game, but not too tough to discourage its avid players from giving it another try. And another. And another.

A sequel (which has its own fascinating history) followed. And another. And another.

The latest Mario game, Super Mario Bros. 35, which was released Thursday for the Nintendo Switch, lets 35 people play the original Super Mario Bros. simultaneously, each vying to be the last Mario standing. It’s sort of Super Mario meets Fortnite.

Here are 35 things to consider about the overachieving plumber.

1. First, it is Super Mario Bros. that’s 35, not Mario. He’s 39. Mario debuted in 1981 in another famous Nintendo game, Donkey Kong, in which he runs up a series of girders, jumps over barrels and climbs ladders to rescue a woman kidnapped by a giant ape.

2. In the early years of video games, characters were defined less by who they were than by what they could do. Pac-Man gobbled dots and chased, or was chased by, ghosts. Sonic ran fast. Mario jumped. In fact, before the creators of Donkey Kong called him Mario, they called him “jumpman.”

3. Mario is so famous that even his brother, Luigi (who was playable in Super Mario Bros. in two-player mode), is a superstar. Luigi has more personality; he’s a nervous worrier and an underdog in the shadow of his famous sibling. Nintendo marketed 2013 as the Year of Luigi. Did you celebrate?

4. It’s unclear what Mario’s last name is. Sometimes Nintendo officials have said it is Mario (hence Mario and Luigi being the “Mario Bros.”), which would make him Mario Mario. Other times they’ve said he doesn’t have one.

5. There’s also Wario, a sort of evil Mario, relation unknown. He has starred in more than a dozen games, like Wario Land and WarioWare.

6. There’s even a Waluigi. He’s starred in nothing.

7. As modern games rely less on mascot characters, Mario stands out as a relic. Major video games are still popular because of what you do in them, but something like Fortnite doesn’t tie its core actions to a singular iconic character.

8.Even Nintendo doesn’t make many characters these days. They’re busy capitalizing on old ones. In fact, they’re branching Mario out to animated movies and theme parks backed by Universal Studios.

9. The Super Mario Bros. theme music, from composer Koji Kondo, might be the most recognizable tune in gaming. Doo-doot-doo da-doot doo!

10. The essence of the entire Super Mario Bros. gaming experience can be understood through the arc of a jump: the ascent for discovery, the descent for conquest. The original game’s first delightful discovery comes in its opening seconds, when the player makes Mario jump and bonk his head into a floating block. A mushroom with the power to make Mario bigger pops out. And when Mario first encounters some waddling enemies, he can only defeat them by jumping onto them.

11. Mario’s reputation as an enthusiastic jumper has allowed Nintendo to morph him into an avatar of exuberance. He stars in a host of spinoff games, each with a cartoonish approach to its genre. Mario Kart is a racing game that lets you toss banana peels onto the track. Mario Tennis is supercharged tennis. You can guess how Super Mario Party goes.

12. There’s even a line of Mario games involving over-the-top takes on the Olympics. Mario &amp;amp; Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, released in 2019, sees Mario and pals compete in exaggerated contests for an Olympics that was postponed as a result of the pandemic.

13. The colorful, happy vibe of Mario games has sometimes put Nintendo out of step with gaming trends. In 2003, the hottest gaming franchise was Grand Theft Auto, which gave players the ability to steal cars and kill just about anyone, including prostitutes. Cue George Harrison, a former executive at Nintendo, awkwardly defending his brand at a news conference: “Mario will never start shooting hookers.”

14. Mario’s cheerfulness remains irrepressible. These days, Mario and Grand Theft Auto can sit side by side in their popularity.

15. Mario’s superb strangeness also survives. The initial dreamlike quality of his game worlds extends to modern Mario sequels in which, say, he can toss his hat onto a dinosaur and possess it.

16. If you think this Mario stuff is bizarre, you’re in good company. In 2012, a New York Times copy editor asked me to clarify why Super Mario collects coins. To … get them? To score a free life after every 100th coin? Because the designers put the coins in the games to guide players through the levels?

17.The original Super Mario Bros. contains what might be the most famous video game shortcut: an intentional exploit in which Mario can break through the ceiling of the game’s first underground level and enter pipes that lead to later portions of the game. That shortcut epitomizes one of gaming’s core truths, whether you play God of War or Candy Crush: Players always seek ways to beat the system.

18. There are two major styles of Mario games. The so-called 2D games feature a Mario who runs across the screen from left to right. The revolutionary 1996 game Super Mario 64 moved the series into three dimensions and brought much of the video game industry with it. (In Mario 64, players see Mario from behind as he runs ahead.) Nintendo’s big September release — Super Mario 3D All-Stars, for Switch — is a compilation of Mario 64 and two 3D successors: Super Mario Sunshine, from 2002, and Super Mario Galaxy, from 2007.

19. Mario game designers rarely whiff. The closest to disaster they’ve come is Super Mario Sunshine, which saddles Mario with a backpack that shoots water. It’s OK.

20.Super Mario Galaxy is divine. Its main idea: setting Mario’s adventures on small, spherical worlds and letting Mario leap or fly from one to the next.

21. Mario popularized 3D gaming but also repopularized 2D gaming. In 2006, Nintendo broke a 16-year dry spell of 2D Marios with the release of New Super Mario Bros. Its popularity defied the medium’s conventional wisdom that artistic progress should be synchronized with technological advances.

22.Three decades of Mario sequels exemplify how video games have generally gotten easier or how they’re now designed to better respect a player’s time. The early games severely limited Mario’s number of lives — or the number of chances players had to retry a level. Newer Mario releases make it easier to stock up on extra tries. Super Mario Odyssey, released in 2017, can’t even trigger a Game Over. That means that even when Mario loses all his lives, players can pick up where they left off, without a significant penalty.

23.Earlier, Super Mario Galaxy offered another innovation in game difficulty: a “co-star” mode that let a second player use a second controller to assist the main player.

24. Like nothing else in gaming, the Mario franchise embodies the tension between corporate ownership and fandom. Fans have created countless unofficial Mario games, many of them then stomped out of existence by Nintendo’s lawyers.

25. If you can’t sue them, sell them something. In 2015, Nintendo released Super Mario Maker, which lets players create — but not own — their own 2D Mario levels.

26. Even Nintendo re-creates classic Super Mario Bros. sequences. Their best riff might be a circular version of Super Mario Bros.’ first level, offered in WarioWare: Twisted, in 2004.

27. Mario games have helped popularize the grassroots speedrunning scene, in which skilled players use every trick imaginable to complete games as quickly as possible. Super Mario Bros. runs done in under five minutes are dazzling sprints of near-death success. New records are set by the hundredth of a second.

28. Mario games have inspired the charming Super Mario Broth, a Twitter feed of Mario obscurities that recently revealed a detail about Mario’s irises.

29. Some superfans have proposed that all Mario games exist on one narrative timeline. It doesn’t quite work out.

30. Some Mario games are a little retrograde. The thin plots of all three Mario games in the new 3D All-Stars collection, for example, feature Mario rescuing a kidnapped Princess Peach.

31. Princess Peach has been a protagonist at times, with mixed results. She was a playable character in Super Mario Bros. 2, in 1988, and in the soon-to-be-remade Super Mario 3D World. Nintendo gave her a starring role in 2005 in Super Princess Peach, in which she rescues a kidnapped Mario. Her powers in that game? Her mood swings. Players can make her angry in order to surround her in obstacle-clearing flames and make her cry in order to use her gushing tears to make plants grow.

32. Mario games highlight the industry’s preservation problems. Games run on hardware that often becomes obsolete in a decade, making it hard to play the classics. While fans and preservationists collect and share ripped copies, copyright holders wield the power on whether or not to ensure games remain accessible. When it comes to that original Super Mario Bros., Nintendo does the work to make sure it runs on its newest devices and enthusiastically sells it to each new generation of customers.

33. On the other hand, Nintendo first sold Super Mario Sunshine on the GameCube, which ceased production in 2007. That game also ran on the Wii, which was retired around 2012. Since then, no new video game hardware could play Sunshine until this month’s 3D All-Stars collection on the Switch. If major Mario games can be so inaccessible, imagine how quickly lesser-known games disappear.

