Municipal governments
FILE - The Olympic rings are seen during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. Will it be 2030, the first opening on the IOC calendar? Or might the International Olympic Committee make a double award and also name the 2034 host, which it did 4 1/2 years ago when it had two strong candidates and named Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles for 2028. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
Salt Lake, Sapporo head race to 2030 Olympics, and maybe '34

By Stephen Wade May. 02, 2022 01:08 AM EDT

FILE - The Olympic rings during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. Officials in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo say there is public support for holding the 2030 Winter Olympics. However, Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto says the city has no plans to hold a binding public referendum for the final word. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
Sapporo shows strong support for 2030 Winter Olympics

By Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade Mar. 16, 2022 08:59 AM EDT

The Olympic Rings are illuminated at the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Beijing's Olympics close, ending safe but odd global moment

By Ted Anthony Feb. 20, 2022 02:50 AM EST

Li Chunjian, Ding Song, Ye Jielong and She Hao, of China, slide during the 4-man heat 1 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Behind China's Olympics, the saga of a chained woman unfolds

By Huizhong Wu Feb. 19, 2022 02:12 AM EST

Li Chunjian, Ding Song, Ye Jielong and She Hao, of China, slide during the 4-man heat 1 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Behind China's Olympics, the saga of a chained woman unfolds

By Huizhong Wu Feb. 19, 2022 12:53 AM EST

FILE - Olympic workers in protective clothing stand together at a hotel inside the Olympic bubble during the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
BEIJING DIARY: A segmented city, ideal for pandemic Olympics

By Ted Anthony Feb. 13, 2022 05:36 AM EST

Medical workers spray disinfectant and prepare swabs for people taking part in the Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay activities at a coronavirus test site in Beijing, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. With more than 30 new COVID-19 cases being detected daily ahead of the Beijing Olympics, organizers said Wednesday they aren't worried and expect numbers to drop within days. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Beijing says COVID-19 situation 'controllable,' 'safe'

Feb. 02, 2022 06:28 AM EST

Residents wearing face masks to help protect from the coronavirus gather in line as they wait for a throat swab at a COVID-19 test site outside a residential housing block in Fengtai District in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. The Chinese capital reported an uptick more than dozen daily new COVID-19 cases as it began a third round of mass testing of millions of people Wednesday in the run-up to the Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China's Olympics COVID measures test residents' patience

By Ken Moritsugu Jan. 26, 2022 12:51 AM EST

Volunteers help women enter information on their smartphones as others gather in line for mass coronavirus testing in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Chinese authorities have lifted a monthlong lockdown of Xi'an and its 13 million residents as infections subside ahead of the Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, the 2 million residents of one Beijing district are being tested following a series of cases in the capital. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China tests 2M in Beijing, lifts COVID lockdown in Xi’an

By Ken Moritsugu Jan. 24, 2022 12:31 AM EST

Family members wearing face masks to help protect from the coronavirus tour Qianmen Street, a popular tourist spot in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. Chinese authorities have called on the public to stay where they are during the Lunar New Year instead of traveling to their hometowns for the year's most important family holiday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Beijing district orders mass virus testing ahead of Olympics

Jan. 23, 2022 06:19 AM EST

A medical worker wearing a protective suit swabs a child for a coronavirus test in Huaxian County in central China's Henan Province, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. China further tightened its anti-pandemic measures in Beijing and across the country on Friday as scattered outbreaks continued ahead of the opening of the Winter Olympics in a little over two weeks. (Chinatopix via AP)
Anti-coronavirus measures tightened across China

Jan. 14, 2022 04:28 AM EST

A worker wearing a protective suit takes a swab for a COVID-19 test at a community testing site in northern China's Tianjin Municipality, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Most access to a major city adjacent to Beijing was suspended Thursday as the government tried to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus's easily transmitted omicron variant ahead of next month's Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital. (Chinatopix via AP)
China faces omicron test weeks ahead of Beijing Olympics

By Huizhong Wu Jan. 13, 2022 01:15 AM EST

FILE - Francois Carrard, FIFA Reform Committee Chairman, attends a news conference at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, Dec. 3, 2015. The former longtime IOC director general Francois Carrard has died, the Olympic body said Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. He was 83. The International Olympic Committee said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of Carrard’s death. The cause was not specified. (Walter Bieri/Keystone via AP, file)
François Carrard, legal doyen of Olympic sports, dies at 83

Jan. 10, 2022 04:05 AM EST

Munich city council backs NFL games at home of Bayern

Dec. 15, 2021 10:28 AM EST
MUNICH (AP) — The Munich city council gave its backing Wednesday to a bid to host regular-season NFL games at the home of soccer club Bayern Munich. ...

FILE - Fourteen athletes of the fourteen teams compete in the men's Olympic 4x10 kilometers cross country relay in Sapporo, Feb. 12, 1972, at the start of the race. The northern Japanese city of Sapporo is set to announce on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, what it says will be a reduction in costs that will make it an attractive venue for the 2030 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo, File)
Sapporo says it can hold 2030 Olympics and also save money

By Stephen Wade And Yuri Kageyama Nov. 29, 2021 05:05 AM EST

FILE - This Thursday, April 4, 2019 file photo shows a view of the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy. The opening ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held at the current San Siro stadium, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala announced Friday Oct. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
Milan mayor: 2026 ceremony will be held in old San Siro

Oct. 29, 2021 01:25 PM EDT

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and former NBA player Tony Parker, center right behind, talk with members of a basketball team at a basketball playground in Tremblay-en-France, outside Paris, Thursday, Oct.14, 2021. French President Emmanuel Macron will promote sports ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)
France to boost sport practice ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics

Oct. 14, 2021 09:02 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 2, 2021, file photo, a woman adjusts her face mask as she walks by a statue featuring the Beijing Winter Olympics figure skating on display at the Shougang Park in Beijing. China's "zero tolerance" strategy of trying to isolate every case and stop transmission of the coronavirus has kept kept the country where the virus first was detected in late 2019 largely free of the disease. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
China keeps virus at bay at high cost ahead of Olympics

By Joe Mcdonald And Huizhong Wu Sep. 21, 2021 08:32 PM EDT

Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura bites the Olympic gold medal of Miu Goto, a member of Japan softball team who won the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, at the city office building in Nagoya, central Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japan mayor apologizes for biting athlete's gold medal

By Mari Yamaguchi Aug. 12, 2021 11:13 AM EDT

In this June 21, 2021, file photo, a resident receives a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shot at their office in Tokyo. Tokyo's COVID-19 infections surged to a six-month high Wednesday, July 21, 2021, with the Olympic host city logging 1,832 new cases just two days before the Games open. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Tokyo virus cases hit 6-month high 2 days before Games open

By Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 21, 2021 05:50 AM EDT