Olympics

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Olympics Booze Ban Has an Elite Exception

VIPs will get to swill alcohol, while the masses will drink water, soft drinks

(Newser) - Paris has deemed that the hoi polloi will not be getting a buzz on at its 2024 Olympics—but there's a notable exception to its booze ban, and that is the folks in the VIP section. As the Guardian reports, VIPs can swill champagne to their hearts' content under...

Caught in Payment Dispute, an OIympian Takes Off His Clothes

Mexican diver Diego Balleza has started an OnlyFans to help pay for Olympic training

(Newser) - As a prominent 10-meter diver, Diego Balleza is used to wearing small swimsuits that show off his body. Now, desperate due to a lack of financial resources ahead of next year's Paris Olympics, the Mexican is making a leap to a different platform in which he also wears few...

Ralph Boston Made First 27-Foot Long Jump
Ralph Boston Broke
Jesse Owens' Record
obituary
May 3, 2023 7:55 PM CDT

Ralph Boston Broke Jesse Owens' Record

Olympian tied or topped world records six times in the 1960s

(Newser) - Ralph Boston, the Olympic long jump champion who broke Jesse Owens' world record then later had his own mark eclipsed by Bob Beamon's record-shattering leap at the Mexico City Games, died Sunday. He was 83. The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee confirmed that Boston died Sunday at his home...

'Fosbury Flop' Remains a Lesson in Innovation
'Fosbury Flop' Remains
a Lesson in Innovation
obituary
Mar 13, 2023 7:15 PM CDT

'Fosbury Flop' Remains a Lesson in Innovation

Dick Fosbury changed high jumpers' technique

(Newser) - Dick Fosbury, the lanky leaper who revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his "Fosbury Flop," has died. He was 76. Fosbury died Sunday, the AP reports, after a recurrence with lymphoma, his publicist said. Before Fosbury, many high jumpers cleared...

Track Dad Who Helped Son Finish Memorable Race Has Died

Jim and Derek Redmond participated in 'one of the most inspirational moments in Olympic history'

(Newser) - Jim Redmond wasn't supposed to be on the track at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He wasn't even an athlete, yet he played a key role in what the Olympic Committee calls "one of the most inspirational moments in Olympic history." Per NPR, Jim Redmond died...

Twice a Survivor, 86-Year-Old Takes Family to Germany

Shaul Ladany was held in Bergen-Belsen and on Israeli Olympic team attacked in 1972

(Newser) - Shaul Ladany lived through a Nazi concentration camp and escaped the massacre of 11 fellow Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Decades later, the 86-year-old is back in Germany to visit the two places where he narrowly avoided death. On Saturday, Ladany, who was born in 1936...

IOC Reinstates Wins of 'Most Remarkable Athlete'

Jim Thorpe is now in the record books as sole winner of 2 golds at 1912 Games

(Newser) - Jim Thorpe, one of history's greatest and most versatile athletes, has finally been restored as the sole winner of two events at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. The Native American athlete was stripped of the two gold medals more than six months after the Games when it emerged that he...

Skater in Doping Scandal Has Disastrous Performance

Russia's Kamila Valieva finishes in 4th in a stunner

(Newser) - It might be the biggest surprise of the Beijing Olympics: Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian skater embroiled in a doping controversy , had a disastrous free skate on Thursday and finished out of medal contention in fourth place. "Stunning" is the word used by Christine Brennan of USA Today, and...

He Had Gold in His Sights After COVID. Then a 'Silly Mistake'

Wrong turn likely cost Jarl Magnus Riiber a medal in Nordic combined

(Newser) - Expectations were high for Jarl Magnus Riiber going into the Winter Olympics. "He's probably going to go down as the best Nordic combined skier ever," NBC analyst Johnny Spillane said, per the Wall Street Journal . "If he has a good day, he's pretty much unstoppable....