34. Nintendo is a popular company but also a weird one, known for being an engine of brilliant creativity and odd policies. Exhibit #1452 (probably): Nintendo says it will only sell its new collection of 3D Mario games (as well as Super Mario Bros. 35) until March 31.

35. And finally: Mario’s best jump? I nominate the triple jump from Super Mario 64 — a trio of high-arc leaps, accompanied by three giddy yelps. That might be the best thing in gaming ever.

Almost exactly 35 years ago, Super Mario Bros., the iconic video game from Nintendo, debuted — making a high-jumping plumber named Mario the Japanese video game company’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse.

Almost exactly 35 years ago, Super Mario Bros., the iconic video game from Nintendo, debuted — making a high-jumping plumber named Mario the Japanese video game company’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse. Back in 1985, Super Mario Bros. was revelatory. The game, which popularized Nintendo’s first home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, played like a challenging, dreamlike cartoon that scrolled across a TV screen. Players controlled Mario, making him run, jump or sometimes swim through levels filled with giant mushrooms, menacing turtles and other strange obstacles. It was a tough game, but not too tough to discourage its avid players from giving it another try. And another. And another. A sequel (which has its own fascinating history) followed. And another. And another. The latest Mario game, Super Mario Bros. 35, which was released Thursday for the Nintendo Switch, lets 35 people play the original Super Mario Bros. simultaneously, each vying to be the last Mario standing. It’s sort of Super Mario meets Fortnite. Here are 35 things to consider about the overachieving plumber. 1. First, it is Super Mario Bros. that’s 35, not Mario. He’s 39. Mario debuted in 1981 in another famous Nintendo game, Donkey Kong, in which he runs up a series of girders, jumps over barrels and climbs ladders to rescue a woman kidnapped by a giant ape. 2. In the early years of video games, characters were defined less by who they were than by what they could do. Pac-Man gobbled dots and chased, or was chased by, ghosts. Sonic ran fast. Mario jumped. In fact, before the creators of Donkey Kong called him Mario, they called him “jumpman.” 3. Mario is so famous that even his brother, Luigi (who was playable in Super Mario Bros. in two-player mode), is a superstar. Luigi has more personality; he’s a nervous worrier and an underdog in the shadow of his famous sibling. Nintendo marketed 2013 as the Year of Luigi. Did you celebrate? 4. It’s unclear what Mario’s last name is. Sometimes Nintendo officials have said it is Mario (hence Mario and Luigi being the “Mario Bros.”), which would make him Mario Mario. Other times they’ve said he doesn’t have one. 5. There’s also Wario, a sort of evil Mario, relation unknown. He has starred in more than a dozen games, like Wario Land and WarioWare. 6. There’s even a Waluigi. He’s starred in nothing. 7. As modern games rely less on mascot characters, Mario stands out as a relic. Major video games are still popular because of what you do in them, but something like Fortnite doesn’t tie its core actions to a singular iconic character. 8.Even Nintendo doesn’t make many characters these days. They’re busy capitalizing on old ones. In fact, they’re branching Mario out to animated movies and theme parks backed by Universal Studios. 9. The Super Mario Bros. theme music, from composer Koji Kondo, might be the most recognizable tune in gaming. Doo-doot-doo da-doot doo! 10. The essence of the entire Super Mario Bros. gaming experience can be understood through the arc of a jump: the ascent for discovery, the descent for conquest. The original game’s first delightful discovery comes in its opening seconds, when the player makes Mario jump and bonk his head into a floating block. A mushroom with the power to make Mario bigger pops out. And when Mario first encounters some waddling enemies, he can only defeat them by jumping onto them. 11. Mario’s reputation as an enthusiastic jumper has allowed Nintendo to morph him into an avatar of exuberance. He stars in a host of spinoff games, each with a cartoonish approach to its genre. Mario Kart is a racing game that lets you toss banana peels onto the track. Mario Tennis is supercharged tennis. You can guess how Super Mario Party goes. 12. There’s even a line of Mario games involving over-the-top takes on the Olympics. Mario &amp; Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, released in 2019, sees Mario and pals compete in exaggerated contests for an Olympics that was postponed as a result of the pandemic. 13. The colorful, happy vibe of Mario games has sometimes put Nintendo out of step with gaming trends. In 2003, the hottest gaming franchise was Grand Theft Auto, which gave players the ability to steal cars and kill just about anyone, including prostitutes. Cue George Harrison, a former executive at Nintendo, awkwardly defending his brand at a news conference: “Mario will never start shooting hookers.” 14. Mario’s cheerfulness remains irrepressible. These days, Mario and Grand Theft Auto can sit side by side in their popularity. 15. Mario’s superb strangeness also survives. The initial dreamlike quality of his game worlds extends to modern Mario sequels in which, say, he can toss his hat onto a dinosaur and possess it. 16. If you think this Mario stuff is bizarre, you’re in good company. In 2012, a New York Times copy editor asked me to clarify why Super Mario collects coins. To … get them? To score a free life after every 100th coin? Because the designers put the coins in the games to guide players through the levels? 17.The original Super Mario Bros. contains what might be the most famous video game shortcut: an intentional exploit in which Mario can break through the ceiling of the game’s first underground level and enter pipes that lead to later portions of the game. That shortcut epitomizes one of gaming’s core truths, whether you play God of War or Candy Crush: Players always seek ways to beat the system. 18. There are two major styles of Mario games. The so-called 2D games feature a Mario who runs across the screen from left to right. The revolutionary 1996 game Super Mario 64 moved the series into three dimensions and brought much of the video game industry with it. (In Mario 64, players see Mario from behind as he runs ahead.) Nintendo’s big September release — Super Mario 3D All-Stars, for Switch — is a compilation of Mario 64 and two 3D successors: Super Mario Sunshine, from 2002, and Super Mario Galaxy, from 2007. 19. Mario game designers rarely whiff. The closest to disaster they’ve come is Super Mario Sunshine, which saddles Mario with a backpack that shoots water. It’s OK. 20.Super Mario Galaxy is divine. Its main idea: setting Mario’s adventures on small, spherical worlds and letting Mario leap or fly from one to the next. 21. Mario popularized 3D gaming but also repopularized 2D gaming. In 2006, Nintendo broke a 16-year dry spell of 2D Marios with the release of New Super Mario Bros. Its popularity defied the medium’s conventional wisdom that artistic progress should be synchronized with technological advances. 22.Three decades of Mario sequels exemplify how video games have generally gotten easier or how they’re now designed to better respect a player’s time. The early games severely limited Mario’s number of lives — or the number of chances players had to retry a level. Newer Mario releases make it easier to stock up on extra tries. Super Mario Odyssey, released in 2017, can’t even trigger a Game Over. That means that even when Mario loses all his lives, players can pick up where they left off, without a significant penalty. 23.Earlier, Super Mario Galaxy offered another innovation in game difficulty: a “co-star” mode that let a second player use a second controller to assist the main player. 24. Like nothing else in gaming, the Mario franchise embodies the tension between corporate ownership and fandom. Fans have created countless unofficial Mario games, many of them then stomped out of existence by Nintendo’s lawyers. 25. If you can’t sue them, sell them something. In 2015, Nintendo released Super Mario Maker, which lets players create — but not own — their own 2D Mario levels. 26. Even Nintendo re-creates classic Super Mario Bros. sequences. Their best riff might be a circular version of Super Mario Bros.’ first level, offered in WarioWare: Twisted, in 2004. 27. Mario games have helped popularize the grassroots speedrunning scene, in which skilled players use every trick imaginable to complete games as quickly as possible. Super Mario Bros. runs done in under five minutes are dazzling sprints of near-death success. New records are set by the hundredth of a second. 28. Mario games have inspired the charming Super Mario Broth, a Twitter feed of Mario obscurities that recently revealed a detail about Mario’s irises. 29. Some superfans have proposed that all Mario games exist on one narrative timeline. It doesn’t quite work out. 30. Some Mario games are a little retrograde. The thin plots of all three Mario games in the new 3D All-Stars collection, for example, feature Mario rescuing a kidnapped Princess Peach. 31. Princess Peach has been a protagonist at times, with mixed results. She was a playable character in Super Mario Bros. 2, in 1988, and in the soon-to-be-remade Super Mario 3D World. Nintendo gave her a starring role in 2005 in Super Princess Peach, in which she rescues a kidnapped Mario. Her powers in that game? Her mood swings. Players can make her angry in order to surround her in obstacle-clearing flames and make her cry in order to use her gushing tears to make plants grow. 32. Mario games highlight the industry’s preservation problems. Games run on hardware that often becomes obsolete in a decade, making it hard to play the classics. While fans and preservationists collect and share ripped copies, copyright holders wield the power on whether or not to ensure games remain accessible. When it comes to that original Super Mario Bros., Nintendo does the work to make sure it runs on its newest devices and enthusiastically sells it to each new generation of customers. 33. On the other hand, Nintendo first sold Super Mario Sunshine on the GameCube, which ceased production in 2007. That game also ran on the Wii, which was retired around 2012. Since then, no new video game hardware could play Sunshine until this month’s 3D All-Stars collection on the Switch. If major Mario games can be so inaccessible, imagine how quickly lesser-known games disappear. 34. Nintendo is a popular company but also a weird one, known for being an engine of brilliant creativity and odd policies. Exhibit #1452 (probably): Nintendo says it will only sell its new collection of 3D Mario games (as well as Super Mario Bros. 35) until March 31. 35. And finally: Mario’s best jump? I nominate the triple jump from Super Mario 64 — a trio of high-arc leaps, accompanied by three giddy yelps. That might be the best thing in gaming ever.

