From the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg to the London Eye in Britain, cities around the world are lighting up buildings and landmarks in the yellow and green colours of the Brazilian flag on Wednesday to mark 100 days until the Rio Olympics.
The flame will be flown in special safety lanterns to Switzerland for a ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva on Thursday
As hosts Russia and Saudia Arabia kick off the extravaganza, Harish Kotian and Ashish Narsale assemble a fascinating FIFA World Cup quiz.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has been named goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro - an unprecedented appointment in the run-up to the quadrennial extravaganza. The announcement was made in the presence of Olympic medallists and Rio star athletes such as boxer M C Mary Kom, hockey captain Sardar Singh, and shooter Apurvi Chandela, among others. Speaking on this new association with IOA Salman said, "I am honoured that Indian Olympic Association has chosen me as the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Paralympic champion Markus Rehm said he hoped new scientific studies would prove he gains no advantage through his prosthesis and clear him to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
India's table-tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das booked their tickets to the Rio Olympics after winning their respective final rounds in Stage 2 of the Asia Olympic Qualification tournament in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Brazilian football resumed after a three-month hiatus on Thursday night, with Flamengo beating Bangu 3-0 at an empty Maracana stadium in the first game of the restarted Rio de Janeiro state championship.
Amputee long jumper Markus Rehm is running out of time to make the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August as the world athletics body has not yet set the criteria for ruling if he can compete with his prosthetic leg. Nicknamed "Blade Jumper", the 2012 Paralympics gold medalist and 2014 German long jump champion hopes to become the second athlete with a carbon fibre running blade to compete in the Olympics after South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in 2012. But a new rule by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) requires amputee competitors to prove their prosthesis gives them no added advantage over other athletes. Competition Rule 144.3(d) bans 'the use of any mechanical aid, unless the athlete can establish on the balance of probabilities that the use of such an aid would not provide him with an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such aid.' In order to present his case to the IAAF, Rehm, who beat able-bodied athletes with a jump of 8.10 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix in February, has asked for the criteria for this regulation but still not received a reply.
Planning on taking a trip soon or just making a list of places to visit in the near future? You might want to consider these.
Usain Bolt has confirmed that Rio Olympics will be his last, snuffing out the possibility of extending his career to the 2020 games in Tokyo.
'We are trying passionately to protect those clean athletes who are going to Rio 2016'
The World No. 2 had pulled out of Badminton Asia Team Championships because of injury earlier this month, and also exempted herself from participating in the Lucknow Open and South Asian Championships to work on her fitness.
Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes has described Australia's Olympic committee as a "source of aggressions" against Brazil after it banned the team's athletes from visiting the city's favelas during the Games in August. Australia's team chef de mission Kitty Chiller told News Ltd media on Sunday that their Olympians would be barred from going to the urban slums, even on official tours, in accordance with advice from a security expert. "There is still much unfamiliarity about Rio and Brazil," Paes told Brazilian media. "There is a certain dramatisation. And between us, the Australian committee has been a source of aggressions to Brazil." Rio's favelas are among the most violent and crime-ridden areas of the city. Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates, a member of the International Olympic Committee's coordination commission, said in April 2014 that Rio's Games preparations were the worst he had ever seen and critically behind schedule. Coates was more generous in a January assessment, however, saying he felt "very positive" about the delivery of the Games.
The bad water quality at Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay puts Paralympic sailors in constant fear of their health during competitions with organisers having failed to live up to their promises, Paralympic champion Heiko Kroeger said on Tuesday. The experienced German sailor, who won a gold medal at the Sydney 2000 and silver at the London 2012 Paralympics, said sailors in wheelchairs would be especially vulnerable in the polluted waters during the Sept. 7-18 Paralympics in the Brazilian city. "Usually when you are sailing you open your mouth and take in some water to refresh yourself," Kroeger told Reuters a day after returning from a competition in Rio. "But in Rio last week, mouths and noses stayed shut and heads turned away from the spray," he said. "I have been sailing a long time but I have never seen that happening. "There is a constant fear in our heads, a fear that you could get sick," said Kroeger, who also sailed in the bay back in September. "That of course affects the competition because you know that if you get sick you are out."
