Olympics

11:31 AM ET Associated Press Tony Parker and Pau Gasol played for him. Becky Hammon coached alongside him. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade waged battles against him. He is San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. And he, finally, is a Hall of Famer. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame made it official Saturday, with

9:41 AM ET ESPN News Services Former Olympic and Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius was denied parole Friday and will have to stay in prison at least another 16 months after it was decided that he had not served the “minimum detention period” required to be released following his murder conviction for the 2013 killing of

8:45 AM ET ESPN News Services The Ukrainian government is looking to block its athletes from competitions, particularly qualifying events for next year’s Paris Olympics, that readmit Russian athletes. The International Olympic Committee recommended Tuesday that sports federations allow Russians and Belarusians to compete as neutral athletes without national symbols. Ukraine wanted to continue the

12:38 PM ET Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Russian players are set to return to table tennis events after the sport’s governing body on Thursday followed the International Olympic Committee’s advice to let them compete as neutrals. The decision by the International Table Tennis Federation paves the way for players from Russia and its ally

10:22 AM ET ESPN News Services LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Criticism by European governments of the push to reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes into world sports before the 2024 Paris Games was called “deplorable” by the International Olympic Committee leader Thursday. IOC president Thomas Bach also suggested those governments, which seemed to include his own home

2:22 PM ET LAUSANNE, Switzerland — American football took the penultimate step needed before it can attempt to get onto the Olympic Games program on Wednesday when it got the approval of the International Olympic Committee’s powerful executive board. Flag football, a non-contact format played by teams of five, is trying to get into the

7:02 AM ET The Kremlin said Wednesday that the International Olympic Committee’s guidelines that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions as neutrals contain “elements of discrimination.” Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been banned from most international competitions over the war in Ukraine, but guidelines issued by the IOC on Tuesday

11:17 AM ET Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Russian athletes were given conditions Tuesday that could lead to their return to international sports events, although the International Olympic Committee said its advice to sporting bodies did not include the 2024 Paris Games. Although the IOC gave guidance rather than orders to Olympic sports, it still

6:38 AM ET Associated Press BERLIN — More than 300 fencers, including nine medalists from the last Olympics in Tokyo, signed an open letter published Tuesday urging the sport’s governing body and the International Olympic Committee not to allow Russian fencers to compete while the war in Ukraine continues. The International Fencing Federation, known by

9:49 AM ET Associated Press BOSTON — The Boston Marathon has agreed to a 10-year sponsorship deal with Bank of America that organizers hope will allow the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual 26.2-mile road race to grow over the next decade while maintaining its historic character. Financial terms of the deal announced Monday were

9:10 AM ET Associated Press LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Mexico has declared its desire to host the Summer Olympics in 2036 or 2040 and says it already has most of the sports infrastructure required. Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican Olympic Committee president María José Alcalá met Friday with International Olympic Committee president Thomas

6:08 AM ET Associated Press SAITAMA, Japan — Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won their first ice dance title at the figure skating world championships on Saturday. First after the rhythm dance, Chock and Bates finished first in the free dance at Saitama Super Arena with 134.07 points for a total

10:08 AM ET Associated Press SAITAMA, Japan — Kaori Sakamoto fended off a challenge from South Korea’s Lee Hae-in on Friday to become the first Japanese woman to defend her title at the figure skating world championships. Sakamoto, who led after the short program, made only one mistake in Friday’s free skate at Saitama Super

Mar 24, 2023 Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine renewed its push to keep Russian athletes out of the Olympics on Friday ahead of an International Olympic Committee board meeting next week which is expected to set the framework for their return to international sports events. Vadym Guttsait, who is Ukraine’s sports minister and leads

3:24 PM ET Associated Press CALGARY, Alberta — St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will have the same role with Hockey Canada for the upcoming men’s world hockey championships in Finland and Latvia. Armstrong was tabbed by Hockey Canada on Thursday as part of a management team that will also see Detroit Red Wings

Mar 23, 2023 ESPN News Services World Athletics has banned transgender women from competing in elite female competitions if they have gone through male puberty, the sport’s governing body said Thursday. Organization president Sebastian Coe said at a news conference that the decision by the World Athletics Council to exclude transgender women was based “on

7:28 AM ET Associated Press GENEVA — Created to help protect athletes after the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal, the sport’s international investigations agency has set new safeguarding standards with a view to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The Gymnastics Ethics Foundation published a “Gymnasts 2028” strategy Thursday to better protect athletes from harassment and

8:39 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Fifth-year senior Margzetta Frazier stepped out onto the floor, took a deep breath, and struck her opening pose. She whispered, “You’ve got this,” to herself. It was the last regular-season meet of her career as a UCLA Bruins gymnast, and most of the fans that packed Pauley Pavilion were on