35 thoughts about Mario on Super Mario’s 35th anniversary

Brazil's shot put champion Darlan Romani is not letting lockdown get in the way of preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, using an unused plot of land in a residential area of Sao Paulo state to keep up his winning form.

Nothing weighs down Brazil shot putter as he improvises Olympic training in lockdown

April 6 in history: First modern Olympic games, US enters WWI and more

The countdown begins for the 2020 Olympic under growing fear of Coronavirus. Recently World Health Organization declares coronavirus a global pandemic.

Countdown Begins for 2020 Summer Olympics | Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Whirling, spinning, reaching and flexing - Japanese wheelchair dancer Kenta Kambara's emotive performances are wordless testimony to artistic passion and possibility.

Paralympic wheelchair dancer aims to perform at Tokyo Olympic games

World silver-medallist and top seed Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games after edging out familiar foe Carlo Paalam of Philippines in the quarterfinals of the Asian Qualifiers for boxing here on Monday.

The top-seeded Indian, who is the reigning Asian Games and Asian Championships gold-medallist, prevailed in a 1-4 split verdict against Paalam.

Panghal had earlier beaten him in the semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games and the quarterfinals of the 2019 world championships.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/indian-players-skip-all-england-badminton-over-coronavirus-fears-284741">Indian players skip All England badminton over coronavirus fears</a>

However, former junior world champion Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) failed to secure an Olympic berth after going down to Korea's Im Aeji in the quarterfinals.

The 19-year-old Chaudhary lost 0-5 to Im, who is also a former world youth champion.

Only the semifinalists are entitled to an Olympic berth in the women's 57kg category of the ongoing event.

Also see: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/fa-cup-chelsea-enter-quarterfinals-after-ousting-liverpool-in-round-5-284156">FA Cup: Chelsea enter quarterfinals after ousting Liverpool in round 5</a>

Her next shot at Tokyo qualification would be the world qualifiers in May, provided she is selected for it.

Im will face Japan's 19-year-old Irie Sena, who upstaged world champion and top seed Nesthy Petecio of Philippines in a split decision.

Petecio was docked a point for holding in the second round which ultimately played a decisive role in her 2-3 loss.

In another quarterfinal bout, Manish Kaushik (63kg) will fight third seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia for a spot in the Olympics. Baatarsukh is a 2018 Asian Games silver-medallist, besides being a two-time podium finisher at the Asian Championships.

World silver-medallist and top seed Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games after edging out familiar foe Carlo Paalam of Philippines in the quarterfinals of the Asian Qualifiers for boxing here on Monday.

World silver-medallist and top seed Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games after edging out familiar foe Carlo Paalam of Philippines in the quarterfinals of the Asian Qualifiers for boxing here on Monday. The top-seeded Indian, who is the reigning Asian Games and Asian Championships gold-medallist, prevailed in a 1-4 split verdict against Paalam. Panghal had earlier beaten him in the semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games and the quarterfinals of the 2019 world championships. Also read: Indian players skip All England badminton over coronavirus fears However, former junior world champion Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) failed to secure an Olympic berth after going down to Korea's Im Aeji in the quarterfinals. The 19-year-old Chaudhary lost 0-5 to Im, who is also a former world youth champion. Only the semifinalists are entitled to an Olympic berth in the women's 57kg category of the ongoing event. Also see: FA Cup: Chelsea enter quarterfinals after ousting Liverpool in round 5 Her next shot at Tokyo qualification would be the world qualifiers in May, provided she is selected for it. Im will face Japan's 19-year-old Irie Sena, who upstaged world champion and top seed Nesthy Petecio of Philippines in a split decision. Petecio was docked a point for holding in the second round which ultimately played a decisive role in her 2-3 loss. In another quarterfinal bout, Manish Kaushik (63kg) will fight third seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia for a spot in the Olympics. Baatarsukh is a 2018 Asian Games silver-medallist, besides being a two-time podium finisher at the Asian Championships.

Amit Panghal qualifies for Olympics; enters Asian Qualifiers semis

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)&nbsp;said Tuesday it was busy with preparations for a "successful" Summer Games in Tokyo in less than five months and at a time when the coronavirus outbreak is widening.

IOC president Thomas Bach, speaking at the opening of the Olympic body's two-day executive board meeting in Lausanne, said: "We are preparing for a successful Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020."

Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ioc-face-big-communications-job-as-virus-jitters-hit-tokyo-olympics-280676">IOC face 'big communications job' as virus jitters hit Tokyo Olympics</a>

Many sporting events around the world have either been cancelled or postponed in the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

More than 3,100 people have died and over 90,000 have been infected in more than 60 countries worldwide.

The vast majority of cases are in China, but South Korea, Italy and Iran have emerged as the countries with the most cases outside the epicentre.

The virus has infected at least 230 people across Japan and been linked to five deaths.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/tokyo-olympic-ceo-calls-coronavirus-concern-irresponsible-rumours-280473">Tokyo Olympics CEO calls coronavirus concern 'irresponsible rumours'</a>

"We will have to prepare many of the final decisions that we will have to take in June," Bach said in reference to a first pre-Games executive board meeting between June 15-17, also in Lausanne.

"We will have to make some proposals for the session in Tokyo."

The IOC board is also set to meet on July 18-19 in Tokyo, with the Olympics running from July 24-August 9.

The IOC will on Tuesday discuss the coronavirus crisis, and on Wednesday hold a video call between the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and John Coates, the Australian chairman of the IOC's coordination commission for the first summer Olympics in Japan since 1964.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tuesday it was busy with preparations for a "successful" Summer Games in Tokyo in less than five months and at a time when the coronavirus outbreak is widening.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tuesday it was busy with preparations for a "successful" Summer Games in Tokyo in less than five months and at a time when the coronavirus outbreak is widening. IOC president Thomas Bach, speaking at the opening of the Olympic body's two-day executive board meeting in Lausanne, said: "We are preparing for a successful Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020." Also Read: IOC face 'big communications job' as virus jitters hit Tokyo Olympics Many sporting events around the world have either been cancelled or postponed in the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. More than 3,100 people have died and over 90,000 have been infected in more than 60 countries worldwide. The vast majority of cases are in China, but South Korea, Italy and Iran have emerged as the countries with the most cases outside the epicentre. The virus has infected at least 230 people across Japan and been linked to five deaths. Also Read: Tokyo Olympics CEO calls coronavirus concern 'irresponsible rumours' "We will have to prepare many of the final decisions that we will have to take in June," Bach said in reference to a first pre-Games executive board meeting between June 15-17, also in Lausanne. "We will have to make some proposals for the session in Tokyo." The IOC board is also set to meet on July 18-19 in Tokyo, with the Olympics running from July 24-August 9. The IOC will on Tuesday discuss the coronavirus crisis, and on Wednesday hold a video call between the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and John Coates, the Australian chairman of the IOC's coordination commission for the first summer Olympics in Japan since 1964.

