Belarus sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is part of a long history of athletes seeking protection or the chance to start a new life at the Olympics.
The 1964 Olympics in Tokyo banned all athletes who took part in a counter-competition a year earlier called the Games of the New Emerging Forces, which were dubbed the left-wing Olympics
(AP Photo)
The IOC welcomes repressive regimes to the Olympic games. This means athletes from those countries are often placed in an invidious posiiton.
A station passageway is crowded with commuters wearing face masks during rush hour at Shinagawa Station. A recent survey suggests that 83 per cent of Japanese citizens don’t want the Olympics to proceed as scheduled, fearing a surge in case numbers.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear — nothing short of people’s lives are at stake at the Tokyo Olympics. No amount of money can justify a single preventable death.
US surfer Carissa Moore will be part of a new-look Olympic sports schedule in Tokyo.
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The inclusion of new action sports can offend Olympic traditionalists and outsiders alike. But it’s part of a long-term strategy to keep the games relevant and appealing to younger fans.
The lack of spectators at Tokyo 2020 will be a stark contrast to the crowds at Rio 2016.
Javier Etxezarreta/EPA-EFE
Concerns about holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games during a state of emergency highlights just how much power the International Olympic Committee wields over the global sporting world.
Sha'Carri Richardson celebrates during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials on June 18. Shortly after the trials, Richardson was suspended for a month for testing positive for marijuana – a ban that will keep her from competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
In the wake of debate about cannabis, performance-enhancing drugs and the Olympic Games, athlete-driven doping legislation is the way forward.
A statue in honour of U.S. Olympians Tommie Smith, left, and John Carlos is seen on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif. The pair of sprinters were expelled from the Olympics in 1968 after they raised their fists on the medals stand to protest racial inequality in the United States.
(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
The International Olympic Committee’s Rule 50 still restricts the freedom of speech of athletes, despite the recently relaxed stipulations. A respected Olympian says the IOC must change its policy.
The decision to cancel the games lies ultimately with the International Olympic Committee – an extraordinary power that explains why Tokyo is pressing ahead.
Japan is going through its fourth wave, testing rates are low and case numbers are climbing. Now athletes aren’t happy with the IOC’s plans to protect them.
Still in the midst of a global pandemic, the International Olympic Committee’s dream of hosting the Tokyo Games in a “post-corona world” is not possible. But should the Games go ahead at all?
Cancelling the Tokyo games would be yet another blemish for the new government and could doom its chances in the next election later this year.
Canadian athlete Finn Wakeling of the whitewater slalom team member is among those training in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Marissa Tiel
New sports are being added to the Olympics all the time in an effort to remain relevant to younger audiences, while others (sorry baseball) are left out.