The metro line extension that will connect Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park in Barra de Tijuca with the rest of the city is at risk of not being finished before the Games start in August
IAAF chief Sebastian Coe has reportedly made the comment because Kenya, which topped the medals table at the 2015 world championships in Beijing, has had more than 40 athletes banned for doping in the past three years
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, who will play this week in the Rio Open, downplayed public concerns over risks linked to the Zika virus in the Brazilian city that will host the Olympics in August, saying "people are living completely normal lives."
The spread of the Zika virus in Brazil needs to be monitored but is not a threat to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Germany's chief Olympic doctor said.
We are not going to risk taking Kenyans there if this Zika virus reaches epidemic levels: Kenya Sports authorities across the world are scrambling to find out more about the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in Brazil as they make plans for August's Rio Olympics. Below are the latest announcements:
Lionel Messi will not chase a second Olympic football gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August, Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said on Monday.
Lionel Messi was sent off before half-time and then angrily hit out at "corrupt" tournament organisers after Argentina beat Chile 2-1 to win a bad-tempered third-place playoff at the Copa America on Saturday.
The International Olympic Committee will issue guidelines this week aimed at protecting athletes and visitors from Zika, a mosquito-borne virus spreading rapidly across South America months before the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.
The flame for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will pass through a refugee camp in Athens and one refugee will be among the torch bearers, the head of the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday.
Argentina lose to Brazil in Copa America semis
The city of Rio de Janeiro cancelled the construction contract for the Olympic tennis centre on Thursday, just 200 days before the start of the games, fining the consortium responsible for delays and breach of contract for the mostly finished venue.
European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen does not expect Russia to return to international competition in time for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The IOC Executive Board on Wednesday finalised weight categories (eight men, five women) for the Tokyo Games as well as the qualification system.
In the first allegation of corruption linked to next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Epoca magazine reported that construction company Carioca Engenharia allegedly bribed the speaker of the lower house of Congress in order to secure funds for a massive port area regeneration project.
China is on track to return to the top of the medals table at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year ahead of the United States and Russia, according to a benchmark study released by the Australian Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
Competing for the first time in over a year, Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom (51kg) assured herself and India of at least a bronze medal by advancing to the semifinals of the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) Olympic Test event in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
Valerie Adams chalks up another medal for the mums.
Brazil forward Neymar has been ruled out of the Copa America after suffering a serious ankle injury in a 2-0 friendly win over Qatar.
Russia still has a shot to compete in the athletics competition at the 2016 Olympics if they can prove they are drug free, the head of a probe into the country's doping scandal said on Tuesday.
Atanu Biswas explains the economics behind hosting a Games in pandemic times.
Russian star pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva said on Wednesday she plans to retire after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she has her sights sets on a third Olympic gold.
After striving to qualify for the 400 metres at the London Olympics for six years, Oscar Pistorius believes he will now be better placed to run at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
India and China on Thursday agreed to step up their defence and security dialogue and work to take steps to ensure that the two countries achieve a $100 billion (about Rs 5,60,000 cr) trade target by 2015.
After much dilly-dallying, the Sports Ministry has included Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the 'Target Olympic Podium Scheme' (TOP) scheme, putting an end to the controversy surrounding the doubles duo's complaint of bias against the Ministry and chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
US sprinter Justin Gatlin believes he is steadily catching up with Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt as the two head towards a likely showdown at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games next year.
Olympic judo medallist Flavio Canto is among those giving his time and money to battle the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil. Dunga is also working with business contacts and former players - including ex-Brazil internationals Jorginho and Edmilson and Paulo Cesar Tinga - to help disadvantaged communities in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul.
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