Preparing for 'successful' Tokyo Olympics 2020, says IOC chief

A plan to use snow collected in Japan's mountains to cool 2020 Olympics venues this summer is being stymied by snowfalls on track to be the lowest on record, according to officials involved.

The Olympics are coming to Japan; So too is climate change

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-calls-for-positive-offensive-measures-to-ensure-safety-270976">North Korea</a> has withdrawn its women's soccer team from the final round of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/mary-kom-beats-challenger-in-trial-for-olympics-qualification-270761">2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers</a> being staged in South Korea in February, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said.

The AFC said on Tuesday the North had sent a letter informing it of its withdrawal from the tournament and that global governing body FIFA was also aware of the decision.

The two Koreas remain technically at war after <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-korea-comments-hostile-and-unnecessary-us-envoy-stephen-biegun-268473">the Korean War</a> ended in a truce and not a peace treaty, and while there was a flurry of&nbsp;sports&nbsp;diplomacy between the neighbours last year ties have again cooled over stalled negotiations over the North's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

"The AFC can confirm that DPR Korea Football Association sent an official letter to withdraw from the Women's Olympic Football Tournament 2020 Asian Qualifiers Final Round," the AFC said in an emailed statement.

The third round of group stage matches for the qualifying tournament will be held from February&nbsp;3-9 in South Korea and China.

North Korea were drawn in Group A alongside hosts South Korea, Vietnam and Myanmar. Australia are in Group B with hosts China, Taiwan and Thailand.

The top two teams from each group advance to a two-legged playoff in March. The two playoff winners will join Japan, who have already qualified by virtue of being hosts, at next year's Olympics in Tokyo.

Also Watch: Fineprint: US vows action if North Korea provokes

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North Korea has withdrawn its women's soccer team from the final round of 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers being staged in South Korea in February, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said.

North Korea has withdrawn its women's soccer team from the final round of 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers being staged in South Korea in February, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said. The AFC said on Tuesday the North had sent a letter informing it of its withdrawal from the tournament and that global governing body FIFA was also aware of the decision. The two Koreas remain technically at war after the Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty, and while there was a flurry of sports diplomacy between the neighbours last year ties have again cooled over stalled negotiations over the North's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. "The AFC can confirm that DPR Korea Football Association sent an official letter to withdraw from the Women's Olympic Football Tournament 2020 Asian Qualifiers Final Round," the AFC said in an emailed statement. The third round of group stage matches for the qualifying tournament will be held from February 3-9 in South Korea and China. North Korea were drawn in Group A alongside hosts South Korea, Vietnam and Myanmar. Australia are in Group B with hosts China, Taiwan and Thailand. The top two teams from each group advance to a two-legged playoff in March. The two playoff winners will join Japan, who have already qualified by virtue of being hosts, at next year's Olympics in Tokyo. Also Watch: Fineprint: US vows action if North Korea provokes ×

North Korea pulls out of women's football 2020 Olympic qualifier in South Korea

Russia's Olympic Committee will do all it can to ensure Russian athletes take part in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/with-eight-months-from-tokyo-2020-venue-preparations-enter-final-stretch-263688">2020 Games</a>, its chief said Thursday, as the country faces a four-year doping ban.

"We will do everything in our power to ensure our team is in Tokyo under the Russian flag," news agency RIA Novosti quoted Stanislav Pozdnyakov as saying.

He said there were no "objective obstacles" to the "vast majority" of Russian athletes fully participating in the Olympics.&nbsp;

The compliance review committee at the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/wada-seeks-russia-ban-over-doping-data-manipulation-264626">World Anti-Doping Agency</a> (WADA) on Monday recommended a four-year sporting ban over falsified lab data it received from Russia.

If WADA chiefs adopt the committee's recommendations at a meeting in Paris on December 9, Russia faces exclusion from key sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The scandal has tainted Russia's sporting reputation since the revelation of large-scale state-sponsored doping aimed at improving Russia's medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Russian track and field athletes were barred from competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016 although Russians competing in other events were allowed to take part.

The ban was widened to include all events at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, though Russian competitors who could prove they were above suspicion were able to compete as neutrals under the Olympic flag.

Monday's call from the WADA review panel came after Russian authorities were accused of falsifying laboratory data related to the country's doping scandal, which were handed over to investigators in January.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said it backs "the toughest sanctions against all those responsible for this manipulation," while cautioning against blanket sanctions that would punish the innocent.

If <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/kremlin-says-russia-remains-open-to-cooperation-on-doping-264918">Russia challenges</a> an eventual suspension by WADA the case will go to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, whose decision will be binding on sports bodies including the International Olympic Committee

Russia's Olympic Committee will do all it can to ensure Russian athletes take part in the 2020 Games, its chief said Thursday, as the country faces a four-year doping ban.

Russia's Olympic Committee will do all it can to ensure Russian athletes take part in the 2020 Games, its chief said Thursday, as the country faces a four-year doping ban. "We will do everything in our power to ensure our team is in Tokyo under the Russian flag," news agency RIA Novosti quoted Stanislav Pozdnyakov as saying. He said there were no "objective obstacles" to the "vast majority" of Russian athletes fully participating in the Olympics. The compliance review committee at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday recommended a four-year sporting ban over falsified lab data it received from Russia. If WADA chiefs adopt the committee's recommendations at a meeting in Paris on December 9, Russia faces exclusion from key sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The scandal has tainted Russia's sporting reputation since the revelation of large-scale state-sponsored doping aimed at improving Russia's medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russian track and field athletes were barred from competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016 although Russians competing in other events were allowed to take part. The ban was widened to include all events at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, though Russian competitors who could prove they were above suspicion were able to compete as neutrals under the Olympic flag. Monday's call from the WADA review panel came after Russian authorities were accused of falsifying laboratory data related to the country's doping scandal, which were handed over to investigators in January. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said it backs "the toughest sanctions against all those responsible for this manipulation," while cautioning against blanket sanctions that would punish the innocent. If Russia challenges an eventual suspension by WADA the case will go to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, whose decision will be binding on sports bodies including the International Olympic Committee

Olympic chief says will 'do everything' to ensure Russia at 2020 Games

The swimming section of a paratriathlon test event for Tokyo 2020 was cancelled Saturday due to high levels of bacteria in the water, the latest in a series of difficulties over water quality and temperature.

Olympic organisers have won widespread praise for their preparations but extreme summer heat and poor water quality have brought headaches at practice events, with less than a year to go until the opening ceremony.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) shelved the swimming leg after tests showed levels of e-coli more than double the acceptable standard.

The 70 paratriathletes instead competed in a duathlon format with two runs and a bike race.

"I'm so sorry for athletes that we could not prepare the competition conditions effectively," Shinichiro Otsuka, managing director of Japan's Triathlon Union, told reporters.

"It was regrettable," he said, vowing to step up preparations for Sunday's Mixed Relay.

Former British paralympic triathlete Clare Cunningham tweeted that Saturday's decision to abridge the race was "disappointing for all".

It was the latest setback at a test event for Olympic organisers after extreme temperatures women's triathlon run was cut short due to extreme heat in the Japanese capital on Thursday, with French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand was taken to hospital for suspected heatstroke.

Around a dozen competitors and spectators also fell ill at a rowing test event, also due to high temperatures, as Tokyo swelters through a deadly heatwave.

Competitors at a marathon swimming test event on Sunday complained of smelly water and high water temperature at Odaiba Bay, the location for long-distance swimming and triathlon.

Organisers are desperate to avoid the embarrassment of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, when the pool used for diving events turned an unsettling shade of green overnight.

