Olympics

6:57 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — The Tokyo Olympics torch relay will take another detour this weekend when it enters the southern island of Okinawa. A leg of the relay on Okinawa’s resort island of Miyakojima set for Sunday has been canceled altogether with cases surging in Japan. Other legs on Okinawa will take

4:20 PM ET ESPN News Services The women’s world hockey championship has been rescheduled for late August, but the International Ice Hockey Federation has yet to determine a site. The IIHF announced it is working with Hockey Canada to evaluate potential hosts for the tournament, now scheduled to run from Aug. 20-31. The 10-nation event

1:13 PM ET Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — An Olympic silver medalist who is one of Belarus’ most lauded athletes says he is going on a 10-day hunger strike to support victims of political repression in the country. Andrei Krauchanka, who medaled in the decathlon at the 2008 Games in Beijing, said Friday that he

12:01 PM ET Associated Press LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — USA Luge’s national team for the looming Olympic season is set, with five members of the 2018 Olympic team now closer to being selected to compete in next year’s Beijing Games. Reigning men’s Olympic singles silver medalist Chris Mazdzer is one of those five, along with

6:31 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — A Japanese sumo wrestler has died a month after falling on his head during a bout in a case that has raised questions about the sport’s response to medical emergencies. Hibikiryu, 28, died of acute respiratory failure on Wednesday, the Japan Sumo Association said. The wrestler, whose real

4:01 PM ET Associated Press KLADNO, Czech Republic — Jaromir Jagr was celebrating on the ice again Thursday. The 49-year-old right winger had an assist to help his hometown club Kladno Knights return to the top Czech league by beating Jihlava 5-2 to clinch their playoff series 4-3. Jagr made his debut for Kladno as

2:36 PM ET Associated Press CARY, N.C. — The United States will open its second chance to qualify for the baseball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics when it faces Nicaragua in a Baseball Americas qualifier on May 31 at Port St. Lucie, Florida. The U.S., managed by Mike Scioscia, will then face the Dominican Republic

11:35 AM ET Anaheim Ducks goalie Ryan Miller is retiring at the conclusion of this NHL season, ending a career highlighted by a star-making run for Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Miller, 40, has played 794 games in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and the Ducks. He

9:41 AM ET ESPN staff The worsening second wave of Covid-19 cases in India has prompted a host of countries to lock their borders to travellers from the country. The impact, with the Olympics now barely three months away, falls squarely on Indian athletes scrambling for a final shot at qualification berths. Over the past

7:26 AM ET Team Great Britain is set to have male and female flagbearers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics for the first time in the country’s history at the Games. This move would leave a “real hallmark legacy message,” chef de mission Mark England said. 2 Related National teams can appoint a

6:08 AM ET Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea began administering fast-track COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday to athletes, coaches and others expected to attend the Tokyo Olympics. The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee said the first group of about 100 people received the first doses at a state-run hospital in Seoul at the

1:30 PM ET Jamaica’s Danusia Francis, a former UCLA gymnast, said the decision by German athletes to compete in full-body suits at the European Gymnastics Championships last week was empowering for women. Sarah Voss donned a full-body suit at the Basel event and was followed by teammates Kim Bui and Elisabeth Seitz. The German Gymnastics

12:21 PM ET Associated Press TOKYO — The Tokyo Olympics open in under three months and there are still more questions than answers despite the rollout Wednesday of new rulebooks to explain how the games will take place in the middle of a surging pandemic in Japan. The 60-page, second version of the “Playbooks” for

7:23 AM ET IOC boss Thomas Bach says he fully understands the decision to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo to fight the coronavirus pandemic and is committed to holding a safe, successful Games. Bach was speaking at the start of a meeting with Tokyo 2020 organisers to finalise the second edition of the

5:50 PM ET Associated Press UNCASVILLE, Conn. — New Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti plans to keep her second job this summer as an assistant coach on the United States’ women’s Olympic basketball team. The former UConn player and longtime college coach was introduced Tuesday by the Sun a week after being named to lead

5:31 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Skate America, traditionally the first event in the Grand Prix figure skating series, is headed back to the Orleans Arena. The competition will be held Oct. 22-24 as the first significant event of the Olympic season. It also was staged at the venue in 2019, then again

10:17 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — – The head of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday took part in an event marking Japan’s LGBTQ pride week at a center in the capital, as activists and dozens of lawmakers pushed for an equality law to be enacted before the games begin in less than three months.

8:16 AM ET Britain will send its strongest ever swimming team to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after an initial squad of 28 was announced on Tuesday, officials said. Reigning Olympic 100m breaststroke champion and world record holder Adam Peaty was pre-selected in January alongside double Olympic relay silver medallist Duncan Scott, and first-time Olympians James