Olympic torch relay
FILE - Student activists wear masks with the colors of the pro-independence East Turkistan flag during a rally to protest the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, outside the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Dozens of students staged the rally demanding the cancellation of the Beijing Olympics over alleged human rights violations against Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority in China's region of Xinjiang. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)
What message did China send by choosing Uyghur torchbearer?

By John Leicester Feb. 05, 2022 03:09 AM EST

FILE - Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses for the media during an "I am a Hong Konger! Discussing Human Rights and Democracy" panel discussion hosted by the faction of the German Liberals at the Reichstag building, home of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany on Sept. 29, 2020. Ai Weiwei, the dissident Chinese architect behind the Beijing stadium hosting the Friday Feb. 4, 2022 opening ceremony of the Winter Games has scoffed at the head of the U.N. health agency, saying China should award him “a gold medal” for not asking hard questions about its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
Chinese dissident Ai voices criticism as Winter Games open

By Jamey Keaten Feb. 04, 2022 01:15 PM EST

FILE-In this photograph provided by the Indian Army, army officers of India and China hold a meeting at Pangong lake region in Ladakh on the India-China border on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. India will not attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, after one of the torchbearers reportedly chosen by Chinese authorities riled up New Delhi's anger. India's foreign affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said it was "regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics." (Indian Army via AP, File)
EXPLAINER: Why India won't send diplomat to China Olympics

By Sheikh Saaliq Feb. 04, 2022 02:13 AM EST

Kamaltürk Yalqun holds the aluminium Olympics torch he carried at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the age of 17, on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, in Boston. The decade after the Games saw Beijing impose policies on his region of Xinjiang that split apart his family and Uyghur community. Today, he is an activist in the United States calling for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Games, which will see the Olympic flame returned to Beijing. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
For Uyghur torchbearer, China's Olympic flame has gone dark

By Huizhong Wu Feb. 03, 2022 01:08 PM EST

FILE- Indian traders reacting to the killing of Indian troops in a clash with Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh burn Chinese products and a poster president Xi Jinping during a protest in New Delhi, India, June 22, 2020. India will stay away from the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics with an Indian official accusing China of politicizing the event. India objected to China using a soldier involved in fighting with Indian forces in Eastern Ladakh as a torchbearer for the Olympics ceremony. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
Riled up by torchbearer, India skips China Olympics opening

By Ashok Sharma Feb. 03, 2022 08:22 AM EST

Wu Jingyu, China's Taekwondo Olympic Champion, poses with a kick before taking part in the torch relay for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the Badaling Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing, China, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
GLIMPSES: Shortened Olympic torch relay passes by Great Wall

By Sarah Dilorenzo Feb. 03, 2022 04:20 AM EST

First Torch bearer Luo Zhihuan holds up the torch at the start of the torch relay for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
Shortened Olympic torch relay starts for Beijing Games

Feb. 01, 2022 11:20 PM EST

A student poses for a photo with the Olympic flame and torch during an event to display the Olympic torch and flame at the Beijing University of Posts and Communications in Beijing, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. China is limiting the torch relay for the Winter Olympic Games to just three days amid coronavirus worries, organizers said Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. The flame will be displayed only in enclosed venues that are deemed "safe and controllable," according to officials speaking at a news conference. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
China mandates 3-day Olympic torch relay amid virus concerns

Jan. 21, 2022 03:11 AM EST

FILE - In this July 23, 2021, file photo, Yui Susaki and Rui Hachimura, front right, of Japan, carry their country's flag during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The racial diversity Japan showcased at the Olympic opening ceremony also highlights its lack in Japanese society. (Hannah McKay/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Olympics carry a question: What does it mean to be Japanese?