Brazilian officials also had to scramble to clean up the bay used for sailing and windsurfing that was plagued by sewer bacteria and filthy with rubbish.

In October 2017, Tokyo 2020 organisers were left red-faced after tests revealed levels of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher than international standards, sparking doubts about the venue's safety.

At the time, the organising committee blamed prolonged summer rain that had brought pollutants from offshore for the high readings between late July and early September.

A year later, organisers said that tests using underwater "screens" to filter the water had successfully reduced bacteria levels at the venue.

"We will keep doing our best to secure a safe and sound environment for athletes towards the Games next year," Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya said Saturday.

The swimming section of a paratriathlon test event for Tokyo 2020 was cancelled Saturday due to high levels of bacteria in the water, the latest in a series of difficulties over water quality and temperature.

The swimming section of a paratriathlon test event for Tokyo 2020 was cancelled Saturday due to high levels of bacteria in the water, the latest in a series of difficulties over water quality and temperature. Olympic organisers have won widespread praise for their preparations but extreme summer heat and poor water quality have brought headaches at practice events, with less than a year to go until the opening ceremony. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) shelved the swimming leg after tests showed levels of e-coli more than double the acceptable standard. The 70 paratriathletes instead competed in a duathlon format with two runs and a bike race. "I'm so sorry for athletes that we could not prepare the competition conditions effectively," Shinichiro Otsuka, managing director of Japan's Triathlon Union, told reporters. "It was regrettable," he said, vowing to step up preparations for Sunday's Mixed Relay. Former British paralympic triathlete Clare Cunningham tweeted that Saturday's decision to abridge the race was "disappointing for all". It was the latest setback at a test event for Olympic organisers after extreme temperatures women's triathlon run was cut short due to extreme heat in the Japanese capital on Thursday, with French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand was taken to hospital for suspected heatstroke. Around a dozen competitors and spectators also fell ill at a rowing test event, also due to high temperatures, as Tokyo swelters through a deadly heatwave. Competitors at a marathon swimming test event on Sunday complained of smelly water and high water temperature at Odaiba Bay, the location for long-distance swimming and triathlon. Organisers are desperate to avoid the embarrassment of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, when the pool used for diving events turned an unsettling shade of green overnight. Brazilian officials also had to scramble to clean up the bay used for sailing and windsurfing that was plagued by sewer bacteria and filthy with rubbish. In October 2017, Tokyo 2020 organisers were left red-faced after tests revealed levels of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher than international standards, sparking doubts about the venue's safety. At the time, the organising committee blamed prolonged summer rain that had brought pollutants from offshore for the high readings between late July and early September. A year later, organisers said that tests using underwater "screens" to filter the water had successfully reduced bacteria levels at the venue. "We will keep doing our best to secure a safe and sound environment for athletes towards the Games next year," Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya said Saturday.

Water bacteria cancels Tokyo 2020 paratriathlon test swim

World and former Olympic champion high hurdler Sally Pearson, the most successful Australian track athlete of her generation, gave up on her dream of a swansong at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and retired on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Queenslander, who won Olympic 100 metres hurdles gold at the 2012 London Games and the world title in 2011 and 2017, said she had been forced into the decision by a string of injuries.

"After 16 years of being on the Australian team it's time to hang up the spikes," Pearson told a news conference in Sydney.

"Every time I want to go fast the body doesn't want to. So I don't think I could take anymore injuries and I have huge doubts for the next year for me to be able to continue at the level that I expect of myself ...

"I'm proud of my career and what I've achieved and hopefully inspired our next generation of athletes coming through ..."

Pearson grew up on the Gold Coast and was initially an international prospect under her maiden name Sally McLellan in both the hurdles and the flat 100 metres sprint.

She got her big breakthrough with the hurdles silver medal at the 2008 Olympics and was named IAAF female athlete of the year after securing her first world title at Daegu in 2011.

She dominated the 100 metres hurdles in the year running up to the London Olympics and swept to victory in 12.37 seconds to firmly establish herself among the world's elite.

One of a trio of American challengers to her supremacy, Brianna Rollins, kept her to a silver at the 2013 worlds and a horrific injury sustained at the Rome Diamond League meeting in 2015 prevented her from competing to get it back.

'Bone Explosion'

After the fall in Rome, Pearson feared she might have to have her lower arm amputated with doctors describing the injury as a "bone explosion" in her wrist.

She battled back from that injury but was bedevilled by calf and Achilles problems and ultimately prevented from defending her Olympic title in Rio by a torn hamstring.

In testimony to her mental toughness, she was back on the big stage at the 2017 world championships in London, where she reclaimed the hurdles title in 12.59 seconds.

"I would like to say that the Olympic Games in 2012 was my most favourite memory but I must say 2017 world championships for me was something that I proved to myself that I could still do it," she added.

"Even through the hard slog that I went through, I was still able to come back and be the victor at a major world championships.

"For me, that was my most proudest moment, for me as an athlete and coach because I was coaching myself. The London Olympics, though will always take my heart."

More injuries followed, though, with an Achilles issue cruelly robbing her of the chance to race at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in her home city.

Another hamstring injury put in doubt her world title defence in Doha later this year and it was the return of the Achilles problem that finally convinced her to give up on her dream of running at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

"I started hurdling again and the Achilles started to flare up and that was it," she added. "I just hit boiling point. Because of last year and 2018 I wasn't going through that pain again. That was too much to take."

World and former Olympic champion high hurdler Sally Pearson, the most successful Australian track athlete of her generation, gave up on her dream of a swansong at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and retired on Tuesday.

World and former Olympic champion high hurdler Sally Pearson, the most successful Australian track athlete of her generation, gave up on her dream of a swansong at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and retired on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Queenslander, who won Olympic 100 metres hurdles gold at the 2012 London Games and the world title in 2011 and 2017, said she had been forced into the decision by a string of injuries. "After 16 years of being on the Australian team it's time to hang up the spikes," Pearson told a news conference in Sydney. "Every time I want to go fast the body doesn't want to. So I don't think I could take anymore injuries and I have huge doubts for the next year for me to be able to continue at the level that I expect of myself ... "I'm proud of my career and what I've achieved and hopefully inspired our next generation of athletes coming through ..." Pearson grew up on the Gold Coast and was initially an international prospect under her maiden name Sally McLellan in both the hurdles and the flat 100 metres sprint. She got her big breakthrough with the hurdles silver medal at the 2008 Olympics and was named IAAF female athlete of the year after securing her first world title at Daegu in 2011. She dominated the 100 metres hurdles in the year running up to the London Olympics and swept to victory in 12.37 seconds to firmly establish herself among the world's elite. One of a trio of American challengers to her supremacy, Brianna Rollins, kept her to a silver at the 2013 worlds and a horrific injury sustained at the Rome Diamond League meeting in 2015 prevented her from competing to get it back. 'Bone Explosion' After the fall in Rome, Pearson feared she might have to have her lower arm amputated with doctors describing the injury as a "bone explosion" in her wrist. She battled back from that injury but was bedevilled by calf and Achilles problems and ultimately prevented from defending her Olympic title in Rio by a torn hamstring. In testimony to her mental toughness, she was back on the big stage at the 2017 world championships in London, where she reclaimed the hurdles title in 12.59 seconds. "I would like to say that the Olympic Games in 2012 was my most favourite memory but I must say 2017 world championships for me was something that I proved to myself that I could still do it," she added. "Even through the hard slog that I went through, I was still able to come back and be the victor at a major world championships. "For me, that was my most proudest moment, for me as an athlete and coach because I was coaching myself. The London Olympics, though will always take my heart." More injuries followed, though, with an Achilles issue cruelly robbing her of the chance to race at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in her home city. Another hamstring injury put in doubt her world title defence in Doha later this year and it was the return of the Achilles problem that finally convinced her to give up on her dream of running at the Tokyo Olympics next year. "I started hurdling again and the Achilles started to flare up and that was it," she added. "I just hit boiling point. Because of last year and 2018 I wasn't going through that pain again. That was too much to take."