More on Figure Skating's Medals Hold-Up Emerges
More on Figure Skating's
Medals Hold-Up Emerges
the rundown
Feb 11, 2022 6:31 AM CST

More on Figure Skating's Medals Hold-Up Emerges

Doping hearing to decide fate of Kamila Valieva, who could nab another gold

(Newser) - Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's right to compete as the heavy favorite in the women's event at the Beijing Olympics will be decided at an urgent hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a failed doping test, per the AP . The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed...

16 Years After 'Galling Mistake,' Snowboarder Finally Wins Gold

Lindsey Jacobellis brings home first gold for US at Winter Games in Beijing

(Newser) - It took 16 years and five Olympic appearances, but Lindsey Jacobellis finally has her gold medal. NBC News reports that the world-champion snowboarder, who first competed in the Games in 2006 in Turin, took top honors Wednesday in the women's snowboard cross, earning the US its first gold at...

NBC: Leslie Jones' Olympic Commentary Can Continue

Network says it resolved third-party error causing comedian's videos to be blocked

(Newser) - Update: NBC says Leslie Jones can continue sharing her colorful Olympics commentary after a "third-party error" caused her videos to be blocked. "We have resolved the situation. She is free to do her social media posts as she has done in the past," a rep says, per...

China Freaks Out as Eileen Gu Wins Gold

Praise of the US-born Olympian temporarily crashed Weibo

(Newser) - One gold medal down, two to go for Eileen Gu. The US-born athlete from China nabbed victory in big air, her first Olympic event, on Tuesday, after pulling off her first ever 1620 with a perfect landing. That earned her a 94.5 score on her third and final run,...

'We Will Be Talking About This Moment for the Next 100 Years'
On Olympic Ice,
a Huge First
Feb 7, 2022 9:00 AM CST

On Olympic Ice, a Huge First

Russia's Kamila Valieva, 15, is first woman ever to land quad at Olympics

(Newser) - "HISTORY MADE!" was NBC's excited tweet after a young Olympic figure skater from Russia landed a quadruple jump in Beijing during the women's team free-skate program. Sports Illustrated reports that Kamila Valieva, 15, pulled off both a quad salchow (watch her do it here ) and...

In a First, All Snow in Olympics Will Be Fake

Beijing practice could be the new norm amid climate change

(Newser) - The Winter Olympics have long been aided by fake snow. As Quartz reports, it began with the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, as officials turned to snowmaking machines to pump out the white stuff in the midst of a dry winter. Over the years, amid warming global temperatures, officials...

FBI Has Ominous Advice for Olympians

Bureau tells athletes to use burner phones, warns of 'malicious cyber activities' in China

(Newser) - The FBI is urging Olympic athletes to use burner phones while in China over fears that they might otherwise be tracked. "The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the Games," the agency says. It adds...

'It Will Be Fire on Ice' in Beijing for Jamaican Bobsled Team

4-man team qualifies for first time in 24 years

(Newser) - For the first time in more than two decades, a four-man bobsled team from Jamaica is heading to the Olympics. The team secured its spot in the Beijing Games on Monday, proclaiming on Instagram , "It will be fire on ice." NBC News reports the island nation’s last...

After Getting Visa Applications, China Questions US Boycott

Biden administration says it's sending help for athletes and coaches, but not diplomats

(Newser) - Given that the Biden administration earlier this month announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, China is asking why it's receiving visa applications for US government employees. That can be explained, the US answered: Those applications are for consular and security officers—not diplomats or high-ranking officials, the...

China to US Execs: Push Back Against Olympics Boycott

'The business community cannot make a fortune in silence,' official says

(Newser) - With the Winter Olympics now just two months away, China seems to be getting worried about calls to boycott the Beijing Games—and it has started putting pressure on American companies with close links to the country. In a video conference Tuesday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng urged American...

Brazil's Ex-Olympic Boss Gets 30 Years

Former Rio governor among others sentenced to jail for corruption

(Newser) - Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee for more than two decades, was sentenced to 30 years and 11 months in jail for allegedly buying votes for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics. The ruling by Judge Marcelo Bretas became public Thursday, per the AP...

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