By Mari Yamaguchi Aug. 04, 2021 04:42 AM EDT

Olympic volunteer Atsushi Muramatsu shows business-card size flyers to express gratitude for support from overseas, during an interview with The Associated Press in Rifu, Japan, Thursday, July 29, 2021. He made the flyers to hand out to foreign media covering the 2020 Summer Olympics at Miyagi Stadium, where he is serving as a volunteer. (AP Photo/Chisato Tanaka)
Olympic volunteers strive to share stories of 3/11 disaster

By Chisato Tanaka Aug. 01, 2021 11:31 PM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 1964, file photo, vapor trails from Japanese Self-Defense Force jets form the Olympic emblem of the five rings above the National Stadium in Tokyo for the official opening of the XVIII Olympiad, first even held in Asia. Every Japanese of a certain age has memories of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Even younger Japanese have connections through parents or aunts and uncles who saved old photos, faded certificates, or recall getting a television for the first time to watch the Games. (AP Photo, File)
From the Emperor on down: Memories of the '64 Tokyo Olympics

By Stephen Wade Jul. 29, 2021 03:34 AM EDT

Naomi Osaka stands beside the Olympic flame after lighting it during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 23, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Tokyo Olympic flame is the first powered by hydrogen

Jul. 23, 2021 10:57 AM EDT

A crow perches on a light pole near the statue of the Olympics rings in Tokyo on Thursday, July 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Tokyo Games still weigh limits on fans -- if any fans at all

By Stephen Wade Jul. 05, 2021 06:11 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 25, 2021, file photo, the celebration cauldron is seen lit on the first day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay in Naraha, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. The Tokyo Olympics are not looking like much fun: Not for athletes. Not for fans. And not for the Japanese public, who are caught between concerns about the coronavirus at a time when few are vaccinated on one side and politicians and the International Olympic Committee who are pressing ahead on the other. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Brazil great Zico celebrates Tokyo torch relay, blasts Rio's

By Mauricio Savarese Jul. 04, 2021 02:47 PM EDT

A man wearing a protective mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks near an advertisement of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Report: Stages of Olympic relay to be pulled off Tokyo roads

Jun. 29, 2021 05:24 AM EDT

An ignition ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic torch relay is held at Heiwadai Athletic Stadium in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The torch relay was taken off public roads due to the coronavirus pandemic. The next week's torch relay is being pulled off the streets in Hiroshima prefecture, too, as COVID-19 cases rise in Japan. This is at least the sixth change to the relay - from rerouting to cancellation - in the last several weeks as cases surge in Japan. Organizers warned before the relay began that changes and delays were expected in the face of the pandemic. (Kyodo News via AP)
Tokyo Olympic torch relay pulled off streets in Hiroshima

By Stephen Wade May. 11, 2021 07:18 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 28, 2021, file photo, IOC President Thomas Bach, on a screen, waves to Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto at the start of a five-party meeting of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Bach has canceled a trip in May 2021 to Japan because of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Monday, May 10, 2021 in a statement. Hashimoto said last week that the trip would be “tough” for Bach to make, which was interpreted in Japan as meaning it was canceled. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP, File)
IOC's Thomas Bach cancels Japan trip because of virus cases

By Stephen Wade May. 10, 2021 05:45 AM EDT

Commuters step out of a train at a station in Tokyo Thursday, May 6, 2021. Tokyo is under a state of emergency with coronavirus infections rising, particularly new variants. The state of emergency is to expire on May 11, but reports in Japan say it is likely to be extended. (Shinji Kita/Kyodo News via AP)
Anti-Olympic petition gains tens of thousands of signatures

By Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade May. 06, 2021 03:40 AM EDT

Ng Yan Yee and Sabri Nur Dhabitah of Malaysia dive during the women's synchronized 3-meter springboard preliminary at the FINA Diving World Cup Saturday, May 1, 2021, at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Olympic torch relay detour; diving test event opens in Tokyo

By Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade May. 01, 2021 12:01 AM EDT

A woman with her dog walks past the Olympic rings in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Tokyo Olympics torch relay has first positive COVID-19 case

Apr. 22, 2021 02:26 AM EDT