Injury forces former Olympic champion Sally Pearson to retire

Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth said it was irritating to lose close quarterfinals in a title-less season and stressed on the need to get physically and mentally tougher to win medals at the World Championship and Olympic Games. Srikanth, who had clinched four titles in 2017, lost nine quarterfinals and two semifinals while reaching the finals only once at the Commonwealth Games in the last 15 months.

"I think the series of quarterfinals are more irritating for me than losing in the first round," Srikanth told reporters on the eve of the India Open, starting here Tuesday.

"I think I have been consistent against a few players and then not able to get that win against a few others at quarterfinals and semifinals, that is what I'm working on -- to last the whole week.&nbsp;

"Probably, if I can do well in next 3-4 months before the World Championship. If I can get better physically and tougher mentally, I think I can do well at World Championship," he added.

Srikanth had suffered a leg injury at the 2017 Senior Nationals and ever since he has been troubled by small injury woes, especially related to his ankle, which affected his performance.

"I'm working on my fitness, I had too many injuries in late 2017 and 2018 and so if I can keep working on my fitness then I will have a great chance to win titles," he said.&nbsp;

"That is what worked for me in 2017, because I could sustain an hour and half hour. But 2018 and early 2019, I had some injuries and withdrew from tournaments.

"I am okay now. I had an ankle injury after playing a series of events at Malaysia, Indonesia and PBL. I'm feeling good now and I have been able to train for three weeks and I feel confident."

Srikanth said he just wants to focus on improving the little things and maintain his momentum to do well at the Olympics.

"I couldn't produce the results that I wanted to but still I'm happy with my improvement. So I am in that process now," he said.

"I'm not desperate, I just want to improve on different things, to be able to pull out crucial points in tough matches and be more consistent. All I am working on now is to do well at the Olympics. If I can hold on to the momentum and keep improving till the Olympics, I can do well there," Srikanth added.

The 26-year-old Indian said he is drawing inspiration from other top players such as Kento Momota, Shi Yuqi and Viktor Axelsen to come back into top 3.

"Momota has done extremely well since coming back from ban. The last 16 months or so, he has done well. Viktor too has managed to play quarters and semifinals, Shi

Yuqi also have been in top 3-4 consistently. These players are doing it consistently," he said.

"I have been in top 8 for last few years, so I'm working on to go that extra step and be back in top 3. I have been in top 4 for a year during 2017-18.

"The new coaches are also helping us, though it has been just a month but the next 3-4 months will be challenging."

Srikanth, a former world no 1, will open his campaign against Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong and is expected to face either Sameer Verma or B Sai Praneeth in the quarterfinals.

"It is a good draw. In India, you expect to play so many Indian players as not all are seeded, so we end up playing each other in the initial rounds a lot. Since we play each other so often, it will be challenging. I feel it is easier to play a foreign player than an Indian," Srikanth said.

"So everyone is a tough opponent. I am playing Wong Wing Ki Vincent in first round. I had played him in Malaysia, it was a really close match and going forward I will only play tougher opponents."&nbsp;

Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth said it was irritating to lose close quarterfinals in a title-less season and stressed on the need to get physically and mentally tougher to win medals at the World Championship and Olympic Games.

Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth said it was irritating to lose close quarterfinals in a title-less season and stressed on the need to get physically and mentally tougher to win medals at the World Championship and Olympic Games. Srikanth, who had clinched four titles in 2017, lost nine quarterfinals and two semifinals while reaching the finals only once at the Commonwealth Games in the last 15 months. "I think the series of quarterfinals are more irritating for me than losing in the first round," Srikanth told reporters on the eve of the India Open, starting here Tuesday. "I think I have been consistent against a few players and then not able to get that win against a few others at quarterfinals and semifinals, that is what I'm working on -- to last the whole week. "Probably, if I can do well in next 3-4 months before the World Championship. If I can get better physically and tougher mentally, I think I can do well at World Championship," he added. Srikanth had suffered a leg injury at the 2017 Senior Nationals and ever since he has been troubled by small injury woes, especially related to his ankle, which affected his performance. "I'm working on my fitness, I had too many injuries in late 2017 and 2018 and so if I can keep working on my fitness then I will have a great chance to win titles," he said. "That is what worked for me in 2017, because I could sustain an hour and half hour. But 2018 and early 2019, I had some injuries and withdrew from tournaments. "I am okay now. I had an ankle injury after playing a series of events at Malaysia, Indonesia and PBL. I'm feeling good now and I have been able to train for three weeks and I feel confident." Srikanth said he just wants to focus on improving the little things and maintain his momentum to do well at the Olympics. "I couldn't produce the results that I wanted to but still I'm happy with my improvement. So I am in that process now," he said. "I'm not desperate, I just want to improve on different things, to be able to pull out crucial points in tough matches and be more consistent. All I am working on now is to do well at the Olympics. If I can hold on to the momentum and keep improving till the Olympics, I can do well there," Srikanth added. The 26-year-old Indian said he is drawing inspiration from other top players such as Kento Momota, Shi Yuqi and Viktor Axelsen to come back into top 3. "Momota has done extremely well since coming back from ban. The last 16 months or so, he has done well. Viktor too has managed to play quarters and semifinals, Shi Yuqi also have been in top 3-4 consistently. These players are doing it consistently," he said. "I have been in top 8 for last few years, so I'm working on to go that extra step and be back in top 3. I have been in top 4 for a year during 2017-18. "The new coaches are also helping us, though it has been just a month but the next 3-4 months will be challenging." Srikanth, a former world no 1, will open his campaign against Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong and is expected to face either Sameer Verma or B Sai Praneeth in the quarterfinals. "It is a good draw. In India, you expect to play so many Indian players as not all are seeded, so we end up playing each other in the initial rounds a lot. Since we play each other so often, it will be challenging. I feel it is easier to play a foreign player than an Indian," Srikanth said. "So everyone is a tough opponent. I am playing Wong Wing Ki Vincent in first round. I had played him in Malaysia, it was a really close match and going forward I will only play tougher opponents."

Getting tougher mentally, physically key to World Championship medal: Kidambi Srikanth

The <a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/fields-of-dreams-tokyo-2020s-major-sites-202797">Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020</a> on Tuesday unveiled the official sports pictograms, some of which were originally introduced at the Tokyo Olympics of 1964.

The set consists of 50 pictograms although there are 33 sports in the competition because some have several disciplines that have also been represented, the Olympic Committee said.

The pictograms were unveiled during a ceremony marking 500 days until the opening ceremony of the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/olympics-from-budget-battles-to-boxing-blues-the-rocky-path-to-tokyo-2020-202768">2020 Olympics</a>, which are due to start on July 24, 2020, and exactly one year before the Olympic torch is lit in Olympia, Greece.

The event was attended by several athletes and school children who released the pictograms for the first time to the public.

Karate expert Kiyo Shimizu, who was present during the event, said the karate pictogram was very cool.

The pictograms, which have two designs - with and without frame - will be used in posters, tickets, licensed merchandise and also during the competition as signposts, maps or web pages, among other uses, the organising committee said.

The pictograms are the work of the designer Masaaki Hiromura, who expressed the dynamic beauty of the athletes and ensure they respect the legacy of the pioneers of 1964 Olympics, the committee said in a statement.

The Olympic pictograms were used for the first time in the Tokyo Games 55 years ago, which became a necessity to help communicate visually with a growing group of international athletes and spectators in a country where English is hardly spoken.

Since then, pictograms have been created for all the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, the organisers of next year's games are considering ways to ease potential traffic congestion in the Japanese capital where some venues are situated in the central area of the city, the broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday.

The city and national government are evaluating solutions aimed at the smooth running of transport services, the report said.

The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games are due to start with the opening ceremony at the New National Stadium on July 24, 2020, and then run until August 9, 2020.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday unveiled the official sports pictograms, some of which were originally introduced at the Tokyo Olympics of 1964.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday unveiled the official sports pictograms, some of which were originally introduced at the Tokyo Olympics of 1964. The set consists of 50 pictograms although there are 33 sports in the competition because some have several disciplines that have also been represented, the Olympic Committee said. The pictograms were unveiled during a ceremony marking 500 days until the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics, which are due to start on July 24, 2020, and exactly one year before the Olympic torch is lit in Olympia, Greece. The event was attended by several athletes and school children who released the pictograms for the first time to the public. Karate expert Kiyo Shimizu, who was present during the event, said the karate pictogram was very cool. The pictograms, which have two designs - with and without frame - will be used in posters, tickets, licensed merchandise and also during the competition as signposts, maps or web pages, among other uses, the organising committee said. The pictograms are the work of the designer Masaaki Hiromura, who expressed the dynamic beauty of the athletes and ensure they respect the legacy of the pioneers of 1964 Olympics, the committee said in a statement. The Olympic pictograms were used for the first time in the Tokyo Games 55 years ago, which became a necessity to help communicate visually with a growing group of international athletes and spectators in a country where English is hardly spoken. Since then, pictograms have been created for all the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the organisers of next year's games are considering ways to ease potential traffic congestion in the Japanese capital where some venues are situated in the central area of the city, the broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday. The city and national government are evaluating solutions aimed at the smooth running of transport services, the report said. The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games are due to start with the opening ceremony at the New National Stadium on July 24, 2020, and then run until August 9, 2020.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 unveils 50 official sport pictograms

The 2020 Olympics can "usher in a new Tokyo" and, along with this year's Rugby World Cup, leave behind a legacy similar to that of the 1964 Summer Games, the city's Governor Yuriko Koike said on Monday.

"These two major events will serve as a springboard to transform our city," said Koike.

"This year, 2019, will be key in making those Games a success and ushering in a new Tokyo.

"But the metric for success will not be limited to just the competition itself; we want to lead Japan beyond 2020, change the way Tokyo thinks and transform our society."

The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics in 1964, the Games provided the city with the opportunity for a rebranding, shaking off a war-ravaged reputation and showing a modern face to the world.

A building boom transformed Tokyo prior to those Games, the high-speed Shinkansen train began to run, and a growing middle class snapped up refrigerators and other appliances, including televisions to watch the Games.

This time, the legacy may be more of an intangible nature.

"The previous Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 1964 left a legacy of urban infrastructure, like the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway and the Shinkansen bullet train network," said Koike, a former defence and environment minister.

"I intend for the Tokyo 2020 Games to leave a more intangible legacy. I also intend for the 2020 Games to leave a cultural legacy and for the Games themselves to be a celebration of culture."

Koike is focusing on making Tokyo more diverse and has also pushed for a swathe of environmental programs in order to rebrand the city as a leader in the fight against climate change.

She also sees the Paralympics as a chance to make Tokyo, notoriously difficult to navigate for citizens and visitors with disabilities, more accessible.

"I believe that the Paralympics, in particular, will be a key event that determines the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games," said Koike.

"This will be the first time that a city has hosted it's second summer Paralympics and as the city with that honour, Tokyo aims to lead the country in strengthening barrier-free standards in lodging facilities."

One of the recent regulations implemented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is the 'Open Stay Tokyo' project, which looks to increase the width of doors and corridors within hotels to accommodate wheelchair uses.

The Tokyo Olympics open on July 24 next year.

The 2020 Olympics can "usher in a new Tokyo" and, along with this year's Rugby World Cup, leave behind a legacy similar to that of the 1964 Summer Games, the city's Governor Yuriko Koike said on Monday.

The 2020 Olympics can "usher in a new Tokyo" and, along with this year's Rugby World Cup, leave behind a legacy similar to that of the 1964 Summer Games, the city's Governor Yuriko Koike said on Monday. "These two major events will serve as a springboard to transform our city," said Koike. "This year, 2019, will be key in making those Games a success and ushering in a new Tokyo. "But the metric for success will not be limited to just the competition itself; we want to lead Japan beyond 2020, change the way Tokyo thinks and transform our society." The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics in 1964, the Games provided the city with the opportunity for a rebranding, shaking off a war-ravaged reputation and showing a modern face to the world. A building boom transformed Tokyo prior to those Games, the high-speed Shinkansen train began to run, and a growing middle class snapped up refrigerators and other appliances, including televisions to watch the Games. This time, the legacy may be more of an intangible nature. "The previous Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 1964 left a legacy of urban infrastructure, like the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway and the Shinkansen bullet train network," said Koike, a former defence and environment minister. "I intend for the Tokyo 2020 Games to leave a more intangible legacy. I also intend for the 2020 Games to leave a cultural legacy and for the Games themselves to be a celebration of culture." Koike is focusing on making Tokyo more diverse and has also pushed for a swathe of environmental programs in order to rebrand the city as a leader in the fight against climate change. She also sees the Paralympics as a chance to make Tokyo, notoriously difficult to navigate for citizens and visitors with disabilities, more accessible. "I believe that the Paralympics, in particular, will be a key event that determines the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games," said Koike. "This will be the first time that a city has hosted it's second summer Paralympics and as the city with that honour, Tokyo aims to lead the country in strengthening barrier-free standards in lodging facilities." One of the recent regulations implemented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is the 'Open Stay Tokyo' project, which looks to increase the width of doors and corridors within hotels to accommodate wheelchair uses. The Tokyo Olympics open on July 24 next year.

2020 Olympic Games can be springboard to transform Tokyo

South Korea&#39;s Jang Hye-Ji launched 18 days of competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics today by sliding the first mixed doubles curling stone in Olympic history down the ice.

While the official opening ceremonies are not until tomorrow night, the first mixed doubles curling event in the Olympic Games began a day early to open 18 days of competition that will conclude with the February 25 closing cermonies.

Jang took the opportunity to make Olympic history in her opening round-robin match match alongside Lee Ki-Jeong against Finland&#39;s Oona Kauste and Tomi Rantamaeki before about 2,500 spectators at Gangneung Curling Centre.

Other opening round-robin matches sent Canada against Norway, China against reigning world champion Switzerland and the Olympic Athletes from Russia against the United States.

The Russians - the 2016 world champion husband-and-wife team of Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and Anastasia Bryzgalova - are competing under the Olympic flag after Russia was banned from the Games for major doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games.

The OAR duo launched their medal quest against US siblings Matt and Becca Hamilton, inspiring a solitary &quot;Russ- i-a&quot; yell from the crowd after scoring two points in the second end.

After seven round-robin matches through Sunday, the top four teams will reach Monday&#39;s semi-finals with medal matches set for Tuesday.

After seven round-robin matches through Sunday, the top four teams will reach Monday's semi-finals with medal matches set for Tuesday.

South Korea's Jang Hye-Ji launched 18 days of competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics today by sliding the first mixed doubles curling stone in Olympic history down the ice. While the official opening ceremonies are not until tomorrow night, the first mixed doubles curling event in the Olympic Games began a day early to open 18 days of competition that will conclude with the February 25 closing cermonies. Jang took the opportunity to make Olympic history in her opening round-robin match match alongside Lee Ki-Jeong against Finland's Oona Kauste and Tomi Rantamaeki before about 2,500 spectators at Gangneung Curling Centre. Other opening round-robin matches sent Canada against Norway, China against reigning world champion Switzerland and the Olympic Athletes from Russia against the United States. The Russians - the 2016 world champion husband-and-wife team of Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and Anastasia Bryzgalova - are competing under the Olympic flag after Russia was banned from the Games for major doping violations at the 2014 Sochi Games. The OAR duo launched their medal quest against US siblings Matt and Becca Hamilton, inspiring a solitary "Russ- i-a" yell from the crowd after scoring two points in the second end. After seven round-robin matches through Sunday, the top four teams will reach Monday's semi-finals with medal matches set for Tuesday.

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics competition begins with curling

The International Olympic Committee said the 28 Russians who had their life bans lifted by sport&#39;s top court CAS on Thursday did not &quot;automatically&quot; allow them to compete at the Pyeongchang Games.

&quot;Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation&quot; to the 2018 Games in South Korea, the IOC explained in a statement.

The Olympic rulers said they took note of the Court of Arbitration for Sport&#39;s verdict &quot;with satisfaction on the one hand and disappointment on the other&quot;.

CAS upheld the appeals of 28 of the 43 Russians accused of doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, lifting their life bans and reinstating their results form Sochi, and freeing them to possibly compete at Pyeonghcang.

The other 11 had their life bans overturned, but their Pyeongchang ban maintained.

The court ruled there was &quot;insufficient&quot; evidence that the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored doping at Sochi.

The IOC warned that CAS&#39;s verdict on the 28 &quot;may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping&quot;.

&quot;Therefore, the IOC will analyse the reasoned decisions very carefully once they are available and consider consequences, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.&quot;

The International Olympic Committee said the 28 Russians who had their life bans lifted by sport's top court CAS on Thursday did not "automatically" allow them to compete at the Pyeongchang Games

The International Olympic Committee said the 28 Russians who had their life bans lifted by sport's top court CAS on Thursday did not "automatically" allow them to compete at the Pyeongchang Games. "Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation" to the 2018 Games in South Korea, the IOC explained in a statement. The Olympic rulers said they took note of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's verdict "with satisfaction on the one hand and disappointment on the other". CAS upheld the appeals of 28 of the 43 Russians accused of doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, lifting their life bans and reinstating their results form Sochi, and freeing them to possibly compete at Pyeonghcang. The other 11 had their life bans overturned, but their Pyeongchang ban maintained. The court ruled there was "insufficient" evidence that the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored doping at Sochi. The IOC warned that CAS's verdict on the 28 "may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping". "Therefore, the IOC will analyse the reasoned decisions very carefully once they are available and consider consequences, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal."

No 'automatic' Olympic participation for 28 cleared Russians - IOC

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to organise an alternative competition for Russian athletes banned from the Winter Olympics over a doping scandal, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Kremlin leader also told athletes who are due to compete in Pyeongchang next month, as independent competitors, that he was sorry officials had failed to protect them from the fallout.

&quot;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/sorry-for-not-being-able-to-shield-you-from-doping-scam-putin-to-russian-athletes-31362">Forgive us for not having been able to shield you from this</a>,&quot; Putin said during a reception at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday, adding that the scandal had contributed to &quot;very difficult conditions&quot; for athletes ahead of the Games.

&quot;You should focus on the result and on your victory,&quot; he added. &quot;Nothing should distract you from this.&quot;

&quot;I wish you luck,&quot; Putin said, adding he wanted them to be &quot;courageous&quot;.

He said the exclusion of many Russian&nbsp;sportsmen and women over doping was &quot;strange&quot;, reiterating his pledge to support those&nbsp;who have been prevented from taking part.

The International Olympic Committee<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/instances-doping-use-in-russia-admits-putin-31242"> banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics</a> after a report on a vast, Moscow-backed doping scheme in previous Games.&nbsp;

Only 169 of Russia&#39;s athletes have been allowed to take part in the Games, under a neutral flag as an &quot;Olympic Athlete from Russia&quot;.

&#39;Russian Olympics&#39;?

Speaking to reporters, Putin&#39;s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president had tasked ministers with organising an alternative competition for those banned from the 2018 Games.

Putin &quot;reminded the cabinet of the decision to organise a competition for those of our athletes who had not been allowed to take part in the Olympic Games,&quot; Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying.&nbsp;

The Kremlin spokesman added that athletes who win at the alternative event would receive compensation equal to what Moscow normally awards Olympic medalists.

Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestiya reported this week that the alternative competition for banned athletes would take place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Speaking to the athletes, Putin reiterated his complaint that the ban against Russia was politically motivated.

&quot;For us, certain things are truly strange,&quot; he said.

At the same time, he admitted Russian officials might have been guilty of &quot;oversight, mistakes&quot; and a lack of proper attention to &quot;things that are very important and key in modern&nbsp;sport.&quot;

He said he hoped that international sporting organisations would not become annexes of &quot;certain countries&quot;, a thinly-veiled jab at the United States.

Last year, Putin claimed the United States was behind Russian&nbsp;sports&nbsp;doping allegations to influence March presidential elections widely expected to extend the Russian leader&#39;s Kremlin term until 2024.

Putin has consistently denied the Russian state has run a vast doping scheme, instead blaming individual sporting officials.

&#39;Greatest sporting nation&#39;

The athletes thanked Putin for his support, with hockey player Pavel Datsyuk presenting the Kremlin chief with a jersey featuring the slogan &quot;Russia in my heart&quot; and players&#39; signatures.

Luger Roman Repilov for his part said the Russian athletes should emerge winners at Pyeongchang to show the world that &quot;Russia is the greatest sporting nation.&quot;

&quot;We should prove to them all that we are Russians, that we are strong, that those who are banning our teammates will not be able to break us,&quot; Repilov said.

&quot;We should pull ourselves together and go there and win.&quot;&nbsp;

Snowboarder Alena Zavarzina&nbsp;said the exclusion of other Russians was utterly unfair.

&quot;I believe that what happened with our colleagues who cannot go to these Games is an egregious injustice,&quot; she said.

&quot;We will fight and do everything in our power to bring home the medals that we deserve.&quot;

The 23rd Winter Olympics will open in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on February 9, featuring 102 events in 15&nbsp;sports&nbsp;and athletes from all over the world.

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Earlier, Putin said "sorry" on behalf of his government for not being able "shield" athletes after the doping scandal hit the country

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to organise an alternative competition for Russian athletes banned from the Winter Olympics over a doping scandal, his spokesman said on Wednesday. The Kremlin leader also told athletes who are due to compete in Pyeongchang next month, as independent competitors, that he was sorry officials had failed to protect them from the fallout. "Forgive us for not having been able to shield you from this," Putin said during a reception at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday, adding that the scandal had contributed to "very difficult conditions" for athletes ahead of the Games. "You should focus on the result and on your victory," he added. "Nothing should distract you from this." "I wish you luck," Putin said, adding he wanted them to be "courageous". He said the exclusion of many Russian sportsmen and women over doping was "strange", reiterating his pledge to support those who have been prevented from taking part. The International Olympic Committee banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics after a report on a vast, Moscow-backed doping scheme in previous Games. Only 169 of Russia's athletes have been allowed to take part in the Games, under a neutral flag as an "Olympic Athlete from Russia". 'Russian Olympics'? Speaking to reporters, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president had tasked ministers with organising an alternative competition for those banned from the 2018 Games. Putin "reminded the cabinet of the decision to organise a competition for those of our athletes who had not been allowed to take part in the Olympic Games," Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying. The Kremlin spokesman added that athletes who win at the alternative event would receive compensation equal to what Moscow normally awards Olympic medalists. Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestiya reported this week that the alternative competition for banned athletes would take place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Speaking to the athletes, Putin reiterated his complaint that the ban against Russia was politically motivated. "For us, certain things are truly strange," he said. At the same time, he admitted Russian officials might have been guilty of "oversight, mistakes" and a lack of proper attention to "things that are very important and key in modern sport." He said he hoped that international sporting organisations would not become annexes of "certain countries", a thinly-veiled jab at the United States. Last year, Putin claimed the United States was behind Russian sports doping allegations to influence March presidential elections widely expected to extend the Russian leader's Kremlin term until 2024. Putin has consistently denied the Russian state has run a vast doping scheme, instead blaming individual sporting officials. 'Greatest sporting nation' The athletes thanked Putin for his support, with hockey player Pavel Datsyuk presenting the Kremlin chief with a jersey featuring the slogan "Russia in my heart" and players' signatures. Luger Roman Repilov for his part said the Russian athletes should emerge winners at Pyeongchang to show the world that "Russia is the greatest sporting nation." "We should prove to them all that we are Russians, that we are strong, that those who are banning our teammates will not be able to break us," Repilov said. "We should pull ourselves together and go there and win." Snowboarder Alena Zavarzina said the exclusion of other Russians was utterly unfair. "I believe that what happened with our colleagues who cannot go to these Games is an egregious injustice," she said. "We will fight and do everything in our power to bring home the medals that we deserve." The 23rd Winter Olympics will open in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on February 9, featuring 102 events in 15 sports and athletes from all over the world.

Putin orders alternative Olympic Games for banned athletes

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